s.e. smith’s ‘if i’m dead, look here’ list
this is based on the document s.e. smith maintains (and regularly updates, this is very important!) for the executor of their estate. this document is not legal advice. it has (almost) everything that person needs to know about legal matters, where your money is, and other exciting topics. not everything applies to you and things that do apply to you might not be in here. it’s long (sorry) so plan on taking half an hour or so to work on it, and, again, regularly update it. this shouldn’t be necessary to say, but if you are working on this online or it is stored in the cloud, do not include sensitive financial or personal information. this document is designed to be printed once you have filled it out, not shared digitally.
this is a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-sharealike 4.0 international resource. you may use, adapt, and share this, with attribution to s.e. smith, and you may not use it for commercial purposes. if you’d like to support projects like this, consider buying their book, All My Dead Cats and Other Losses, about grief, mourning, and searching for a way to do this as a collective project, not a private pain. if you have suggestions for additions or updates; want to share a translation; or want to share a version you formatted that you think others might find helpful, drop me a line: hello at realsesmith.com.
resources you may find helpful: advance directive templates by state and information about practitioner orders for life-sustaining treatment (polst) forms, a standardized form used by health care providers to record your wishes about how much, if any, intervention you want at end of life. your state’s courts may have a free will template that you can use (e.g. texas, california), in addition to guidance on what a will needs to include in order to be legally binding. if you belong to a professional organization, credit union, social club, or other entity, their benefits may include free or low-cost assistance with writing basic wills (and sometimes trusts, too).