Nine things your family will need. None of them is money.

The first thirty days

1. Death certificate — get 10 to 15 originals

Every institution wants one and most will not give it back. Obtaining more later means going back to the municipal authority, which is far harder than asking for a stack at the outset. This is the single most common practical mistake.

2. The will, if there is one

The original, not a scan — in most cases it is the signed physical document that gets probated. And someone who knows where it is. A valid will nobody can find is legally identical to no will at all.

3. Which banks, and which branches

Not balances. Just the institutions. A family that knows the list can walk in and ask; a family that doesn't is guessing. If you are already past this point and guessing, the RBI's UDGAM portal is where to start.

4. Nomination status on each account

Which accounts have a nominee, and who it is. Almost nobody can answer this without logging in, and out-of-date nominations are the norm rather than the exception. Note that a nominee and a legal heir are not the same thing — except for life insurance, where the rule genuinely differs.

5. Insurance policies

Insurer and policy number. This is the most commonly missed category and the reason ₹8,974 crore of insurance money sits unclaimed in India. A policy bought in 2009 through an agent who has since changed jobs leaves almost no trace: no monthly signal, often no email on file.

6. Investment records

Demat account and depository participant. Mutual fund folios and which registrar. PPF, EPF, NPS. Each has its own transmission process and its own forms.

7. Property documents

Originals, and where they physically are. Plus any loan secured against them — property with a charge on it is a different conversation.

8. Liabilities, including guarantees

Loans, EMIs, credit cards. And any guarantee given for someone else's borrowing. An unknown guarantee is the worst surprise in an estate, and it surfaces at the worst moment. This section protects your family, not you.

9. The people who know

Your chartered accountant. Your lawyer, if you have one. The one friend or relative who understands your affairs. One phone number here can save weeks.

The ninety-minute version

If you are reading this while nothing has happened yet — which is the useful time to read it — here is the whole thing as a single sitting. Not a will. Not a lawyer. Just a document your family could use tomorrow.

• 0–20 minutes — accounts. Every bank you have ever held an account with, including ones you believe are closed. Name and branch. No balances, no passwords.
• 20–35 — insurance. Every policy, including the ones an agent sold you in your twenties that you have not thought about since. Those are the ones that go unclaimed.
• 35–50 — investments. Demat and DP. Fund folios and registrar. PPF, EPF, NPS. Fixed deposits, including any at your parents' bank.
• 50–60 — property and physical. Documents and where the originals are. Locker: branch, number, registered nominee, where the key is.
• 60–70 — obligations. Loans, EMIs, guarantees signed for others.
• 70–80 — digital. Your primary email and which accounts recover through it. Anything held in crypto. Write what exists and where — never credentials.
• 80–90 — people. CA, lawyer, the friend who knows. Names and numbers.

Two rules about writing it down

Never put passwords in your will. A will can become a public document once it is probated. You want a pointer to where things are, not the keys themselves.

Tell one person the document exists, and where. This is the step that decides whether any of the previous ninety minutes mattered. A record nobody knows about is the same as a record that was never written.