To evaluate an end of life planner, run seven checks: digital access, money and accounts, pointers to your legal and medical documents, fit with your country, ease of completion, format, and storage. Most planners look alike on the shelf, so the checks focus on what each one prompts you to record. A planner that passes them gives your family one place to look instead of five.
Key takeaways
- Judge a planner by what it prompts you to record, not by how it looks.
- Check digital access first: passcodes, authenticator apps, and recovery emails.
- Make sure the terms match your country's pensions, accounts, and health system.
- Open a few sample pages. You should be able to finish a section in one sitting.
- A planner organizes information. It does not replace a will, a power of attorney, or a health care directive.
How do you evaluate an end of life planner?
Run the seven checks in the table against any planner, whether it is a printed workbook, a binder, or a fillable file. Each check has a clear pass and a clear red flag, so you can decide quickly.
| Check | What good looks like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Digital access | Prompts for phone passcodes, authenticator apps, recovery emails, and your password manager | Only asks for bank accounts and a will |
| 2. Money and accounts | Separate space for bank, investment, retirement, insurance, debts, and subscriptions | One "assets" box with no detail |
| 3. Legal and medical pointers | Says where the will, power of attorney, and health care proxy are kept and who your agents are | Claims to replace legal documents |
| 4. Country fit | Uses your country's pensions, accounts, and health terms | Asks about programs that don't exist where you live |
| 5. Ease of completion | Guided prompts and short sections you can finish in one sitting | Blank lines with no guidance |
| 6. Format | Paper or fillable, whichever you will keep up to date | A format you won't open again |
| 7. Storage and handoff | A page that records where the planner and originals are kept | No guidance on who should know where it is |
The first three checks are the hardest to work around, because a missing category means you would have to record that information somewhere else.
What should an end of life planner cover?
A planner should cover three areas: how to get into your accounts and devices, what you own and owe, and where your legal and medical documents are. These are checks one to three.
Digital access
Digital access is easy to overlook, and it is the check to run first. Look for prompts for phone passcodes, biometric backups, authenticator apps, recovery emails, and your password manager. A planner that only asks for bank account numbers leaves out the phone, which often holds the two-factor codes for everything else.
Also check how the planner treats sensitive information. A planner that holds passcodes is itself a sensitive document, so look for guidance on where to keep it and who should have access to it.
Our guides to managing your digital estate and preventing digital lockout explain why this category matters.
Money and accounts
The planner should have room for bank and investment accounts, retirement accounts, insurance policies, debts, recurring payments, and subscriptions. Detail matters. Your executor can't act on an account they don't know exists, and a subscription nobody cancels keeps billing. Look for separate pages rather than a single box for everything.
A good account page asks for the institution, the account type, how to contact the institution, and whether statements arrive on paper or by email. Those four details let an executor find the account and know who to call without searching through mail and inboxes.
Legal and medical pointers
A planner should tell your family where the will, power of attorney, and health care proxy are kept, and who your agents are. It should not pretend to replace those documents. Many guides stop at a will and a medical directive, so also check for insurance, accounts, and emergency contacts.
If you are still deciding which documents you need, start with our estate planning basics and the legal document checklist.
Does the planner fit you and your country?
Fit is checks four and five: whether the terms match where you live, and whether you can actually finish it.
Country fit
The accounts and benefits your family deals with depend on where you live. A US planner naturally refers to Social Security and Medicare. A Canadian one should refer to CPP, OAS, and RRSPs. A planner that asks about programs that don't exist where you live makes you translate as you go, which is the friction that makes people stop halfway.
Lamorial publishes editions for several markets: the US edition, a Canadian edition, and an Australia and New Zealand edition.
Ease of completion
A planner you never finish protects no one. Open a few sample pages. Guided prompts with clear labels and short sections are easier to finish than blank forms. Ask whether you can complete a section without a lawyer or an accountant.
Sequencing matters too. A planner that lets you start with quick pages, such as emergency contacts and subscriptions, builds momentum before you reach the harder ones. If every section demands a stack of paperwork up front, expect it to sit half finished.
If a term is unclear, a glossary helps. Our printable planner walkthrough guide explains each section and includes glossaries.
Paper or digital, and where will you keep it?
Format and storage are checks six and seven. Both decide whether your family can actually use the planner later.
Format and updating
Choose the format you will keep current. A printed workbook suits someone who will fill it in once and hand it to an executor. A fillable file suits someone whose passwords and accounts change often, because entries can be edited instead of crossed out. The fillable digital edition has the same guided pages as the printed planner.
If you pick a fillable file, save a copy to your computer before you type, give it a clear name, and keep a backup.
Storage and handoff
A finished planner needs a home. Ask whether the planner has a page for where it and your originals are kept, and who knows. A fire- and water-resistant document organizer can keep the planner, the will, and other originals together. Then tell your executor where it is and how to open it.
How often should you update an end of life planner?
Update it whenever something changes: a new account, a changed password, a new beneficiary, or a move. Even without a trigger, look through it once a year. A planner with out-of-date passcodes can cause nearly as much confusion as no planner at all, so check that the one you choose has room to be updated.
What are the red flags in an end of life planner?
- It only asks for bank accounts and a will.
- It claims to replace legal documents.
- It is written for another country, so you translate as you go.
- It gives no guidance, only blank lines.
- It has no place to record where it is stored.
- The seller can't show you sample pages.
One or two flags may be tolerable. Several mean you will end up keeping the missing information somewhere else.
Can you test a planner in ten minutes?
Yes. Use this quick test on sample pages, a preview, or a copy in your hands.
- Find the digital access pages. Do they ask for passcodes, authenticator apps, and recovery emails?
- Pick one account page. Could an executor use it without calling you?
- Check the terms. Does it name your country's pensions and accounts?
- Fill in one section. Did it feel manageable?
- Look for the storage page. Does it say where the planner and originals live?
Five yes answers is a good sign. Two or three means the planner can still work, but you will need a second place for what it leaves out.
How does the LAMORIAL planner measure up?
We make one planner, so apply the same checks to ours. The LAMORIAL End of Life Planner & Journal is an 83-page guided workbook with prompts for accounts, passcodes, insurance policies, subscriptions, and emergency contacts. It is written to feel calm rather than clinical, and it sits beside your will, not in place of it.
It is an organizing tool. It does not create legal documents, so you still need a will, a power of attorney, and a health care directive that meet your state's rules.
See the End of Life Planner & Journal
Where to start
Pick the format that fits how you work, run the ten-minute test on your shortlist, and fill in the first pages. Take your time with the decision, but don't let the search for a perfect planner become the reason none gets started. If you want a place to begin, look at the LAMORIAL End of Life Planner & Journal.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and country, so speak with a licensed attorney about the documents you need.