What papers must be findable when you die

Most of the work of preparation, the part that actually relieves a family, is not heroic. It is making fourteen documents findable in one place, and telling someone where that place is. This article is the list, with what each document is for and where it tends to hide.

Why a folder, and why now

The Dutch system runs on paperwork. The gemeente (municipality) needs the akte van overlijden (death certificate) to update the BRP (Personal Records Database). The bank needs proof of inheritance before it releases anything. The pension fund will not pay nabestaanden (next of kin) without documentation. Each step requires a different paper, and most of them have to be produced quickly.

When the family has the documents in hand on the first day, they spend the first week grieving and deciding. When the documents are scattered across drawers, email accounts, a safe with no key, and one trusted friend, the family spends the first week as administrators. Anyone who has done it once will tell you which one they would choose.

A readiness folder, sometimes called a nabestaandenmap in Dutch, is the simplest preparation tool there is: one place, one list, one trusted person who knows where it lives.

The fourteen items

The list below covers what a Dutch family typically needs in the first week after a death. It is not legally required to assemble it. It is, however, what consistently shortens the gap between "they died" and "we can act."

1. Identity documents. A copy of the passport or ID card, and the BSN. The funeral director needs these on the first call. Original documents stay in the home; a clear photocopy or scan in the folder is enough to start.

2. Trouwboekje (marriage certificate booklet) or partnership registration. Required for any process involving the surviving partner: pension, bank, inheritance.

3. Testament (will) or its absence. If a testament exists, the folder records the notaris's name, contact, and the date the testament was last revised. The notaris keeps the original. The Centraal Testamentenregister (CTR) holds the registration so any notaris in the country can locate it.

4. Levenstestament (living will). A separate document covering decisions made during life, not after death: who can act on your behalf for finances, housing, and medical decisions if you cannot. Registered, optionally, in the Centraal Levenstestamentenregister (CLTR). The folder notes the registration number and the gevolmachtigde (authorised person).

5. Wilsverklaring (advance directive). Your medical preferences for situations where you cannot speak: a behandelverbod (treatment refusal), an euthanasieverklaring (euthanasia directive), or a volmacht for medical decisions. Best given to the huisarts and discussed with them in advance. The folder records that this conversation happened and where the document is held.

6. Donor registration. Since 1 July 2020, every adult in the Netherlands is registered in the Donorregister with one of four choices [unverified specific date wording, see Sources]. The folder records the current choice so the family does not have to guess at the hospital.

7. Uitvaartverzekering (funeral insurance). Policy number, type (natura, in services, or kapitaal, in money), and the insurer's phone number. Without this, the family may book a funeral they have already paid for elsewhere.

8. Levensverzekering (life insurance) and overlijdensrisicoverzekering (term life insurance). Policy number, beneficiary, insurer's contact. Often tied to a mortgage; missing this delays the housing situation.

9. Bank accounts. A list of which accounts exist, at which banks, and whether they are en/of-rekeningen (joint accounts). The bank typically blocks single accounts on notification of death; en/of accounts often remain accessible to the surviving holder, but rules vary by bank. The folder makes the conversation faster.

10. Pension and benefits. Employer pension fund contact, AOW (state pension) status, and any ANW (survivor benefit) entitlements. The folder names the pension fund so the family does not have to reconstruct a working life.

11. Mortgage or rental contract and the related insurance. If the home is rented, the rental contract; if owned, the mortgage and any overlijdensrisicoverzekering tied to it.

12. Wishes (wensenboek). Your funeral preferences, written down. Burial or cremation, where, what kind of ceremony, who speaks, what music, who decides if there is a disagreement. A wensenboek is not legally binding, but it removes the worst arguments.

13. Digital access. A password manager with an emergency contact set up, or, if not, a sealed envelope with master credentials. Plus a list of important accounts: email, cloud storage, photo libraries, social media, subscriptions. (See the journal explainer on DigiD and online accounts.)

14. Practical items for the funeral. Clothing for the deceased, glasses or dentures if needed for opbaring (lying in repose), one or two photographs the family can use. These are not paperwork, but they live in the same folder so no one has to choose them under pressure.

Where to keep it

The folder works only if someone can reach it.

A safe that no one else can open is the most common mistake. So is "in the cloud, somewhere", or a password manager that no one else has access to. The folder should be:

• Physical or digital, but with a known location.
• Accessible to at least one trusted person who knows it exists.
• Backed up, ideally with a copy held by that trusted person or the notaris.

If the folder is digital, the access plan is the folder. A password manager with an emergency contact, a shared cloud folder with permission set in advance, or a sealed envelope with the master password in a known drawer — any of these works. None of them works if you are the only person who knows about it.

What people forget most often

From practitioner experience and Dutch funeral providers' published guidance, the items that go missing most consistently are:

• The location and registration number of the testament. The family knows it exists; no one knows which notaris.
• The funeral insurance policy. Paid for thirty years, then forgotten. The family books a funeral and finds the policy two months later.
• Digital accounts and the password manager. Often set up by one partner; the other has no access.
• The wilsverklaring. Drafted, then never given to the huisarts.

None of these are exotic. They are the ordinary cost of a busy life. The folder is the reason the family does not pay that cost in the first week.

How to start, this weekend

Two hours, one folder, one conversation.

• One hour to gather what you already have. Most people, when they look, find that ten of the fourteen items already exist somewhere.
• One hour to fill the gaps. Note what is missing; you do not have to fix it today.
• One conversation: tell one person where the folder is, and that it exists.

You do not have to draft a testament this weekend, or buy insurance, or call the notaris. You only have to make findable what is already true.

In the app

The Personal Portal builds this folder across two stages. Stage 5 "Guide for Your Family" gathers the contacts, the location of important documents, and the priority actions for the first 72 hours. Stage 12 "The Handover" is where you mark the folder ready, name the trusted person, and tell them where everything lives. The PDF Export turns it all into one document the family can carry.

Join the beta →

Closed beta — access by invitation.

Sources

1. Rijksoverheid — "Wat te doen bij overlijden" checklist and guidance on documents required after a death. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/overlijden
2. KNB — Koninklijke Notariele Beroepsorganisatie, information on testament, levenstestament, Centraal Testamentenregister and Centraal Levenstestamentenregister. https://www.notaris.nl
3. Donorregister — official Dutch organ donor registry, four registration options under the 2020 law. https://www.donorregister.nl