Vault guide
Build your vault for the person who will receive it
Your vault is most useful when another person can understand it without guessing. Add the information, contacts, documents, and next steps your recipient would need if you were unavailable.
What makes a vault genuinely useful
Tell your recipient who to contact
A name and a phone number for your attorney, accountant, insurance agent, or executor saves more time than any document does.
Explain what each document is for
"Will — signed 2024, original held by Ramirez & Co." tells someone what to do. A file called "will.pdf" does not.
Say whether an account should be closed, transferred, or kept
This is the question your recipient cannot answer on their own, and the one most likely to be got wrong.
Include where physical documents and keys actually are
Deeds, titles, safe keys, and safe-deposit boxes are useless if nobody can find them.
Record final wishes clearly
Being specific is a kindness. It removes a decision from people who are already carrying a lot.
Do not assume shared knowledge
Write for someone who has never seen your filing system, your accounts, or your handwriting.
Keep it current
Revisit it when you move, change banks, change jobs, or change your mind. Out-of-date instructions can be worse than none.
Only add what you have the right to share
Do not upload information belonging to an employer or another person without the right to pass it on.
A short checklist
- Add the key people your recipient should call
- Add the accounts that would be hardest to find
- Add your important documents
- Add instructions to the items you have saved
- Review your handoff plan
- Come back and keep it current
Where your vault is organised
Everything lives under four categories. If you are unsure where something belongs, pick the closest one — you can move it later, and a note in the wrong place is far better than a note you never wrote.
What EternaKeys is and is not
EternaKeys is a secure information and handoff platform. It is not a law firm, a financial adviser, an executor, or a substitute for professional advice. Talk to a qualified professional about the legal and financial decisions themselves — use EternaKeys to make sure the right person can find and understand the results.