Choosing a trusted person is one of the most important things you can do for your family’s future.
But choosing someone is only the first step.
The harder question is: what should they actually know? What do you share now, what do you hold back until it is needed, and how do you make sure they can act quickly when the moment comes?
This guide answers those questions clearly.
Who is a trusted person?
A trusted person is someone you have chosen to act on your behalf, or support your family, if you are no longer able to do so yourself.
That might mean:
- a spouse or long-term partner
- an adult child
- a sibling
- a close friend
- a solicitor or professional executor
They may have a formal legal role, such as a power of attorney or named executor in your will. Or they may simply be the person you trust to step in, make phone calls, and help your family find what they need.
Either way, they need the right information to do that job.
The core principle: access without overwhelm
The goal is not to hand over everything immediately.
It is to make sure your trusted person knows what exists, where it is, and how to access it when the time comes.
That is a different thing from sharing every password, every account number, and every detail of your financial life today. Most of that can wait. What cannot wait is the knowledge of where to look.
What your trusted person should know now
These are the things your trusted person should be aware of before anything happens.
Where to find your will
Your trusted person should know:
- that a will exists
- where the original is held (with a solicitor, at home, in a safe)
- whether you have an executor named, and who it is
They do not need a copy today unless they are also your executor. But they must know it exists and where to find it. A will that cannot be located serves no one.
Where your important documents are kept
They should know where to find:
- your life folder or equivalent, if you have one
- physical documents such as passports, birth certificates, and property deeds
- any digital storage location where important records are saved
This could be as simple as telling them there is a folder in your filing cabinet and a shared cloud folder. The specific contents can stay private. The location should not be a mystery.
That you have a life insurance policy
If you have life insurance, your trusted person should know it exists and which provider it is with.
Life insurance goes unclaimed more often than most people realise. Families simply do not know a policy was in place. One sentence shared now prevents that outcome entirely.
Your main financial institutions
They do not need account numbers or access today. But they should have a general sense of:
- which banks you use
- whether you have pensions or investment accounts
- who your financial adviser is, if you have one
When someone dies or becomes incapacitated, the process of notifying institutions takes time. Knowing where to start matters enormously.
Your professional contacts
Your trusted person should be able to reach the people who hold your affairs.
Give them names and contact details for:
- your solicitor
- your accountant or financial adviser
- your GP or any specialist they may need to contact
These are the professionals who can unlock access to other information quickly.
What your trusted person should be able to access in an emergency
The following information needs to be findable within hours, not days. Your trusted person does not need to hold it in their head, but they need to know exactly where it is.
Medical information
In a health emergency, speed matters.
Your trusted person should be able to immediately locate:
- your current medications and dosages
- any known allergies
- your blood type
- your GP’s name and contact details
- any medical conditions relevant to emergency care
This information should not require a search. Keep it somewhere clearly labelled and tell them where it is.
Power of attorney
If you have a lasting power of attorney in place, your trusted person needs to know it exists, who the named attorney is, and where the original document is held.
If they are the attorney, they should already have a certified copy or know exactly how to obtain one.
Access to your home
In a practical emergency, someone may need physical access to your property.
Make sure at least one trusted person knows:
- where a spare key is kept
- any security codes or alarm details
- how to contact your landlord or property manager if you rent
What your trusted person does not need right now
Giving your trusted person access to everything, all at once, is neither necessary nor always wise.
They do not currently need:
- your online banking passwords
- access to your email
- details of every account, subscription, or debt
- the specific contents of your will (unless they are also your executor)
A password manager solves the access problem neatly. Your trusted person needs to know the master password, or where to find it, not every individual credential.
How to give them the right level of access
There are a few practical approaches.
Tell them where everything is stored. A life folder, whether physical or digital, is the simplest solution. Your trusted person does not need to read every document today. They need to know that one place exists where it all lives.
Use a password manager. Keep all your login details in a secure password manager, and leave clear instructions for how your trusted person can access it if needed. This could be a master password stored somewhere specific, or through an emergency access feature that many password managers offer.
Write a short access note. Some people write a single page explaining the most important details: where the will is, which bank accounts exist, who the main contacts are, and where the life folder is kept. This note is shared with the trusted person and updated once a year. It requires almost no ongoing maintenance.
Use Allset. Allset is designed for exactly this. You store your information securely, and your trusted person is granted access in the way you choose, either immediately or when a specific condition is met. Nothing is scattered. Nothing is lost.
Having the conversation
Many people never tell their trusted person what they need to know.
Not because they have not thought about it. Because the conversation feels awkward, or final, or something to put off.
But this is one of the most practical, caring things you can do. You are not asking someone to think about your death. You are giving them the tools to help your family without weeks of painful searching.
A simple framing:
I have been getting my affairs in order. I want to make sure that if anything ever happened to me, you would know where to find everything. Can I take fifteen minutes to walk you through it?
That is usually enough.
Review it once a year
The information your trusted person holds should stay current.
Set a reminder to review it annually. When anything significant changes, a new bank account, a new insurance policy, a move, an update to your will, pass the relevant details on.
An out-of-date note is still better than nothing. But a current one is what will actually help.
The test to apply
When you are done, ask yourself one question:
If something happened to me tonight, could my trusted person find everything they need within a few hours?
If the answer is yes, you have done the job.
If the answer is no, you know what to do next.
