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What records should you keep?

Four quick assessments. Your personalised next three records to sort first.

✓ Updated 2026 · England & Wales
Free

England & Wales · Scotland and Northern Ireland differ in some areas · Informational, not legal advice

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Your assessments save on this device only. No email, no account, no tracking. Download the A4 reference anytime — yours to keep.
Four assessments — about thirty seconds

Where does each part of your file stand?

One judgement per section. Approximate is fine — these aren't audited claims. Your next three records appear below as you go.

PPersonal
Do your records exist?
The substance of your life — finance, identity, property, medical, family, business.
RRegistry
Are your records current?
The registry layer — people, places, renewals, the master index.
SSecure
Can someone access them?
The secure layer — kept at Location B, never co-located with Location A.
EEvents
Would the right things happen?
The protocols — completed when (or if) a specific event occurs.
Your starting sequence will appear here

Make a judgement on any of the four sections above. Your next three records to address will appear here.

The full Valoren records architecture — an index, not a checklist. The 33 records group into four series; open a series to read its records. Your roadmap above sequences which to address first.

Start here — back to your roadmap
P-01Digital Access MapEvery account on every device — emails, banking apps, government portals, social media, cloud storage.Start here
P-02Financial AccountsBanks, savings, investments, ISAs, pensions (DB / DC / SIPP / SSAS), shareholdings — with masked references.Start here
P-03Asset InventoryVehicles, valuables, art, collectibles. Bands not exact figures.Build out
P-04Income & OutgoingsSalary, pensions in payment, rents in. Direct debits, standing orders, subscriptions out.Build out
P-05Civil DossierBirth, marriage, and civil certificates — the originals probate requires, and where the certified copies are kept. (Biographical detail lives in P-15 Personal Record.)Start here
P-06Policy IndexLife, critical illness, income protection, household, motor — with provider contact and reference numbers.Start here
P-07Legal InstrumentsWill, LPAs, advance decision, trusts, deeds, powers — what exists and where the originals are kept.Start here
P-08Medical AbstractConditions, medications, allergies, GP details, named clinicians. Article 9 special-category data — explicit consent only.Build out
P-09Property FolioOwned, rented, leased property — title numbers, mortgages, insurers, local authority, freeholder if any.Build out
P-10Succession PlanBeneficiary nominations, expression-of-wish forms, trust beneficiaries — with execution dates and review cadence.Build out
P-11Digital Legacy RegistryPhotos, creative work, files, cloud collections — with intent (preserve / transfer / publish / archive / destroy).Build out
P-12Business Interests & DirectorshipsLimited companies, partnerships, PSC entries, shareholdings — with Companies House references.Build out
P-13Funeral & Committal WishesDisposal preference, service type, music, charity, gathering. Funded or unfunded.Build out
P-14Dependent Care & HandoffChildren, pets, vulnerable adults — feeding, medication, schools, guardians, bridge funds.Build out
P-15Personal RecordMother's maiden name, place of birth, occupation, previous legal names, children, previous addresses, previous marriages. The biographical baseline an executor needs in the first 5 days.Build out
R-01Master RegistryThe single page that lists what exists and where, by status. The first page your Trusted Persons reads.Build out
R-02Renewal RegisterEvery expiry date — passports, licences, registrations, policies. With the day each lapses.Build out
R-03People, Authority & ContactsTrusted Persons, executors, attorneys, named professionals — solicitor, accountant, IFA, doctor.Build out
R-04Designated PlacesWhere physical documents live — Location A (home / binder / portal) and Location B (separate, sealed, away).Start here
R-05Kinship & Succession MapSpouse/partner, children, and wider kin in intestacy priority order — relationship, alive/predeceased status, and domicile/long-term-UK-residence facts.Build out
S-01Access ControlsMaster password, device PIN, recovery codes, 2FA backup keys. The WARRANT — sealed, separate.Start here
S-02Recovery RoutesBackup paths if a device is lost, a phone broken, an account locked. Provider-by-provider.Build out
S-03Custody & ContingencyPhysical asset custody — safe, deposit, family member. Access chain failure modes.Build out
E-01Death & Estate ActivationWhat to do, in what order. Who to call first. What documents the Trusted Persons needs to find.Prepare in advance
E-02Incapacity & Medical ProxyLPA activation, advance decision routing, named clinicians, communication preferences.Prepare in advance
E-03Absence & Continuity CoverExtended absence (travel, hospital, abroad). Direct debits and obligations covered while away.Prepare in advance
E-04Access Loss & Identity RecoveryLocked out, phone broken, account compromised — the recovery sequence per provider.Prepare in advance
E-05Legal Dispute & Evidence ProtocolWhat documents matter, how to preserve them, who to brief — solicitor, witnesses, audit trail.Prepare in advance
E-06Theft & Asset CompromiseStolen wallet, hacked account, identity theft — provider order, police, credit reference agencies.Prepare in advance
E-07Property Damage & Incident ResponseFlood, fire, break-in. Insurer order, claim sequence, immediate temporary accommodation.Prepare in advance
E-08Relocation & Address Update ProtocolMove house — every notification, every renewal, every linked record.Prepare in advance
E-09Separation & Custody DocumentationUpdate joint records, isolate shared accesses. Refer to a regulated family solicitor for legal steps.Prepare in advance
E-10Business Interruption & ContinuityDirector or sole-trader continuity. ECCTA implications. Companies House notifications.Prepare in advance
§III

Common questions

What personal records does every adult need?

The eight core areas are: banking and money (accounts, pensions, debts), identity and legal (will, LPA, passport), property and utilities, subscriptions and services, devices and digital access, work and income, health and care, and people and first contacts.

A complete household dossier means each area is documented — location known, retrievable the same day, and the trusted person you would name could find it just as fast.

What is a Records Roadmap and how does it work?

The Records Roadmap is a free two-part tool.

Mode A (primary): four quick self-assessments — one per record series — that output your personalised next three records to address first, weighted by tier and adjusted for what you said in the Estate Readiness Quiz if you took it.

Mode B (secondary): a full expandable accordion of all 33 canonical records grouped by priority tier (Start here / Build out / Prepare in advance).

What happens if I don't have my records in order?

If you die or lose capacity without documented records, your executor or family must reconstruct your life from scratch.

Banks freeze accounts on death — the executor needs account details and the right paperwork to access them. Subscriptions keep billing until someone with the login intervenes.

An undocumented estate can take years longer to administer. The continuity footprint audit covers this in detail.

Is the Records Roadmap linked to the Estate Readiness Quiz?

Yes. If you previously completed the Estate Readiness Quiz on this browser, the roadmap picks this up and weights your personalised next-three sequence toward the areas the quiz flagged as gaps.

You can use the general roadmap instead at any time — there's a toggle at the top of the tool.

Do I need to create an account to use the Records Roadmap?

No account, no email, no card.

Your four assessments are stored on your device only using browser localStorage. They are never sent to Valoren's servers unless you choose to subscribe and sync your data to the portal.

Library

Free guides behind the Records Roadmap

These free briefs cover the specific record areas the roadmap surfaces.

All guides are available free from the Valoren library — no account required.

Plate R · Related

If this was useful, you might also need —

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