Get organized so your family won't have to.
A guided, private place to put everything your family will need — built at your own pace.
For the to-do that gets harder if you wait
Start the plan that saves your family a year.
An estate without a plan can take twelve months to close, and loses 3–7% of its value to probate. That year of paperwork runs in parallel with your family's grief. Pick a starting point below. With Passings, the work becomes hours, not days.
Where to start
Documents — for you
The seven documents that change everything.
Most adults are missing at least four. None take more than an hour each. All of them live in one secure place after.
- Sunday afternoon
The legal four
- Will — current, witnessed
- Healthcare proxy — who decides when you can't
- Advance directive — what you do and don't want
- Power of attorney — finances, when needed
- An evening
Account inventory
- Bank, brokerage, retirement
- Life insurance, long-term care
- Deeds, titles, safe-deposit key
- Thirty minutes
The passwords your family can't recover
- Apple ID, phone passcode, primary email
- These are nearly impossible to retrieve later — even with a death certificate
- Stored encrypted, released to the people you choose
One vault. Family knows where it is. Free to start, no card required.
Documents — helping a parent
The conversation, then the seven documents.
Start with the document inventory — it's the least loaded entry point. The hard conversations open from there.
- First weekend
Find out what already exists
- Is there a will? When was it last updated?
- Healthcare proxy and advance directive in writing?
- Power of attorney for finances?
- If gaps, an estate attorney covers all four in one sitting
- A quiet hour
The account inventory
- Where the will is, who has copies
- Bank, brokerage, retirement, insurance
- Deeds, titles, safe-deposit access
- While they can recall
The passwords nobody can recover later
- Apple ID, phone passcode, email — frame as logistics, not urgency
- Family vault lets multiple people hold access keys
Their vault, shared with you. You see only what they release.
These steps are general guidance only — not legal, medical, or financial advice. Every situation is different. Consult a licensed attorney, physician, or financial advisor for decisions specific to your circumstances.
What unplanned actually costs
The numbers nobody puts on the brochure.
Most of these are avoidable. Not all — but most. Each number below points to a decision that takes between thirty minutes and an afternoon.
of US adults don't have a will
Half of those who do have one that's out of date.
of estate value lost to probate
Plus six to twelve months. Avoidable for most assets with named beneficiaries and a current trust.
to close an unplanned estate
From the day of death to the day the estate is settled — a year of paperwork running alongside grief.
average traditional funeral, decided in 48 hours
Pre-need arrangement locks in today's price and removes the time pressure.
Numbers cited as widely-reported industry figures and will be sourced with citations on the production page. Where ranges appear (3–7%, 6–12 months), the variance is by state and estate complexity.
Feature · Document Vault
One vault. Everything that matters.
The first decision your family will make is "where do I look?" Save them three days of phone calls and locked-out accounts.
What lives inside
Encrypted at rest. Released only to the people you name, and only after a verification process you control. You see what's in it; they see only what you release.
- Legal documents — will, healthcare proxy, advance directive, POA, trusts
- The recoverless passwords — Apple ID, phone, primary email, password manager keys
- Accounts & assets — bank, brokerage, retirement, life insurance, real estate, vehicles
- Beneficiaries & designations — who gets what, on which account
- Where the physical things live — safe-deposit, fireproof box, the manila folder in the desk
Feature · Legacy Center
The part of you they'll actually keep.
The will gets filed. The vault gets opened once. The voice memo from 2025 — that one gets played every birthday for thirty years. Add letters, recordings, photographs, and the stories that go with them.
Yours to give. Theirs to keep.
Released the way you choose, to the people you choose — now, on a birthday, on a wedding, after. Add to it over years, on Sunday afternoons.
- Letters to specific people, sealed until the date you set
- Voice memos & short video — five minutes is enough
- Photographs with the stories that go with them — names, places, why
- Recipes, family history, who-knows-what — the things only you know
- Released on your terms — birthday, wedding, milestone, after
Feature · Guided checklist → your Plan
A guided checklist. A plan your family can use.
A short wizard learns your situation — family, assets, state, faith — then shows you only the tasks that apply. Tick them at your own pace, bring family in where it helps. The Plan composes itself as you go.
Tailored to you. Ticked at your pace.
Each task is one decision — not a whole document. The checklist hides anything that doesn't apply, so you're never staring at a list meant for someone else.
- Guided & interactive — at your own pace, save and resume anytime
- Tailored to you — the wizard surfaces only the tasks that apply to your situation
- Collaborative, with permission control — invite spouse, executor, adult children; you set what they see and when
- Plan ready to hand off — a readable document your family opens the day they need it
- Free to start. No card. Email only when you're ready to save
- Add features as you go — vault, Legacy Center, marketplace, all in one place
Side by side
What it actually looks like — with and without.
Same six categories. Two very different versions of what your family does in the year after.
When it would help
Vetted people who do this every day.
You don't need an attorney to start a plan. You'll want one before you sign it. Same for the pre-need arrangement and the cemetery decision. Vetted providers, transparent pricing, booked directly through Passings.
Reading the page and starting a plan are free. You only pay a provider when they do work for you.
A few common questions
Things people ask before starting.
I'm healthy and in my 40s. Is it really worth doing this now?
Yes — and not because anything's imminent. The cheapest, easiest version of every document on this page is the one written when you're healthy. Will, healthcare proxy, advance directive, beneficiary review — all easier to do calmly than reactively. Most of it costs less than your last vacation. It's the only thing on your list this year that gets harder if you wait.
What does this actually cost?
Passings itself: free to start, no card. You only pay a marketplace provider — an attorney, financial advisor, pre-need funeral — when they do work for you. Typical ranges: simple will + healthcare proxy + advance directive, $300–$800 flat fee; direct cremation pre-need, $1.5K–$3K; full pre-need funeral, $7K–$11K. We surface providers' pricing on every listing before you book.
Will or trust?
For most estates under about $1M with no minor children, a current witnessed will is enough. Above that — or with significant real estate across states, complex blended families, or special-needs heirs — a revocable trust usually pays for itself in avoided probate. An estate attorney walks you through this in one sitting. Don't guess; it's the conversation they have every day.
Why share the plan with family if I just spent time on it?
Because the plan only works if the right person finds it. Half the value is in your executor and family knowing where to look — without that, your work shows up six months into probate. You control who sees what, and when. Many readers share read-only with a spouse and adult child; that's plenty.
Is it secure?
Documents and the Legacy Center are encrypted at rest. Release rules are yours to set. Zero-knowledge documents can't be read by anyone at Passings. We use the same identity-verification pattern banks use for account recovery — your nominated people verify themselves before any release happens.
My parent won't talk about any of this. What do I do?
Don't lead with funerals. Lead with logistics: "where's the safe deposit key?", "where's the will?", "what's your Apple ID for the photos?" Most conversations open from there. If they're stuck, the Plan engine has a script-style intake they can fill at their pace — and you don't have to be the one asking the questions out loud.
How Passings works
Step 1: Answer a few questions
Faith tradition, family situation, and state — so your checklist fits your life.
Step 2: Get your personalized plan
Thousands of tasks across 13 categories, tailored to your specific situation.
Step 3: Complete at your own pace
Save and return anytime. Everything auto-saves. No pressure, no deadlines.
Step 4: Give your family clarity
When the time comes, your family has a clear blueprint — organized and accessible.