Life & Legacy Logs — £7.50 PDF / £15 printed

Life & Legacy Logs are practical record-keeping tools designed to make life easier for the people who may one day need to help you.

They do not replace your Will, your Lasting Powers of Attorney, or tailored advice. Their job is different. They help you record the useful details that families, executors and attorneys often need later: what exists, where to find it, who to contact, what has already been arranged, and what may need attention.

Why I created the Life & Legacy Logs

For 15 years, clients have asked me follow-up questions after making Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Those questions often come later, when someone is trying to organise their estate, act as an attorney, support a family member, or understand what an executor may need.

There are many books, journals, checklists and webpages about estate organisation and later-life planning. Some are useful, but many are written for a different legal system, often with a USA focus, or they are too general to answer the practical questions I see in real client work.

I created the Life & Legacy Log series using my experience, training and years of client questions to help people record the information their families, attorneys, executors and advisers may need.

The journey begins with the Will and Lasting Power of Attorney. It does not end there.

The logs are also kept under review. Clients kindly suggest improvements, raise further questions, and point out practical details that matter in real life. The most useful of those suggestions are built into later editions.

PDF copies are £7.50 each. Printed copies are £15 each.

To order, please send a message through the contact form and tell me which log you would like, whether you prefer a PDF or printed copy, and your postal address if you would like a printed version.

Available now

Property Log

The Property Log helps you keep a clear record of the things you physically own, where they are, how they are held, and what your executors or attorneys may need to know later.

It covers homes, land, vehicles, valuables, collections, storage locations, insurance or valuation evidence, property-related documents, key contacts, and practical notes such as access, repairs, improvements, and photo or video records.

Its main value is that it reduces the risk of assets being missed, helps people secure or deal with property quickly, and gives your family a clearer starting point at what may otherwise be a stressful time.

Clear records now mean less confusion later.

Lifetime Gifts Log

The Lifetime Gifts Log helps you keep a clear record of gifts and transfers made during your lifetime, including who received them, when they were made, what they were worth, what exemption or tax treatment may apply, and where the supporting evidence is kept.

This can be especially useful for executors because lifetime gifts can affect inheritance tax reporting, particularly where gifts fall within the seven-year rule, involve trusts, jointly owned assets, business interests, life policies, gifts with reservation of benefit, or regular gifts from surplus income.

Its main value is that it preserves the evidence while it is fresh, so your family and advisers are not left trying to reconstruct years of gifting history from bank statements and memory.

Keep giving clear: record gifts, reasons, dates, and evidence.

LPA Activation Log

The LPA Activation Log helps you keep track of which organisations recognise your registered Lasting Powers of Attorney and what proof they needed before accepting them.

This is useful because banks, insurers, utilities, pension providers, councils, GP practices, care providers and other organisations may each have their own process for checking and recording an LPA.

The log gives you one place to note who was contacted, whether an online activation code or certified copy was used, what reference number was issued, who confirmed registration, and whether any follow-up is needed.

It is intended to reduce repeated searching, repeated explanations and uncertainty when an attorney later needs to deal with an organisation again.

Activate once, record forever.

Finance Log

The Finance Log helps you keep the money side of your affairs in one clear place.

It covers accounts, savings, investments, pensions, insurance, income, benefits, debts, bills, subscriptions, loyalty points, business or trust interests, key financial documents, and pending transactions.

It is designed to help your executors or attorneys see what exists, who holds it, where the paperwork is, and what may need attention if they have to step in.

It also includes space for financial platform access references, without turning the log into a password vault. For sensitive details such as passwords, device access, authenticator routes, recovery codes or crypto-wallet information, it works with the separate Passwords & Access Codes Log, which should be kept separately and securely.

Clear financial records now support clarity later.

Passwords & Access Codes Log

The Passwords & Access Codes Log helps you record or safely signpost the access routes that trusted people may need for important accounts, apps, devices, portals, password managers, authenticator routes and recovery methods.

It is designed to help executors, attorneys or trusted family members find the right route without turning the ordinary Finance Log into a password vault or encouraging unsafe storage of live secrets.

The aim is not to place every sensitive detail in an obvious folder. The aim is to help the right person know where to look, what route to use, and how access is controlled.

It should be kept separately and securely, and only suitable trusted people should know how it can be found when needed.

Record the route, not the secret.

Attorney Spending Log

The Attorney Spending Log helps attorneys and deputies keep a clear record of money spent on behalf of a donor or protected person.

It is designed for day-to-day use, covering bills, shopping, care costs, home repairs, transport, reimbursements, cash withdrawals, professional fees, gifts, family payments, and other spending that may need explaining later.

Its main value is that it records not only what was spent, but why it was for the donor’s benefit and what evidence supports it, such as receipts, invoices, bank entries or emails.

This makes it much easier to answer later questions from family, care providers, banks, the Office of the Public Guardian, or the Court of Protection.

Clear spending records now make difficult questions easier later.

Health & Welfare Log

The Health & Welfare Log helps you record the practical health and day-to-day welfare information that family, carers, attorneys or professionals may need if they are supporting you or someone close to you.

It is designed as one parent product supplied in two parts.

Part 1 covers the health picture, including medical information, medication, emergency details, treatment notes, authority references and key professionals.

Part 2 covers the welfare and day-to-day support picture, including communication, routines, food and drink, mobility, washing and dressing, sleep, distress triggers, familiar comforts, support contacts and short-stay or respite handover notes.

Its main value is that the right helper can be given the right level of information without relying on memory, repeated explanations, or disclosing more than is needed.

Clear health and welfare notes help the right people give the right support.

Prices

PDF copy: £7.50 per log

Printed copy: £15 per log

If you are not sure which log is most relevant, send me a short message and I can point you towards the most useful option.

Coming soon and in development

Further Life & Legacy resources are in development.

Availability, names, formats and versions may change as the series evolves with client use and feedback. If you are interested in one of the planned logs, please mention it when you contact me.

Preferences & Care Log

The Preferences & Care Log remains a possible future development.

Much of its practical care-preference function is currently carried within the Health & Welfare Log, especially the welfare and day-to-day support sections.

It would focuses on personal preferences, routines, likes, dislikes and practical welfare notes, so support can better reflect the person’s wishes.

Memories & Stories Log

The Memories & Stories Log is a future concept for recording the person behind the paperwork.

It may include life story, memories, values, relationships, meaningful objects, favourite places, communication style and personal context that helps others understand the person as a whole.

Practical Affairs Log

The Practical Affairs Log is a parked future concept.

It focuses on narrow life-administration information such as contacts, documents, memberships, subscriptions, entitlements, digital account clues and charitable pledges, without duplicating the Property Log or Finance Log.

Swedish Life Legacy Log

The Swedish Life Legacy Log is a future concept inspired by Swedish death-cleaning principles.

It focuses on possessions, legacy wishes and practical decluttering: what to keep, sell, donate, recycle, dispose of, or pledge to others.

It sits beside the Property Log rather than duplicate it.

Trustee Administration & Spending Log

It  helps record trustee decisions, trust payments, beneficiary distributions, supporting evidence, Trust Registration Service updates, tax-review prompts, 10-year review points and possible exit-charge review points.

It is not a tax calculation tool or a substitute for advice, but it may help trustees, beneficiaries and advisers understand the administration trail later.

Clear trustee records make long-running trusts easier to explain later.

Life & Legacy Book

The Life & Legacy Book is a separate manuscript and wider authority project, not a fill-in log.

It  helps explain the wider Life & Legacy approach and sits alongside the practical logs.

How to order

Please send a message through the contact form and include:

• which log or logs you would like;
• whether you prefer PDF or printed format;
• your postal address if ordering a printed copy;
• any brief note about your situation, if you would like me to suggest the most relevant log.

I will confirm the total and send payment details before anything is supplied.

If you would like help applying this to your circumstances, I can guide you through the options.