In short
Once a year, spend an hour on your plan. Update the inventory, check that every backup is where the letter says it is, update devices, confirm your helpers are still reachable, and re-date the letter.
A plan goes out of date without anyone noticing. Pick a fixed date, such as your birthday or the start of the tax year, and put it in your calendar with this page linked.
The checklist
What you own
- Inventory updated: new accounts and wallets added, closed ones crossed out.
- Rough values updated, so your heirs know what’s worth chasing.
- Every exchange you use is still operating and still serves your country.
Where the secrets are
- Each seed backup is where the letter says it is, readable and undamaged.
- Each backup still matches its wallet. Most hardware wallets have a “check backup” function that does this without revealing anything.
- Envelopes held by other people are still sealed and still with them.
Devices and software
- Firmware updated on each hardware wallet.
- Any security notices from your wallet makers read and acted on.
- Wallet configuration files (for multisig or timelock wallets) still readable, on media that still works.
- Timelock wallets refreshed, well before the deadline.
People
- Executor, helper and keyholders still willing, still reachable, contact details current.
- Anyone who has fallen out of the picture (a divorce, a move, a falling-out) removed from the plan, and their access dealt with.
The letter
- Letter of instruction re-read, corrected and dated.
- Old copies destroyed, so there’s only one current version.
- Your executor knows where the latest version is.
Every few years: a real test
Once every two or three years, do a full rehearsal with the person most likely to need it. Let them follow the letter, with you watching, up to the point where they’d see a balance. Don’t let them type seed words into a computer during a test; use the device itself or a spare device.
Expect to find a few things you hadn’t thought of; finding them now is why you test.
After a big change
Don’t wait for the yearly date if something big happens: a marriage or divorce, a child, a move abroad, a new wallet setup or a large purchase. Update the plan then.
The free templates include an inventory and letter you can simply re-date and reprint each year.