If Something Happens to You: The Family Financial Handover Guide (+ Free Excel Template)
The Real Problem Is Not Money, It Is Information
When the main earner dies or becomes incapacitated, families often discover that the money exists but nobody knows where. Which banks? Which policies? Is there a locker? Who is the contact at the broker? Claims get delayed by months, and some assets are simply never claimed.
Being well-invested does not protect your family if only you know the details. A handover sheet is not an investment product and earns nothing. Its only job is to make your family's first weeks less chaotic.
Nominee, Legal Heir and Will Are Three Different Things
A nominee is the person the institution pays or hands the asset to. In general, a nominee acts as a custodian for the rightful heirs rather than becoming the automatic owner. Who actually inherits is decided by your Will, or by succession law if there is no Will. Insurance has a narrower rule for close-family beneficiary nominees. Because the details depend on the asset and your family, confirm them with a lawyer.
Practical takeaways: keep nominees updated everywhere, make sure they match your Will, and do not assume that naming a nominee settles who inherits.
What the Recent Rule Changes Mean for You
Bank accounts, lockers and safe custody: under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act 2025, you can name up to 4 nominees, effective 1 November 2025, either together with percentage shares adding up to 100 or one after another in sequence.
Demat accounts and mutual fund folios: under SEBI's nomination changes effective 1 September 2026, single-holder accounts must either name a nominee or sign a declaration opting out. Up to 3 nominees are allowed. Check with your broker or AMC what applies to your existing accounts.
Bank claims: RBI's 2025 directions on deceased customers' claims ask banks to settle deposit claims within 15 days of receiving complete documents, with compensation for delay. If there is no nominee, a simplified route exists for smaller balances (up to Rs 5 lakh at co-operative banks and Rs 15 lakh at other banks). Larger amounts can need a succession certificate or probate. Provident fund and small-savings schemes such as PPF and SCSS follow their own rules.
What to Record: The Short List
The template has 28 tabs. In plain terms it captures these things, so your family never has to guess:
| Area | What the family needs to know |
|---|---|
| Banks, deposits, bonds | Bank and branch, account type, holders, nominee, linked auto-debits |
| Mutual funds, stocks, demat | Where held (AMC, broker, depository), folio or client ID, nominee, running SIPs |
| EPF, NPS, PPF and similar | Which schemes exist, in whose name, nominee, where the passbook or UAN details are |
| Insurance | Insurer, policy number, cover, premium due date, who to call |
| Property, vehicles, gold, lockers | Where documents are kept, co-owners, loans against them |
| Loans and credit cards | Lender, outstanding amount, EMI, whether insured |
| Bills and auto-debits | What gets paid automatically so nothing lapses |
| Business, foreign assets, digital assets | Who runs what, where accounts are, how to reach the key person |
| Will, documents, contacts | Where the Will is, who the executor is, CA, lawyer, advisor, key contacts |
| Unclaimed and dormant money | Old accounts, forgotten policies and a checklist to hunt for them |
The Rules for Filling It Safely
1. Never type passwords, PINs, OTPs, CVV numbers or crypto seed phrases. Write only where the family can find them, for example which password manager or which safe holds the emergency access sheet.
2. Mask account numbers: the last 4 digits plus the bank name is enough to identify an account.
3. Protect the file with a password (in Excel: File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password) and tell a trusted person where the password is kept. Do not write the password in the file.
4. Keep a printed copy somewhere safe and update it every 6 months and after big events such as marriage, a birth, a new loan, a new job or buying property.
5. Keep the file off shared or public cloud folders unless it is encrypted.
What Your Family Does First (Built Into the Template)
The template includes a Family Action Plan tab with about 20 steps in order: get death certificates, inform the employer, insurers and banks, file the provident fund claim, trace mutual funds and demat holdings, secure property, and look for unclaimed money. For an EPF death claim, the forms involved are Form 20 (PF), Form 10D (pension) and Form 5IF (insurance), filed through the EPFO member portal. Your family should check current procedures with EPFO or the employer.
It also includes a Nominee Check tab that counts entries with no nominee or an unclear one, so you can fix gaps while you are alive to fix them.
Finding Forgotten or Unclaimed Money
Money can sit unclaimed in dormant bank accounts, old mutual fund folios, uncollected dividends and shares, forgotten insurance policies and old provident fund accounts. Regulators run official search facilities for these categories. Search the web for the regulator's own site and type the address yourself instead of following links in messages, since fake claim sites are a common scam. The template's Unclaimed & Dormant tab has a checklist.
Limits: What This Sheet Cannot Do
It is not a Will, not legal advice and not a valuation. Totals on the Summary tab are rough planning figures that depend entirely on what you enter, and they do not update themselves from your accounts. A sheet nobody can find or open is useless, so tell your spouse or one trusted person it exists and where it is. Finally, for anything involving a Will, property transfer or large claims, speak to a qualified lawyer or CA.