The Heir Education Module
How the family is prepared to inherit and act — who holds the Family Guide, which professionals the heirs have met, the record of family meetings, and the legacy documents left behind.
Where this Module fits
E-03 Module 3 of 9 in the Estate area — step 4 of 4 on the dependency ladder (System → At-Home → Financial → Estate).
Opens the people-in-your-plan pair — the heirs who will inherit.
Adds to The Secure Guide: Family Guide distribution log, introductions, meeting record, legacy documents.
Adds to The Family Guide: The plain-language plan summary and roles — the heirs' orientation.
Every Module adds one section to each guide — that is how the two guides assemble as you work. See what you're building.
Text file — the flexible one. Use it as-is, paste it into a spreadsheet, open it in any editor, or paste it into an AI tool to reshape the blank form to fit your family: rename a field, add a row, drop one you don't need.
Print / PDF — the ready-to-use one. Print it and fill it in by hand, or choose Save as PDF and complete it in your own offline PDF app. Either way it stays with you — the finished Secure Guide template goes inside your Vault.
One rule: only ever give an AI tool the blank template. Never paste your real information — passwords, account numbers, anything you'd keep secret — into an AI tool, an online service, or anywhere outside your own Vault. Customizing an empty form is fine; filling it in happens privately, offline. That's the same rule this site follows: nothing sensitive ever leaves your hands.
Secure Guide Starter Template — Heir Education
This template belongs in The Secure Guide, stored within The Vault. Update as the Family Guide is distributed and as heirs are introduced to professionals.
The Family Guide is your heir education document — not as a metaphor, but as the design. A guide that only the primary planner can find is not a guide; it is notes. This section records the step that turns the document into preparation: who holds a copy, whether the copy is current, and which of the professionals on the first-calls page the heirs have actually met.
Heir education is a practice, not an event — a regular, low-stakes rhythm of sharing, answering questions, and updating the people who need to know. The annual review is its natural container. Ten of those minutes each year go to the one habit every heir needs and most never learn until it is tested: how this family confirms an unusual request is real. The callback on a known number, the pre-agreed check, why a familiar voice is not by itself proof of identity. An heir who has rehearsed the habit once, in calm, is the one who uses it under pressure.
| Recipient | Relationship / Role | Copy Format | Location Shared | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical / Digital / Both | ||||
| Physical / Digital / Both | ||||
| Physical / Digital / Both |
| Professional | Role | Has Met Heirs | Heirs Have Contact Info | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estate Attorney | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
| Financial Advisor | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
| Insurance Agent | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
| Executor / Trustee | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
| Accountant / CPA | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
| Date | Participants | Topics Covered | Follow-Up Items |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document | Recipient | Location | Date Written | Last Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy letter | ||||
| Letter of instruction | ||||
| Personal notes or memoir | ||||
Family Guide Starter Template — Heir Education
This template belongs in The Family Guide. It orients heirs to the estate plan and the people who can help.
In the matching Secure Guide section: Family Guide distribution log, introductions, meeting record, legacy documents.
That detail is what makes recovery possible — and it is protected in the Vault, which opens with The Vault Key. The key is never written here, by design. The people listed on this page know how it is kept, and the steward's job is to keep that path current, so this page never leads to a locked door.
A short message reassuring heirs that the guide was prepared for them; if reading because something has happened, start with the contacts page and first-calls section.
Brief description of the plan (e.g., revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable powers of attorney, healthcare directives), who holds the documents, and where originals are stored.
| Role | Name | Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executor | Named in the will | ||
| Successor Trustee | Named in the trust | ||
| Power of Attorney | Manages financial affairs if incapacitated | ||
| Healthcare Proxy | Makes medical decisions if incapacitated |
| Name | Role | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Estate attorney | ||
| Financial advisor | ||
| Out-of-area family hub | ||
Duplicated from the Communications Module on purpose — reaching The Secure Guide can take time, and this page should never be a barrier. Anything that has utility and passes the kitchen-counter test may be copied from The Secure Guide to wherever it is useful; The Family Guide is derived from The Secure Guide through exactly that filter. Refresh both at the review.
Where The Secure Guide is located by place-name and how a trusted person reaches it — the path is a person, not a password: name who opens it if the planner can't.
Do not make major financial or legal decisions in the first thirty days without speaking with the attorney and financial advisor.
Anything this page's reader should know that the sections above didn't ask for — the exceptions, the house quirks, the thing you would say out loud while handing this page over.
For more information on how to use these templates, see The Recoverable Family book.
Worked example — Frank's family
Lily found the go-bags during a school project on emergency preparedness and asked the question Frank didn't have a good answer to: “Is there a plan if something happens to both of you?” There was — she had just never seen it. That evening Frank walked her through the Family Guide: the first-calls page, the binder tabs, where the guide lives. The log below is what turned “Dad has a system” into “we know the plan.”
All details are fictional and illustrative. The assembled example guides live at the example Secure Guide and the example Family Guide.
Secure Guide — Frank's entry
The Heir Education section of the Mercers' Secure Guide:
| Recipient | Relationship / Role | Copy Format | Location Shared | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah | Spouse / executor | Physical + digital | Household binder; her password-manager emergency access opens the digital copy | 2026-06 |
| Tom Mercer | Brother / successor executor + guardian | Physical | Updated copy handed over at the June family dinner | 2026-06 |
| Lily (17) | Daughter | Walked through — no copy held | Knows the binder shelf, and that Uncle Tom holds a copy | 2026-06 |
| Jacob (15) | Son | Age-appropriate version | Knows: binder in the office, call Aunt Ellen, ask Uncle Tom | 2026-06 |
| Professional | Role | Has Met Heirs | Heirs Have Contact Info | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth Alvarez | Estate attorney | Sarah — yes; the kids know the name | Yes — first-calls page | Executor conversation with Tom on the fall-review agenda |
| Elena Vargas | Financial advisor | Sarah — yes; Lily once, at the office | Yes | — |
| Pete Sandoval | Insurance agent | No | Yes | The name on the page is enough for now |
| Tom Mercer | Successor executor / trustee | Family | Yes | Holds his own copy of the Family Guide |
| Marcus Lee | CPA | No | Yes | Ruth or Elena would loop him in |
| Date | Participants | Topics Covered | Follow-Up Items |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01 | Frank + Sarah | Annual review: accounts, insurance, the January structure walk | Horizon rollover decision; insurance review with Pete |
| 2026-06 | All four, plus Tom by phone | That the plan exists and where it lives; the first-calls order; the ten-minute verification drill — callback on a known number, the family code word, why a familiar voice isn't proof of identity | Lily asked for the college-accounts walkthrough next year; repeat the drill every June |
| Document | Recipient | Location | Date Written | Last Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy letter (to Lily) | Lily | Sealed in the Vault — logged in the Family Compass Module's Private Letters log | 2026-05 | Opens at graduation, not “after” — on purpose |
| Letter of instruction | Whoever acts first | The Family Guide's own orientation page, signed and dated | 2026-06 | Reviewed each June |
| Personal notes / memoir | — | Not started — on the someday list, honestly | — | — |
Family Guide — Frank's entry
The orientation page of the Family Guide — the first page inside the front cover.
| Role | Name | Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executor | Sarah (for Frank) / Frank (for Sarah); successor: Tom Mercer | 555-0119 | Named in the wills |
| Successor Trustee | Tom Mercer | 555-0119 | Named in the trust |
| Power of Attorney | Each other; successor: Tom | — | Manages money matters if one of us can't |
| Healthcare Proxy | Each other | — | Care wishes are written in our own words — Elder Care page |
| Guardian (the kids) | Tom Mercer; alternate: Beth Keller | 555-0119 / 555-0163 | Named in the wills; both said yes before being named |
| Name | Role | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Ruth Alvarez | Estate attorney | 555-0177 |
| Elena Vargas | Financial advisor | 555-0146 |
| Uncle Tom | Successor executor / first practical call | 555-0119 |
| Aunt Ellen | Out-of-area family hub | 555-0142 |
Yes, these numbers also live on the Communications page — duplicated here on purpose, so this page works alone.
Do not make major financial or legal decisions in the first thirty days without speaking with Ruth and Elena.