In brief
Start a working inventory of possible money, property and possessions. For each item, keep the clue, its source, the ownership question and the next check together. Mark uncertainty rather than deciding that everything you find belongs to the estate. Keep possible debts separately.
Finding an item, confirming ownership and establishing its value are different jobs. This guide helps you organise the first one and record what needs verification. It cannot guarantee that every asset will be found or decide who inherits.
Every Little Thing's planned support connects information with evidence gaps and follow-up tasks, so the work is easier to return to and share. This guide does not search accounts, access documents or contact anyone for you. The blank inventory below works without using ELT.
Copy a working asset inventory
Copy this record into a document or notes app you control. Use one record per possible asset. Keep personal details and copies of documents there, not in this guide. You can start with one known clue; leave the rest marked unknown.
Select the blank asset note or the separate debt note and copy it into a document or notes app you control. Keep personal details there, not in this guide.
ASSET WORKING NOTE Use one note per possible asset. Write unknown when you do not know. WHAT YOU HAVE FOUND Possible asset and type: Where the clue came from / document date / where kept: Person, organisation or property it may relate to: Who owns it? Sole / joint / someone else / unknown: Does it belong to the estate, or could someone else receive it? What needs checking: Who can ask about it? Name or unknown / proof of their role still needed: What information or documents has the organisation asked for? Write unknown if not yet asked: Where to ask / official contact route checked: REPLY AND NEXT CHECK Question sent / date / reference, or not sent: Reply / date / the particular fact it confirms: Value for the date of death: unknown / supplied figure and source: Status: clue / enquired / confirmed / ruled out / unresolved: What is confirmed or ruled out / who confirmed it: Next question / person responsible / next check date: This note is not proof of ownership, estate inclusion, value or entitlement. SEPARATE DEBT NOTE Start a separate note for each possible debt. It need not relate to the asset above. Possible debt / what the letter or other clue says: Where the clue came from / document date / where kept: Who can ask about it / evidence still needed: Reply or unresolved question: Person responsible / next check date / status:
Fictional example: an old statement
This deliberately partial example shows what to leave unknown. Every detail is fictional; it is not a result or a message that has been sent.
FICTIONAL, PARTIALLY FILLED EXAMPLE - NOT A REAL ACCOUNT Possible asset: savings account? Clue: Example Bank paper statement dated 12 March 2025. Ownership: unknown. Does it belong to the estate? Unknown. Value for the date of death: unknown; no balance carried over. Who can ask / proof needed: not yet established. Next question: ask the bank's official bereavement route what authority and evidence it needs before discussing this clue. Person responsible: Alex (fictional). Next check date: not chosen yet. Status: clue. Nothing sent.
Ownership: record what you know and what supports it. A familiar address, a key or a payment reference is a lead, not a settled ownership decision.
Status: use "enquired" when a question has been sent. Use "confirmed" only with a note of the particular fact confirmed and its source. It does not mean the whole estate, tax position or inheritance is settled.
Next check: give the unanswered question an owner and a date. For example: who will ask the relevant organisation what authority it needs before releasing information?
Look beyond bank accounts
GOV.UK's asset-identification guidance includes financial holdings, property and personal possessions, alongside a separate search for debts. It suggests using papers and asking family or existing advisers to identify relevant organisations. Use only records and information you are entitled to access. GOV.UK: identify assets and debts.
Use these prompts to widen the inventory, not as a list of things every person owns:
- Money and financial records: note a bank, savings, investment, pension or insurance clue and the document that names it. Ask the provider what its response would establish and what it needs from the person enquiring.
- Homes, land and other property: note the address or description and any ownership paperwork you can lawfully use. Mark sole, joint or unknown ownership. Ask the appropriate adviser what needs checking rather than assuming the entire property belongs in the estate.
- Household and personal possessions: include relevant furniture, jewellery, collections and other belongings, not just items with account numbers. Record location, the evidence of ownership and any uncertainty before anyone decides what to do with them.
- Vehicles and other interests: note the vehicle or business-interest clue and its paperwork. If you find a finance agreement, record that separately as a question; do not assume that possession means outright ownership.
- Less obvious leads: note references to assets abroad, cryptoassets (such as cryptocurrency) or money owed to the person. Keep the location and evidence of the clue without trying to access a wallet or account.
GOV.UK's valuation guidance lists a wider range of possible assets and explains why joint ownership needs checking. Its tax-valuation process is a later task; this inventory is not a tax calculation or a statement that every listed item is treated alike. GOV.UK: estimate the estate's value.
Turn each clue into a question
Choose a useful next check rather than opening every possible search at once.
An old statement: record the named provider and the document date. Ask what its bereavement enquiry route requires. Do not copy a historical balance into the date-of-death value field as if it were current.
A car in the garage: record the vehicle and available paperwork. Leave ownership unresolved if a lease, loan or another person's interest may be involved. The next task is to establish the position, not to sell or transfer it.
A shared home: look for existing property deeds or title information you may lawfully use. If the ownership position is unclear, take that paperwork to a solicitor or appropriate property adviser and ask: "What does this show about how the home was owned, and what still needs checking?" Record the answer and its source. Do not write "half belongs to the estate" merely because two people lived there.
These are illustrative recording examples, not decisions about a particular estate. Keep replies with the original clues so someone helping later can see why an item was confirmed, ruled out or left unresolved.
Check who can make the enquiry
A family relationship and a useful clue do not establish what records an organisation will release to you. Ask which person can enquire, what evidence it needs and whether a legal document is required for the particular action. Do not use the deceased person's password or signed-in account as a shortcut.
For England and Wales, GOV.UK explains the personal representative's responsibilities and that probate may be needed before dealing with some assets. Preparing a clue list is not permission to collect or distribute those assets. GOV.UK: dealing with an estate.
Scotland: the official route uses confirmation, a court document, and a formal inventory. This blank working record is not that court inventory or an application. Follow the Scottish Courts guidance for the relevant estate. Scottish Courts: estate and confirmation guide.
Northern Ireland: use nidirect's estate and probate guidance for the appropriate representative and grant route, rather than an England and Wales application. nidirect: money and property after a death.
Where ownership, authority or cross-border arrangements are unclear, record the issue and seek appropriate advice. Do not turn uncertainty into a completed item.
Keep debts and value questions distinct
A letter may concern money owed by the person rather than money belonging to them. Start a separate debt note using the standalone prompts above, with its source and a person responsible for checking it. It does not need to relate to any asset you have listed. Do not offset an unverified debt against an assumed asset value.
Leave date-of-death value blank or unknown until there is a relevant figure and source. Record whether it is an estimate or a figure supplied for that date. Ownership, estate inclusion and valuation may each need a different answer; this guide does not determine tax treatment or give valuation advice.
When the inventory leads to a specialist search
This page builds an estate-wide clue list. A probable-provider list is a narrower account-finding task; a lost-money search map helps choose financial tracing routes. Neither should replace recording property, possessions and unresolved ownership here.
For the narrower task of building a probable-provider list, see Finding accounts after a death. That account-finding guide does not replace this wider property-and-possessions inventory.
If a financial clue needs further tracing, use the appropriate service's current instructions and check whether it accepts a deceased person's representative. Finding a match is not proof of entitlement or payment. Keep the result in this inventory with the next evidence question.
How Every Little Thing is designed to help
Every Little Thing's planned service is comprehensive practical support before or after a death. For this task, the practical link is between a clue, its supporting document, the person able to ask about it and the reply that changes the next step.
The FAM Record is the information foundation, bringing together Finances, Arrangements and Memories. In your own working inventory, keep unverified details marked unknown rather than treating a note as proof.
Everlynne is ELT's AI assistant. The intended service uses the record and an action ledger to prepare agreed requests, obtain your approval, send through accepted routes and follow up, with human help for exceptions. Organisations and professionals still apply their own requirements and make their own decisions.
The aim is less to hold in your head and a clearer handover to the people you choose to involve, leaving more attention for family and everyday life. It is not a promise of a complete inventory, legal authority or money recovered.
The linked page introduces ELT's planned support. On that page, choose "See how ELT work" to view a fictional example, with nothing sent. It is not available to purchase yet. Opening it does not start a search, create your record or contact a provider.