A next of kin checklist is the list of things someone would have to find if you were suddenly not there: the accounts, the policies, the documents, and the practical details of running your household. The Nokbox is one well known way to organise all of that, as a physical box of labelled folders. You do not have to buy anything to get most of the benefit. Below is a free printable checklist of the seven categories that actually matter, which you can work through this weekend using folders you already own.
The useful part of any system like this was never the box. It is the list. Once you know what the categories are, the filing is the easy bit.
What is the Nokbox, and what is actually in it?
The Nokbox is a physical filing system sold by a US company, built around the idea of organising everything your next of kin would need in one place. Depending on the kit, it includes colour coded hanging folders, labelled file folders and double sided check sheets that prompt you for the information to record.
A few things worth knowing before you decide whether you need one:
- It is a range, not one product. At the time of writing the kits run from roughly $60 for the lightest version up to roughly $180 for the fire resistant one, with the standard box in between. Check their site for current pricing, because it moves.
- It is paper. There is no digital layer. What you get is a well thought out set of folders and prompts.
- The fire version is fire resistant, not fireproof. The company says so itself, which is to their credit. No consumer document box survives everything.
None of that is a criticism. It is a genuinely well designed product and plenty of people find that having a physical object on a shelf is exactly what makes them finally do the job. But it is worth being clear about what you are paying for, because the thinking is the valuable part and the thinking is something you can do with a ring binder.
The free printable next of kin checklist
Seven categories. Print this page, or copy the headings into whatever you already use. Work down the list and tick what you have recorded.
1. Emergency overview
The page someone reads first, in the first few hours, when simple decisions get hard.
- [ ] Local emergency number, whether that is 911, 999 or 112 where you live
- [ ] Primary care doctor, name and phone
- [ ] A neighbour or nearby friend who can get into the house
- [ ] Vet or pet boarding, and what the animals need
- [ ] Where the alarm code is written down
- [ ] Where the spare keys are
- [ ] Who collects the children, and who the school will release them to
2. Finance and assets
Not balances, which change. Locations, which do not.
- [ ] Each bank, which account is for bills and which for savings, and the last four digits
- [ ] Where the statements and logins are kept
- [ ] Credit cards, issuer and the lost card phone number
- [ ] Investment, pension and retirement accounts, with a contact number for each
- [ ] What is on automatic payment and what has to be paid by hand
- [ ] Mortgage or rent: who it is with and when it is due
- [ ] Any physical cash kept in the house, and where
3. Insurance and medical
- [ ] Health cover: insurer or national health service, and where the card is kept
- [ ] Life, home, car and travel policies, with the provider and the claims number
- [ ] One page per person: conditions, current medications and doses, allergies
- [ ] Who treats each person: doctor, consultants, dentist, pharmacy
- [ ] Where vaccination records and recent results live
This section is covered properly in our guide to building a family medical binder, including the one place the usual security rule has to bend.
4. Digital life
The section almost everyone forgets, and the one that locks families out.
- [ ] Primary email account, and where its recovery details are kept
- [ ] Phone, tablet and laptop: where the unlock codes are recorded
- [ ] Password manager, and where the way into it is kept
- [ ] Two factor backup codes for the main email, and where they live
- [ ] Subscriptions that bill automatically, with the rough cost and renewal date
- [ ] Social accounts, and what you would want done with them
5. Legal and estate
- [ ] Will: where the signed original is, not a copy in the folder
- [ ] Executor and trustee, names and phone numbers
- [ ] Power of attorney, and who holds it
- [ ] Advance directive or living will, and where it is lodged
- [ ] Solicitor or attorney, and accountant
- [ ] Where passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates are kept
- [ ] Deeds, title documents and any loan agreements
6. Household operations
If a pipe bursts while you are in hospital, can anyone else run the house?
- [ ] Water, gas and electricity shut offs: where they are, ideally with a photograph
- [ ] Utility accounts, provider and account number
- [ ] The plumber and electrician you actually trust
- [ ] Wi-Fi network and password
- [ ] Vehicles: registration, where the insurance document is
- [ ] Bin collection, alarm company, anything on a contract
7. Final wishes
- [ ] Burial or cremation
- [ ] Preferred funeral director, if you have one in mind
- [ ] Organ donation preference
- [ ] Where any letters to family are kept
- [ ] Birthdays, blood types and key medical notes for each family member
- [ ] Anything you would hate to be guessed at
Physical box or printable file?
Both work. They fail in different ways, which is the useful way to choose.
| A physical kit | A printable or fillable file | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Folders, labels and prompts, ready to fill. Nothing to set up. | The structure and the prompts. You supply the folder. |
| Getting it | Has to be posted to you. Outside the country of sale, postage can cost more than the kit. | Downloads anywhere, same price everywhere. |
| Updating it | Cross out and rewrite, or reprint the sheet. | Edit and reprint the page that changed. |
| Fire and water | A fire resistant version buys you time, not certainty. | The file survives the house. The printout does not. |
| If you move | One more box to carry, and one more box to lose. | Moves with your files. |
| Suits you if | You need a physical object on a shelf to make yourself do it. | You would rather start tonight than wait for delivery. |
How do you build one in an afternoon?
- Get seven folders. Dividers in a ring binder work just as well. Label them with the seven headings above.
- Do the emergency overview first. It is the shortest section and the one most likely to be used.
- Work from your bank app and your email, not your memory. Search your inbox for “statement”, “policy” and “renewal”. That one trick finds the accounts you forgot you had.
- Leave gaps. A half filled section beats an empty folder. Go back to it.
- Date the front page. Undated information gets treated with suspicion, and rightly.
- Tell one person where it is. This is the step that makes the other five count. A perfect folder nobody can find is a folder that does not exist.
What should never go in it
This is the part most checklists get wrong, and it is the difference between a folder that is safe to own and one that is a liability.
The rule we use is locator, not storer. Record where a sensitive thing is kept. Never copy the secret itself into the folder.
So you write “the password manager master password is in the sealed envelope in the safe”, not the password. You write “the will is with Murphy and Co, signed March 2024”, not a photocopy of the will. You write the insurer’s name and where the card lives, not the full policy number.
Done that way, the folder is useless to anyone who should not have it, and still complete for anyone who should. It can sit on a shelf. It can be handed to a relative. It can be left behind in a hurry.
This matters more with a physical box than a file, because a box is visible, obvious, and labelled with exactly what it contains. Anything you would not want read aloud should be pointed at, not pasted in. Our guide to the safe way to store passwords goes into how to handle that part properly.
Start with one category
If seven sections is too much today, do category one. Seven lines on one sheet of paper: the doctor, the neighbour, the alarm code location, the spare keys, who collects the children, the vet, and the emergency number.
That takes about fifteen minutes and covers most of what anyone will need to know in the first few hours. Everything after that is refinement.
Common questions
Is the Nokbox worth it?
If the physical object is what gets you to start, then yes, that is worth something real and the design is good. If you were always going to work through a list anyway, you are mostly paying for folders and postage. Be honest with yourself about which of those you are.
Is there a digital version of the Nokbox?
Not from them, as far as we can tell. It is a paper system by design. If you want something fillable on a computer you will need a different product, or the printable list above.
Can I just use a ring binder?
Yes. Dividers, seven tabs, the headings above. The structure is what matters. Nobody has ever been let down by a folder because it was the wrong colour.
What is the difference between this and an emergency binder?
Largely scope. A next of kin folder leans towards what happens if you die. An emergency binder leans towards what happens if you are temporarily unreachable, in hospital or away. In practice the two overlap by about eighty percent, which is why we suggest building one folder rather than two. Our emergency binder checklist covers the wider version, and how to make a death binder covers the end of life side in more detail.
Where should I keep it?
Somewhere findable rather than somewhere clever. A locked drawer that two people know about beats a brilliant hiding place only you know. If you use the locator rule above, the folder is not dangerous to have in a normal place.
Start with one page
You do not have to organise everything this week. Start with a single sheet.
The free “If I Go Missing” Cheat Sheet covers the five things your family would need in the first 24 hours: how to unlock your devices, where the money and bills are, who to call, the kids and pets, and where the critical documents live. One page, printed, in a safe place.
If you want the full version, The Household Map is the complete 17-page system that records where everything in your household lives, across all seven categories above. Have a look.
This article is general information and is not legal or financial advice. Product details and prices were checked in October 2026 and change over time. Rules on wills, probate and powers of attorney differ considerably between countries, so check the position where you live. Emergency Mentors is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Nokbox or its makers.