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The Valoren library · free to read · yours to keep

The institutional guides for
the moments no one is ready for.

99 institutional documents — bereavement, probate, inheritance tax, capacity, power of attorney, household records, executor checklists, digital life, and household continuity. Tell us your situation and we give you the documents in the order they matter.

99 guidesFree to read and downloadEngland & Wales
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All 99 guides

Every document, organised by subject. Open any to read it in full — free, with nothing held back.

ContentsTap a shelf, then tap a guide to open it.
Most requestedB-01Bereavement First StepsL-02Lasting Power of Attorney, ExplainedE-14Grant of Probate Brief

Start here

One entry point per situation — every guide here also lives on its shelf below.

Bereavement First Steps
Grief is hard enough without the search.
The first seventy-two hours: registration, who to tell, and what can safely wait — written for the moment when thinking is hardest.
In 1 sequence
B-01brief7 minRead →
Capacity Tomorrow Brief
Capacity can change. The record should allow for that.
A brief for planning ahead before capacity is a live issue — what to arrange, in what order, and why the window is narrower than most expect.
In 1 sequence
L-04brief26 minRead →
Records Roadmap
The record is yours to build. It is someone else's to use.
The Records Roadmap inventories the 30+ records every UK household has somewhere — wills, LPAs, deeds, pensions, insurance schedules, business filings, digital access — and shows the canonical location for each. The reference document the rest of the library points back to.
In 2 sequences
C-01brief3 minRead →
New Parent Family Setup
A new parent inherits a new administration.
For new parents: what records to set up, what documents to create, and what contingency to have in place before the household depends on it.
In 1 sequence
F-02sample3 minRead →
Digital Legacy Brief
Store the lawful route, not the secret itself.
What happens to your online life when you can't reach it — and how the household keeps the doors open without your passwords.
In 1 sequence
D-01brief9 minRead →
Estate Readiness Audit
The documents that matter are easy to gather and hard to find.
A worked audit of a fictional household's estate documentation, clearly labelled as a specimen: what's in place, what's missing, and the order in which the gaps get closed.
In 2 sequences
E-12sample11 minRead →

After a death20

Someone has died — acute, then probate.

BD8 — Notifying DWP: Your Three Options
The BD8 form notifies DWP of a death. This guide explains your three options, who sends it, and who doesn't need to.
B-18brief7 minRead →
Bereavement First Steps
The first seventy-two hours: registration, who to tell, and what can safely wait — written for the moment when thinking is hardest.
In 1 sequence
B-01brief7 minRead →
Bereavement First-Week Brief
Sequencing the first seven days after a death — registration, Tell Us Once, funeral director appointment, banks, employer, the Direct Debit Trap, what not to do. Written for the family member who's been asked to handle it.
B-02brief6 minRead →
Bereavement Support Payment Guide
Bereavement Support Payment — eligibility, the DWP claim process, and the lump-sum and monthly payments available to widows, widowers, and civil partners.
B-16brief11 minRead →
Coroner Referral Guide
Not every death goes straight to registration. This guide explains when a coroner must be involved, what happens, and what the family does and doesn't control.
B-09brief5 minRead →
Cremation & Body Donation Authorisation Brief
Cremation requires specific medical authorisation forms. This brief explains which forms apply, who signs them, and the timelines involved.
B-07brief27 minRead →
Need personalised letters too? Household Continuity Dossier membership turns your household record into institutional bereavement documents.
See Household Continuity Dossier membership

Capacity & care14

A parent's capacity is slipping, or I'm the carer.

Attorney First Week Brief
You've started acting under a Lasting Power of Attorney. What you can do, what you can't, and the records to keep from day one.
In 1 sequence
L-07brief12 minRead →
Capacity Action Pack
Sequencing LPAs, GP discussion, financial deputyship vs LPA, the property and affairs handover, and the social signals families miss for too long. Sample uses George Pemberton (78, early-stage vascular dementia) with Sarah and Mark as the adult children acting.
In 1 sequence
L-03brief5 minRead →
Capacity Planning — Action Pack
The companion guide to the Capacity Action Pack — explains each step, what each document is for, and how to use them together.
L-06brief9 minRead →
Capacity Tomorrow Brief
A brief for planning ahead before capacity is a live issue — what to arrange, in what order, and why the window is narrower than most expect.
In 1 sequence
L-04brief26 minRead →
Care Conversation Script Pack
The conversations adult children dread — money, the will, power of attorney, care, the house. Direct, kind, usable openers and follow-ups.
F-13brief13 minRead →
Care Home Financial Planning Brief
Care home fees are the largest financial shock most families face. This brief maps the cost structure, local authority thresholds, and the planning levers.
F-10brief7 minRead →
Planning ahead for a parent? Caring for a Parent covers the care conversations, financial planning, and the care home decision in full.
See Caring for a Parent

Putting affairs in order26

I want this handled before anything happens.

Annual Intelligence Report
A once-a-year audit of whether your records are still current — what's changed, what's lapsed, and what needs refreshing before it matters.
E-23brief21 minRead →
Authority & Contact Register
Solicitor, accountant, IFA, GP, insurance brokers, Companies House filings, HMRC references, LPA registration numbers, will reference. The single page a household can hand to a trusted person and have every adviser and authority be reachable without further research.
C-13brief8 minRead →
CGT on Estate Disposals
CGT applies to assets sold during estate administration, not just property. This brief maps what's taxable, the thresholds, and the reporting route.
E-17brief7 minRead →
Cohabiting Partners & Inheritance
What unmarried partners inherit under English law — and what the law withholds when there is no will.
B-17brief13 minRead →
Deed of Variation Brief
A deed of variation redirects an inheritance within two years of death — for tax efficiency or fairness. This brief explains the rules and when it makes sense.
In 1 sequence
E-19brief6 minRead →
Designated Places Register
The companion register to the Records Roadmap — for each record, three locations: the original (safe, solicitor, cabinet), the working copy (Vault scan), and the recovery reference (where the Emergency Kit confirms it exists). Designed so no record is ever lost because only one person knew where it was.
In 1 sequence
C-07brief10 minRead →
How ready are your records today? A twelve-question check that scores the household file and names the gaps.
Run the readiness check

Household & continuity13

Could someone run this house without me?

Access Reachability Brief
Can someone reach your accounts, utilities, and access points without you? This brief maps what's blocked and what to unlock.
E-27brief27 minRead →
Dependent Care Emergency Pack
If you were suddenly unavailable, who looks after your children, elderly parent, or disabled dependant? This pack records the answer — protocols, medical details, and where the copies live.
F-04sample16 minRead →
Dependent Care Emergency Sheet
A structured one-page record for each dependant: carer, contacts, medical notes, and what each person needs — ready when you're not.
F-09brief11 minRead →
Digital Access Without Password Sharing
How to make your digital life reachable in an emergency — lawfully, without writing passwords on paper or breaching terms of service.
In 1 sequence
D-05brief13 minRead →
Family Permission & Boundaries Sheet
Who may know what, and who may act on what. Decide the boundaries before anyone has to ask — especially in blended families.
C-17brief14 minRead →
Household Bills Continuity Sheet
If you were suddenly unavailable, which bills must keep being paid — from which account, by when, and who can step in.
C-14brief12 minRead →

Executor & probate26

I've been named executor of someone else's estate.

Bank Notification Letters
Six blank letters for telling a bank, building society, lender, pension scheme, insurer or HMRC that someone has died. You fill them in, sign and post. England and Wales.
brief10 minRead →
Beneficiary Reconciliation
A complete specimen reconciliation — one fictional estate, every beneficiary's entitlement confirmed and signed off, so you can see what a closed estate looks like on paper.
In 1 sequence
E-21brief22 minRead →
Beneficiary Reconciliation Certificate
A complete specimen certificate — one fictional estate, every asset cross-checked against the will, every distribution gate recorded. This is what the reconciliation looks like when it's done.
E-22brief22 minRead →
Cancellation Pack
Letter templates for cancelling subscriptions, memberships, and standing instructions from an estate — so executors stop paying for what's ended.
B-14brief14 minRead →
Estate Asset Summary
A structured summary of the estate's assets at the point of administration — balances, ownership structure, and whether each asset forms part of the estate.
E-08brief3 minRead →
Estate Debts Priority Guide
Estate debts — the statutory priority order under the Insolvency Act 1986, executor personal liability, and the Section 27 Gazette notice.
E-33brief14 minRead →
Which IHT route does this estate take? Answer four questions and the calculator maps the form route — IHT205-era excepted estates or IHT400.
Open the IHT calculator
Read free · personalise free · keep it current with the Household Continuity Dossier

One document, three depths.

Free

Read it

Every guide is complete and free. The same content that feeds the record system, readable as a standalone reference.

Free account

Make it yours

Open a free account and the guide becomes editable. Your household's own details, on one register.

Household Continuity Dossier · £195 (£99/yr)

Keep it current

Household Continuity Dossier membership personalises the core records and maintains them. Prompts the annual review, issues the Governance Letter, keeps everything current.

Figures and timelines in these guides are indicative and depend on your circumstances. They are reference documents, not legal, tax or financial advice.

See the paid products How the register works

Common questions

Are these guides really free?

Yes — complete and free, with nothing held back.

Every guide can be read in full and downloaded as a PDF without an account. The paid products are different things entirely: they personalise your household's own records and keep them current — the guides are the reference layer beneath them.

Do the guides apply outside England and Wales?

They are written for England and Wales.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules for probate, intestacy and powers of attorney — where a guide touches those areas, treat it as a starting map, not the route.

How current are the guides?

Each guide carries a review date, and the figures they cite — fees, thresholds, allowances — are checked against published government rates.

If a rule changes, the affected guide is updated and re-dated.

Can I print or share them?

Yes. Print them, keep them with your household records, or send them to the person helping you — they were built to be handed over.

Is this legal advice?

No. These are reference documents — they explain how the processes work so you arrive prepared.

For decisions about your specific situation, speak to a solicitor or the appropriate professional.

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