{"id":43268,"date":"2025-09-15T13:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/?p=43268"},"modified":"2025-09-27T15:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T13:46:09","slug":"blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog | Estate planning essentials: What is a life file?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s National Wills Week! Life gets busy and we don\u2019t always plan for the future \u2013 or for the worst. In the estate planning arena, personal organisation is key. Accordingly, a life file provides a centralised storage facility for one\u2019s legal, personal, and financial documentation. Crucially, this file enables our loved ones to locate our important documents after we pass.<\/p>\n

Its contents include one\u2019s ID, birth certificate, marriage certificate, will, title deed(s) to property, bank details, insurance policies, personal letters, vehicle registration details, information related to funeral arrangements and expenses, account subscriptions, and even a final \u2018goodbye\u2019 in the form of a video or audio recording.<\/p>\n

A life file, which should be kept in a secure location, digitally scanned, and backed up, is crucial to proper estate planning. In addition to providing a useful organisational tool, it offers an accurate picture of one\u2019s estate, allows sensitive documentation to be stored safely to prevent unauthorised access, and reduces the stress of the person\/s appointed to administer one\u2019s estate post-death.<\/p>\n

Importantly, a life file provides us with peace of mind, secure in the knowledge that all of our critical information is contained in one place for easy access in emergency situations.<\/p>\n

For additional insights on the importance of creating a life file and key estate planning tips, watch our latest estate planning-focused webinar here<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Housed in the STBB Direct app<\/u><\/a>, use eVault to safely and confidentially store digital copies of your personal documents, including your will, marriage certificate, insurance policies, and title deeds.<\/p>\n

For more information or expert legal assistance with drafting\/reviewing your will or creating an estate and succession plan, contact our estate law attorneys at estates@stbb.co.za\/dev2<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This content is the property of STBB. We encourage the sharing of our content for informational purposes. However, if you wish to copy or reproduce our content on your own platform or website, please ensure that proper credit is given to STBB<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s National Wills Week! Life gets busy and we don\u2019t always plan for the future \u2013 or for the worst. In the estate planning arena, personal organisation is key. Accordingly, a life file provides a centralised storage facility for one\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":364,"featured_media":43269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,87,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-published-wills-trusts-and-deceased-estates","category-blog","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlog | Estate planning essentials: What is a life file? - STBB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In estate planning, a life file is essential to store your personal information and documents and plan for the future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samantha Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Samantha Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/39cb442bd013a183d4683b0b32944575\"},\"headline\":\"Blog | Estate planning essentials: What is a life file?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T11:03:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-27T13:46:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":339,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/blog-estate-planning-essentials-what-is-a-life-file\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Blog_25_September_2025.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles Published - 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