The Expat Asset Map: What Your Family Would Need to Find

By Ciprian Bratu, Chartered MCSI · October 30, 2026

If you died tomorrow, the first thing your family would need is a list. A Dutch engineer in Singapore has a pension in the Netherlands, a brokerage account in Ireland, savings in Singapore dollars and a mortgage on a flat in Rotterdam. A French geologist in Kuala Lumpur has an assurance vie in Paris, an offshore bond on the Isle of Man and a deposit in a Malaysian bank. Neither has written any of it down. This post sets out the five things to record, what to keep off the record, and how to finish a first version in a weekend. It ends with our free checklist.

Key Takeaways

Your family cannot settle what they cannot find. Record every account, policy, pension and property, the country it sits in, and who holds the paperwork.
Write account, policy and pension member numbers in full. Keep passwords, PINs and crypto recovery phrases off the sheet entirely.
Forgotten money does not vanish, but it moves. In Malaysia, an untouched account passes to the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys after seven years.
One page sits on top of everything: who to call, where the records are, and which countries hold a will.

Why Is an Expat Estate So Hard for a Family to Find?

Because nothing clusters. Each account sits with a different provider, in a different country, often in a different language, and no single document proves what exists. Most of the delay comes from nobody knowing what to look for.

A domestic estate is easier because the paperwork clusters. One country, one probate court, one set of banks that respond to the same death certificate. An expat estate has none of that. A manager in Bangkok with USD 80,000 spread across four countries faces the same problem as someone with a seven-figure portfolio. Both estates must be identified before they can be settled, and identification is the part that takes months.

What happens to money nobody claims?

It moves to a registrar or a reclaim scheme, where your family has to know to look. In Malaysia, money in an account the owner has not operated for at least seven years is classed as unclaimed money and passes to the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys, according to the Accountant General’s Department. The owner or an entitled person can claim it at any time. In the UK, a bank account counts as dormant after 15 years with no customer activity, and the government’s Dormant Assets Scheme response confirms customers can always reclaim it.

Why tracing services only go so far

Tracing tools exist, but they need a starting point. The UK Pension Tracing Service gives contact details for a lost pension scheme. It cannot tell you whether you have a pension, or what it is worth. A family that does not know a scheme exists has nothing to trace.

What Should You Record About Your Assets?

Every account and policy, the country it sits in, the institution, the account type and roughly what it holds. Approximate balances are fine, because the list has to show that each one exists.

Financial accounts

Bank accounts, brokerage platforms, pensions, insurance policies and business interests. For each one, note the country, the provider, the account number in full and where the statements go. If you hold accounts with offshore banks as well as local ones, list both. The offshore ones are the ones families miss.

Property and physical assets

Property, with its ownership structure and the place the title deed is held. Vehicles, especially financed ones. Anything valuable that is stored somewhere non-obvious.

Insurance and digital assets

Life, health, critical illness and income protection policies, with the beneficiary named on each. An insurer cannot pay a claim that nobody makes. Cryptocurrency belongs on the list too, recorded by where it is held and where its recovery information is kept. If you hold international health cover, record the policy number and the claims contact.

Which Documents Does Your Family Need, and in Which Country?

Wills, powers of attorney, title deeds, trust deeds, marriage and birth certificates, residence permits and your tax number in each country. Record where each one is and when it was signed.

Wills are the item most expats get wrong. A will made in one country may not govern assets held in another. For EU-linked estates there is one useful rule. Under the EU Succession Regulation, a will can choose the law of the person’s nationality to govern their succession, and any nationality qualifies. But the Regulation binds only the participating EU states. It does not bind Denmark or Ireland, and it does not bind Malaysia or Thailand.

So the question of one will or three is one for a lawyer in each country where you hold something substantial. What the list records is simpler: which wills exist, where they are kept, and when each was signed. Our guide to estate planning for expats covers the structuring side. If your home country has forced heirship rules, note that as well, because it changes what a will can do.

Why Should Account Numbers Go on the Sheet but Passwords Never Should?

Account numbers are references. A bank, insurer or probate registry asks your family to quote them on every form. Passwords and recovery phrases are keys. Whoever holds them can act immediately.

Identifiers: write them in full

Write account numbers, policy numbers and pension member numbers in full. A shortened version only sends your family back to look for the rest. An account number on its own moves no money. A bank or insurer will ask for a death certificate and, usually, a grant of probate or its local equivalent.

Passwords: use emergency access instead

Passwords and PINs do not need to be on the sheet at all. Some password managers have an emergency access setting for exactly this. Bitwarden’s, for example, lets a named contact request access to your vault. The request waits for a period you set, and you can reject it during that wait. It is a paid feature. Check whether your own password manager offers something similar, and set it up once.

Crypto recovery phrases: record where, never what

A crypto recovery phrase should never be written on the sheet. Anyone holding it controls the coins, with no identity check and no way to reverse a transfer. Record where the phrase is kept and who knows, never the phrase itself.

Once the sheet is filled in, it is a sensitive document. Keep it where you keep your passport.

What Do We Tell Clients About This Sheet?

Write the identifiers in full and keep the keys off it. We changed our own checklist to do exactly that, because a sheet without account numbers fails at the one job it has.

Our first draft removed account and policy numbers along with the passwords, on security grounds. It made the document worse. The family’s real problem is quoting the right number to the right provider, and a half-number does not do that. So the numbers came back, in full, and the keys stayed out.

We have given this checklist to clients since we built it in late 2025. It sits alongside the structural work: where your pensions are held, whether US-domiciled funds expose your estate and what UK inheritance tax now reaches.

How Do You Build the First Version in a Weekend?

Start with the account list and accept that it will be incomplete. Then draft the one-page instruction sheet and tell the two people named on it where everything is.

An incomplete list is still far more useful than none, and you will remember three more accounts the following week. Scan the documents you already have. Name one place for the digital copies and one place for the physical originals, and name who may reach each.

At least one of those people should live outside your household. A car accident that takes one spouse often involves the other.

The one page that sits on top

The account list is the archive. The instruction sheet is the page your family reads first. It names one person to call. It says where the digital files and the physical documents are. It gives the lawyer, the adviser and the insurance broker with their phone numbers. It lists which countries hold bank accounts, which companies hold insurance policies, and which countries hold a will. Print it. Keep one copy at home and give one to the person named on it.

Set a reminder to review the whole thing once a year, next to an annual statement you already open.

Where Can You Get the Checklist?

We publish it as a free five-page document, built for expats with assets in more than one country. There is no form to fill in.

It has a table for each kind of asset, a directory for your advisers, and the one-page emergency sheet as a tear-off at the end.

Download the Expat Legacy Planning Checklist (PDF)

You are welcome to send it to anyone who needs it. If you work through it and cannot answer which country’s law governs which asset, that is the point at which a conversation with a cross-border adviser and a local lawyer is worth having.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be on an expat’s list of assets for their family?

Every bank account, investment account, pension, insurance policy, property and business interest, with the country, the provider, the account number in full and roughly what it holds. Add where the wills, title deeds and policy documents are kept, and who your lawyer, adviser and insurance broker are. Our estate planning guide covers what to do about the structure itself.

Is it safe to write full account numbers on the checklist?

Yes, if you keep the completed sheet somewhere secure, as you would a passport. An account number alone moves no money. A bank or insurer will ask for a death certificate and usually a grant of probate first. Passwords, PINs and crypto recovery phrases are different. Keep those off the sheet.

How does my family get into my password manager if I die?

Some password managers have an emergency access feature. Bitwarden’s lets a named contact request access, which is granted after a wait period you set unless you reject it. It is a paid feature. Not every password manager offers this, so check yours and set it up while you can.

What happens to a bank account in Malaysia that nobody touches?

After at least seven years without the owner operating it, the money is classed as unclaimed and passes to the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys, run by the Accountant General of Malaysia. The owner or an entitled person can claim it at any time. Your family can only claim what they know exists.

Do I need a separate will in each country where I hold assets?

It depends on the countries. A will made in one country may not govern assets in another. The EU Succession Regulation lets a will choose the law of your nationality, but it does not bind Denmark, Ireland, Malaysia or Thailand. Ask a lawyer in each country where you hold something substantial. Our post on UK inheritance tax for expats in Malaysia covers the tax side.

Can my family find a lost UK pension without my records?

Only partly. The UK Pension Tracing Service gives contact details for a pension scheme, but it cannot say whether you have a pension or what it is worth. Your family has to know the scheme existed. If you hold a UK pension, our post on pension inheritance tax from 2027 covers what changes for your beneficiaries.

If you work through the checklist and find assets you cannot place under any one country’s rules, that is a structural question. We can go through it with you.

Book a no-obligation call with Ciprian

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial, investment, or tax advice. By reading this post, you agree to our disclaimer.