Writing Instructions Your Executor Can Actually Follow
The most common failure mode in inheritance documents we review is sequencing. The writer knows the steps because they have performed them a dozen times. The executor reads step four before step one and concludes the whole thing is impossible.
Start with a map, not a procedure
Page one should answer: how many storage locations exist, who knows about each, and what the executor should not do (plug in unknown USB drives, enter seed words into a website, reply to “recovery services”). Save the step-by-step ceremony for page three, after the reader understands the landscape.
Name real objects and places
“Hardware wallet in the study safe” beats “signing device in secure storage.” If the safe has a brand and a key location, say so. If a co-signer lives in Busan and prefers KakaoTalk, write that down.
Test the document
Hand the draft to someone technical enough to follow instructions but unfamiliar with your setup. Watch where they pause. Those pauses are gaps. We build this “read-through” into every inheritance documentation review and mark hesitation points in the margin.
Keep it separate from the seeds
Instructions describe where to find materials; they should never contain seed words themselves. Store the instruction letter in a different physical location from any backup medium.