Your Executor & Your SSN

While you cannot provide your Social Security number (SSN) in your WillMaker will, you should find another way to provide this information to your executor securely.

Why Provide Your Social Security Number

There are good reasons to provide your Social Security number in the letter to your executor.

Your Social Security number is the most reliable way to identify you and differentiate you from other people with the same name. After your death, the number will help your executor track down your records and identify exactly what belongs to you.

How to Provide Your SSN, Securely

Here are a few ways to provide your Social Security number to your executor:

• You can write it down in a secured place and tell your executor where to find it when the time comes.
• You can include it in your Letter to Survivors, which should also be kept in a secure location.
• You can leave it in your safe deposit box if your executor has easy access to that.

However you do it, make sure that your executor will have no trouble locating your Social Security number shortly after your death. For example, if you provide your Social Security number in a letter, take care to store the letter in a secure place where only your executor will find it. We recommend that you keep it with your will. If you prefer to give a copy of the letter to your executor before your death, make sure your executor knows to keep it safe.

Security is important because even though providing your Social Security number will make things easier for your executor, writing down your SSN increases the possibility that someone else will find it and steal your identity or use your use your SSN illegally. This risk is why you should keep your SSN safe, and it is also why we don't include the number in your will, which may eventually become part of the public records.

Learn more about An Executor's Job.