Left In Peace

The Heir's First Hour Script

A step-by-step guide you can read aloud to access your loved one's Left In Peace USB drive
Read-Aloud Guide

Write these here as soon as you find them — paper doesn't need a printer:

Attorney: name & phone  ___________________________________

Where the will is  _______________________________________

First person to call  _____________________________________

Someone you love prepared this USB drive so you'd have what you need. This script walks you through accessing it. You can read it to yourself or read it aloud to someone helping you.

What's in This Script

  1. Before You StartWhat you'll need
  2. Opening the DrivePlugging in & launching
  3. Unlocking the InformationUsing your security keys
  4. What to Do FirstYour next steps once inside
  5. If Something Goes WrongCommon issues & quick fixes
Section 1

Before You Start

Gather what you need before plugging anything in

You'll Need Three Things

🌐
On a Mac? Check this BEFORE tonight if you can

The drive opens with the browser Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Windows computers already have Edge — you're ready. Macs often have neither — only Safari, which cannot open the drive. Installing Chrome takes ten minutes and needs the internet once. If it's late and Chrome isn't on the Mac, it is completely fine to wait until morning and have someone install it — or use any Windows computer instead. Do not fight Safari.

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You don't need an internet connection

Left In Peace itself runs entirely from the USB drive. No Wi-Fi, no accounts, no downloads required. (The one exception is above: installing Chrome on a Mac, once.)

🔒
You can't damage or erase the data

Nothing you do during this process can delete or overwrite the information on the drive. It is safe to explore.

If You Don't Have the Security Keys

The security keys are printed word lists or a Trusted Key value that were prepared ahead of time. If you don't have them on hand, here's where to look:

⚠️
Don't guess at the keys

If you don't have the printed word lists or the Trusted Key, pause here and locate them before continuing. The drive cannot be unlocked without them.

Section 2

Opening the Drive

Plug in the USB drive and launch Left In Peace

Plug the USB drive into the computer

Insert the Left In Peace USB drive into a USB port on the computer (not the TV — if you tried the TV first, that's a common mistake and nothing was harmed). Give the computer a moment — you may see a notification or a new drive appear. Small oval port? Use the adapter from the box.

Open the drive, then double-click ONE thing

On a Mac: you may see Left In Peace with the Left In Peace icon (two figures) — double-click that. It opens the right browser for you, and even offers to install Chrome if the Mac doesn't have it.

On Windows — or if you don't see the Left In Peace icon: double-click the file with the long name that starts with “Double_Click_This”:

Double_Click_This_To_Start_Left_In_Peace.html

Ignore everything else on the drive — the folders, the pictures, the other files. It opens like a web page; nothing installs.

Allow access if the browser asks

Your browser may ask you to select a folder or allow access to the drive. This is normal. In the window that opens, pick the drive named LEFTINPEACE (or Left In Peace). Not "Macintosh HD," not "Downloads," not "Documents" — the drive itself. Then click "Select Folder" and "Allow."

You should see the Left In Peace welcome screen

The welcome screen shows the unlock choices — the one you almost certainly want is "I Have the Printed Word Cards." You are ready for the next section.

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If nothing happens — or the page opens but nothing works

If it opened in Safari or Firefox, stop — those browsers cannot read the drive. You need the browser named Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Edge is already on every Windows computer: right-click the file, choose “Open with,” and pick Edge. On a Mac, install Chrome from google.com/chrome — that needs the internet once, for the install only; Left In Peace itself never goes online. The file opens like a web page — it installs nothing.

Section 3

Unlocking the Information

Use your security keys to access what's inside

You will use one of three methods to unlock the drive, depending on which security keys you have. Read the option that matches your situation.

Option A: The Two Printed Word Cards (most common)

Two people each hold a printed card with 6 words on it. One card says Master Key at the top, the other says Keylock Key.

  1. Click "I Have the Printed Word Cards" on the welcome screen.
  2. The MASTER card first. A list of 26 words appears on screen, with six numbered slots below it. Read your card top to bottom: click word 1, then word 2, then word 3 — do not hunt the list for words you recognize; the ORDER is the key. The numbers filling in on screen should match the numbers on the card.
  3. Click "Confirm Master Key." Set the Master card aside.
  4. Now the KEYLOCK card. The word list appears again for the second card. Same rule: read the card top to bottom, word 1 first.
  5. Click "Unlock" to open the drive.

First, put every card you have next to the laptop. The person AT the computer does all the clicking, with the cards in front of them — a card wandering to another room mid-unlock is the most common way this goes sideways. Only a card that is far away gets read over the phone: put the phone on speaker, they read their card aloud, one word at a time, and you click. Say each number back ("word three — MIKE") so you stay together. A video call pointed at the screen is even better. And if it's late, there is no hurry — the drive works exactly the same tomorrow when they can come over.

Is your printed key one long code of letters and numbers instead of 6 words? Some older kits (sold under the earlier name, Final Peace) made keys that way. On the same screen, look below the word list for the link that says "Enter it here instead" — it opens two boxes where you can type each code exactly as printed.

Option B: One Long Typed Code (a Trusted or Executor Key)

If you were given a single long code instead of word cards, use this method.

  1. Click "I Have One Long Typed Code" on the welcome screen.
  2. Type or paste the Trusted Key value into the field provided.
  3. Click "Unlock" to open the drive.

Option C: Emergency — One Card Only

One card opens the hospital list, and only if your loved one turned that on. Two cards open everything. If you're alone tonight with one card, the button "Emergency — I Only Have One Card" shows the essential medical, insurance, and bill-paying information, including their date of birth and Medicare/Medicaid number for the hospital — enough to help right away. Everything else simply waits until the second card holder can join you; nothing is lost by waiting.

  1. Click "Emergency — I Only Have One Card" on the welcome screen.
  2. Read your card top to bottom and click your 6 words in order — word 1 first.
  3. Click "Unlock" to open the emergency information.
⚠️
Order matters for word patterns

The words must be clicked in the exact same order as they appear on the printed list. If the words are entered out of order, the unlock will not work.

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Master Key always goes first

If you have two word patterns, the Master Key holder always enters their words first, then the Keylock Key holder. Check the top of each printed key card — it will say which key it is.

Section 4

What to Do First

Your most important next steps once the drive is unlocked

Answer "What brings you here today?"

Right after unlocking, Left In Peace asks one gentle question with two plain choices: "They Have Passed Away — Show Me Everything" and "They Are in the Hospital — Medical & Bills Only." Pick the one that matches. If you pick the hospital view by mistake, the drive is not empty — a line at the top switches you to everything, and nothing you click can erase or change anything.

Read the personal message

If your loved one wrote a personal message, it will appear at the top of the page. Take a moment to read it.

Look at "Who to Call"

Find the contact information section. The attorney and financial advisor are typically your first calls. They can help you understand the next legal and financial steps.

Open "Legal & Records" before you assume there is no will

Families lose months, sometimes years, over papers nobody knew existed: a will found a year later, a handwritten one in a desk drawer, a safe deposit box with no known key. This section says where the will is, who prepared it, what year it was signed, whether that copy is the original, and whether any older versions still exist and which one counts. Below it, "Other Important Papers" lists the deed, vehicle titles, military discharge papers, safe deposit box, beneficiary forms and the like, each with where it is. Read it before anyone starts searching the house, and take it to the attorney.

Print a paper copy

Click Print to print the page you are looking at, or Print Complete Record to print everything at once. Having a paper copy means you don't need the USB drive and computer every time you need to reference something.

Close and lock when finished

When you are done reviewing, click "Done — Close & Lock" to secure the drive again. You can unlock it again any time using the same keys.

📄
Paper is the point — a pen works when the printer doesn't

No printer, or it's off and you don't know its ways? Just write. Copy the attorney's number, where the will is, and the first calls into the box on the front cover of this booklet — that's what it's for. A printed copy is a fine backup for later (yours and one for the attorney; it never includes the security keys), but tonight a pen beats a sleeping printer.

Section 5

If Something Goes Wrong

Common issues and how to resolve them quickly

Most of the time, the process works smoothly on the first try. But if you run into trouble, here are the most common situations and what to do.

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"The words didn't work"
Double-check the order on your printed list and make sure you are clicking words in that exact sequence. Also confirm that the Master Key is being entered first. If the words still don't work, verify you have the correct printed key cards for this specific USB drive.
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"New Computer Detected" message
This is completely normal. First click the green "I Understand — Connect to USB Drive" button on that screen — a folder window then opens. Choose the Left In Peace USB drive from the list and click "Select Folder." If you don't see the green button, make the window full-screen, or hold Ctrl and tap the minus (-) key until it appears.
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"I only have one card"
Take a breath — you may still be able to help right away. Look at the welcome screen: if you see a button called "Emergency — I Only Have One Card," your loved one turned on Emergency Access, and your one word pattern will open the essential medical, insurance, and bill-paying information (see Option C above). To open everything else, you will need both word patterns — contact the other key holder, check the Heir Information Packet, or ask the attorney if a Trusted Key was also created as a backup method.
📁
"The drive doesn't appear on my computer"
Try a different USB port. If using a USB hub, try plugging directly into the computer instead. If the computer only has the small oval ports (USB-C), look in the Left In Peace box — a small adapter is included; the drive plugs into it, and it plugs into the computer.
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If you're stuck — especially at night — it is okay to stop

The drive does not expire overnight, and nothing you clicked has erased anything. Close the laptop, sleep, and try again in the morning with the other card holder beside you — most stuck moments dissolve with two people in the same room. In business hours, the estate attorney (named in your Heir Information Packet) can help locate missing cards or walk you through it by phone.


Left In Peace — Everything they’ll need, right where you left it.

The Heir's First Hour Script