Saturday, December 17, 2011

50 Important Documents to Keep on Hand

I finally got my new Nevada driver's license.  What with traveling and moving and shuffling stuff in and out of storage, it was a bit of a challenge to get all of the documents together to actually go and apply for the license and although I have copies of all of my important documents on a secure thumb drive, only original documents would do.  So with a bit of effort, all of my documents are now safely residing in a hidden safe in our home.  Here are the documents you should always have on hand:
  1. Your driver's license
  2. Your social security card
  3. Your military ID
  4. Your concealed carry license
  5. Your birth certificate
  6. Your marriage certificate(s)
  7. Your divorce decree(s)
  8. Your children's birth certificates
  9. Your spouse's birth certificate
  10. Your passport
  11. Your DD214 (for military members)
  12. Other military records (VA disability award letter, etc) 
  13. Your Will, Living Will, and Power of Attorney
  14. Your spouse's Will, Living Will, and Power of Attorney
  15. Death certificates (for any spouses and children)
  16. Past seven year's tax returns
  17. Investment records (stock certificates, bonds, etc)
  18. Adoption records (yours, your spouse's, your children's if applicable)
  19. Your green card (if applicable)
  20. Baptism records (if applicable)
  21. Insurance policies (home, life, health, auto)
  22. Copyright and patent records
  23. Updated immunization records (for you, your spouse, and your minor children)
  24. Deeds and titles (for real estate, vehicles, burial plots, etc)
  25. An annually updated household inventory
  26. List of your debts and credit cards (with account numbers)
  27. List of banks and investment firms (with account numbers)
  28. Documentation of debts owed to you
  29. Citizenship and naturalization documents (if applicable)
  30. Education records (high school diploma, college diplomas)
  31. Professional licenses (state medical license, cosmetology license, license to practice law, etc)
  32. Employment records
  33. Medical history (for each family member)
  34. Updated list of prescription and non prescription meds for each family member (if applicable)
  35. Record of funeral plans
  36. An "if I die" letter (include people to call, location of keys/safe codes, location of important records, etc)
  37. Pet records (license, vaccination card, etc)
  38. Warranties and receipts (for appliances, cars, etc)
  39. Updated list of monthly bills (include everything from mortgage to electricity and cable with account numbers)
  40. Retirement records (pensions, annuities, IRAs, etc with account numbers)
  41. Other medical forms (DNR form, organ donor card, etc)
  42. Legal settlement/judgement records (bankruptcy, insurance claims, etc)
  43. Child custody records (records should be legal documents that include a parenting plan, custody award, child support order, etc)
  44. Real estate records (mortgage, tax assessments, easements, etc)
  45. Updates vehicle records for cars, boats, motorcycle, etc (insurance card, registration)
  46. A file for tax records (W2 forms, charity and other deductible expenses, etc)
  47. A "kidnapping" file, for lack of a better term, for each family member (include recent photo, physical description, photo of tattoos and scars, even a DNA sample)
  48. Copies of criminal records (date, charge, disposition, etc)
  49. Updated net worth statement
  50. A list of user names and passwords for all of your online accounts

1 comment:

  1. This is actually a really useful list of important documents. It would also be practical to have photocopies of some, if not all, of the documents on this list. Employing an off-site storage for either the originals or the copies might also be a good step. Should something unfortunate happen to the on-site storage (knock on wood), there would at least be the off-site versions.

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