Organize Your Documents

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Organize Your Documents

by Kathleen Phillips

If something happened to you would your loved ones know where to locate your important documents? Locating a loved one’s personal and estate information can be a daunting task if their personal documents are not organized or in a centralized location. A systematic plan for keeping our important papers can save hours of anxious searching if something happens to us. It allows our loved ones to readily locate essential documents like a power of attorney, insurance policies and fi nancial accounts. Organizing documents is an act of love for our families and friends. Having documents readily available should something happen shields our family from needless heartache, hassle and expense. So where do you start? We want our loved ones to be able to readily locate essential documents.

This is a starting place for you to make this organization process manageable and not overwhelming. Consider the following as a list of documents that you should have organized in files. The list is somewhat comprehensive but gives you a good starting point and may list items that you have not thought of: • Personal Information – Full legal name, Social Security Number, legal residence, date of birth, birth certifi cate, names of children (with contact information), birth certifi cates and any death certifi cates, marriage and divorce certifi cates • Insurance Policies – Life, health, car and home with policy numbers • Bank Accounts – Checking, savings, money market, certifi cate of deposit and debit cards with the bank names and account numbers (an easy way is to fi le your latest statements) • Credit Card Accounts – With card numbers, expiration dates and the most recent statements • Mortgage and Loan Documents • Tax Papers – The Most Recent Tax Returns (State and Federal) • Social Security Income Documents • Pension Plans - 401(K), IRA’s and employer pensions • Investment and brokerage Information • Military Records and Armed Forces Discharge Papers • Medications taken regularly with physicians contact information • Car Title and Registration • A List of Contact Information (Attorney, Accountant, Investment Manager, Insurance Agent) • Passwords and computer/cell phone access codes

There are a number of different legal documents that help you plan how your affairs will be handled in the future: • Wills and trusts let you name the person(s) you want your property and assets to go to upon your death. It allows you to designate an executor to ensure your wishes are carried out. • A Living Will gives you a say in your health care if you become too sick to make your wishes known. In a living will you can state what kind of care you do or do not want. • A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (Health Proxy) lets you name the person you want to make medical decisions for you if you can’t make them yourself. • A Durable Power of Attorney lets you name someone to act on your behalf for any legal task.

It is important that your papers and legal documents are kept in one safe and secure location (fi re proof lockbox or fi le cabinet). This is extremely important as your fi les contain important personal and fi nancial information that should be safeguarded. A trusted family member or friend should know where you keep these important papers and fi les in case of an emergency.

There are many on-line sources of information that are helpful in getting your affairs in order including:

AARP www.aarp.org

National Institute on Aging Information Center www.nia.nih.gov CaringInfo www.caringinfo.org AARP Valuable Documents at your Fingertips contains helpful worksheets that can simplify the process of getting organized.