Personal and Family
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Citizenship papers
- Divorce/separation papers
- Adoption papers
- Social Security numbers/cards
- Passports (numbers, expiration dates)
- Driver's licenses (numbers, expiration dates)
- Military records
Medical
- Healthcare professionals (names, phone, address): physicians, pharmacists, dentists, other
- Healthcare proxies/living wills
- Medications (names, dosages, name of prescribing physician, pharmacy, address/phone)
- Hospital of choice (address/phone/patient number from any prior hospitalization)
- Medicare numbers
- Medicaid numbers (caseworker numbers, address/phone)
- Social worker or caseworker names (address/phone)
Financial- Income sources (retirement and/or disability benefits, Social Security, etc.)
- Financial assets (institution names, account numbers, address/phone, form of ownership, current value: cash, accounts, stock, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds, IRAs, retirement and pension plans, annuities, life insurance
- Real estate (property addresses, location of deeds, form of ownership, current value): primary home, vacation home, investment property.
- Other assets (location of items/titles/documents, form of ownership, current values): automobiles, boats, inheritances, precious gems, collectibles, household items, hidden valuables/items in storage, loans to family members/friends
- Liabilities (creditor institutions, address/phone, approximate debt): mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, notes, IOUs, other
Legal- Wills (dates of documents, executor names, address/phone) [do not keep outdated, superseded wills. Have your attorney destroy them.]
- Powers of attorney or durable powers of attorney (names, including backup, address/phone)
- Advance medical directives--healthcare proxies, living wills, durable medical powers of attorney
- Guardianship/conservatorships (names, address/telephone)
- Trust agreements
Other Important Contacts- Professional advisors: attorneys, financial advisors, bankers, accountants, insurance agents, stockbrokers, clergy
- Past employers (company names, address/phone, dates of retirement, contact persons, employee ID numbers)
- Close friends and neighbors (names, address/phone, those who have keys to house/apartment/condominium)
- Club memberships, volunteer activities, and senior centers Landlord (name, address/phone)
Other Information- Inventory of family historical records (documents, photos, keepsakes)
- Burial instructions (funeral home location, name of director, whether funeral has been prepaid, cemetery plot location, organ donor instructions)
- Safe deposit boxes (institution names, address/phone, location of keys and list of contents, other names on safe deposit boxes)
- Tax records
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Practical Hints
Many people find it useful to collect all personal and financial information in one master binder or file. The binder or file can be divided into the categories suggested in this list, or others if more suitable. It can include copies of important papers that are kept elsewhere, or any other materials that are useful to have at hand. This method is flexible and easy to update, and serves as a convenient summary of your parents' personal, financial, and legal affairs.Safe deposit storage is for originals of valuable or megotiable instruments such as deeds, automobile titles, stock certificiates, birth and death certificates, adoption and citizenship papers, contracts, IOUs, etc. Your parents should not use their safe deposit box to store items that must be quickly available to the appropriate individuals should they die or become disabled, such as original copies of wills, advance medical directives, powers of attorney, etc. These items should be kept with their attorneys or in another safe but accessible place. Insurance--for each policy list company name, policy number and location - Life insurance
- Health
- Medigap--supplemental health
- Long-term care
- Dental
- Disability
- Homeowners/renters
- Liability
- Automobile
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