Disasters are a part of life. Whether the disaster is a hurricane, tornado or a terrorist attack preparation is the key to survival and to clean up after the event. Knowing where your family records and valuable documents are and being able to pick them up and take them with you, if you must evacuate, can save valuable time. For your “on the go” papers you will want to purchase a packet, folder, brief case or other carrying case for your documents. Place documents in this case in a secure but easily accessed location in your home. Then if you need to evacuate, important documents that need to go with you are in one place.
If you have access to scanner, you may want to scan your papers and documents to a computer disk and keep the copy in the carrying case and leave the original in the recommended storage place. You may also want to videotape the contents of your home to supplement your household inventory. If you use a software package to keep track of your finances you may want to keep a back-up copy with your “on the go” papers.
Important Papers and Documents Checklist
What are important papers?
Important papers are papers or documents that you will need sometime during your lifetime for a variety of reasons, such as a birth certificate; used for proof of age, citizenship, to obtain a drivers license, or to go on a cruise.
Other important papers include household inventory; adoption, marriage and death certificates; passports; deeds; leases; insurance policies; social security records; contracts; wills; trusts; and ownership papers.
Why should you be concerned about important papers?
In case of a disaster, it would be difficult to remember or identify exactly what you lost. Valuable time and money could be lost while you try to remember what possessions you owned or replace lost documents. Therefore it is much better to protect valuable papers than to replace them.
Who should keep up with important papers?
Even though all family members need to know where the family’s important papers are located, one person should handle the family’s record keeping system.
Where should they be located?
Essentially there are three places where important papers should be kept. Some should be kept on your person, some at home in a file system and some in a home safe or a safe deposit box.
What is a safe place?
It is generally accepted that a home safe or fireproof file should be able to withstand heat of 1700 degrees F for one hour.
Another option for a safe place is to rent a safe deposit box at a financial institution. The rental cost is relatively small when compared to the possible loss that could occur from a fire, hurricane, or other disaster. If you store income producing property such as stocks or bonds in the box, the rental fee maybe deductible from your federal income tax. If you choose to rent a safe deposit box, the following tips will help you get organized:
- Inventory documents in the safe deposit box and keep the inventory in a safe place in your home. Keep the inventory current. Set aside a time each year to update your records. When you do your income taxes is a good time to do this task.
- Check your homeowner’s insurance coverage to find out if it covers the contents of your safe deposit box. Also check the agreement you sign with the financial institution for any limitations on the protection.
- Keep family members informed about the location of the box and where the keys are stored.
- Even though it is not the practice in Florida to seal safe deposit boxes when the owner dies, it is still not a good idea to put burial lot deeds or burial information and wishes in the safe deposit box, because the box may not be opened until after the funeral.
Written by: Dr. Jo Turner, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics
