What your family will need to find: a plain list of papers

The short answer

The National Institute on Aging publishes a list of the papers and information to keep in one place. It has three groups: personal papers, financial papers and health care papers. This page gives that list in plain words and shows where each kind sits in your record.

The record holds where each paper is kept, not what it says.

Personal papers

• Where the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, citizenship and adoption are.
• Military records.
• The names and phone numbers of close friends, relatives, doctors, lawyers and financial advisors.
• The names and phone numbers of religious contacts.

Financial papers

• Where the most up-to-date will, with its original signature, is.
• Insurance information: life, long-term care, home and car.
• The names of your banks.
• Sources of income, such as a pension, and Social Security information.
• Mortgages and debts.
• Where the deed for a home is, and a car's title and registration.
• A copy of the most recent income tax return.
• Where a safe deposit box and its key are.

Health care papers

• A living will.
• A durable power of attorney for health care.
• Health insurance information.

The National Institute on Aging calls its list a starting place. The full list is longer than this one, and it is linked under Sources.

Nothing on this page says which papers you ought to have. If a paper does not exist, the record says only "Not recorded".

What this record leaves out of that list

The official list includes a Social Security number, account numbers, and credit and debit card numbers.

This record does not ask for those. It asks for the institution, the kind of account, at most the last four digits, and where the statement or the card is kept. A book or a file can be found, photographed or copied. The reason is set out on the page Why there is no passwords page.

Where these sit in your record

• Part 2, People to contact: names, phone numbers, and who to call first.
• Part 3, Where things are kept: for each paper, whether it exists, where the original is kept, and who holds a copy.
• Part 4, Health care papers: whether each exists, where it is kept, who holds a copy, and the doctor to contact. It has no place for choices about treatment.
• Part 5, Accounts and policies: the institution, the kind, at most the last four digits, and where statements or the policy are kept.
• Part 6, Property and vehicles: where the deed or title is kept, and where the keys are.

Keeping papers in one place

The National Institute on Aging suggests putting important papers and copies of legal documents in one place. It says this can be a file, a desk or dresser drawer, or a notebook that lists the information and where each paper is.

If papers are in a bank safe deposit box, it suggests keeping copies in a file at home.

You do not have to gather everything at once. No part of the record has to be filled in, and any part can be left for another day.

Rules differ by state and country. For a will, a power of attorney or an advance directive, see your own attorney and your state's official sources.

Questions about your care belong with your own doctor. You can stop at any time. If you are in distress, call or text 988 in the United States, or your local emergency number.

Sources

A sentence on this page that states a fact about the world rests on one of the official pages below. A sentence that only describes this record rests on no outside page.

If something on this page looks wrong, or an official page has changed since the date shown, please say so. The contact page explains how.