Organizing your papers in case of an emergency

If you were incapacitated tomorrow – let’s say a car accident that leaves you unconscious for a while or requires emergency surgery with general anesthesia – who would handle your business for you?

Now what if the person who was your answer to that question was in the car with you?

LifeHacker has a great post about organizing the key items you need when someone is incapacitated and you’re trying to take over for them. Particularly if they’re hospitalized, and there are a number of financial or living will issues that could come up. No one enjoys thinking about this stuff, but if you gather this stuff and let a few loved ones know where to find this information, it’ll make the situation much easier for everyone. The items you need are these:

• Up-to-date medical insurance information
• An updated will
• Power of attorney information
• Life insurance info
• A basic guide to your bank accounts – numbers, passwords
• A basic list of bills in case someone else needs to help you pay them
• Doctor and vet info
• Spare keys for both house and car

I would also suggest keeping any notes on allergies you or anyone you care for have, so that whoever steps in to do the caretaking knows what to avoid. Instructions on any pets you have could be very helpful too – a missing household member is stressful for pets, so anything you can do to keep things normal for them helps. Dogs and cats may be fairly straightforward aside from individual quirks, but how many people know that parrots really need someone to talk to them every day for their mental health, or how and what to safely feed your boa constrictor?

Go check LifeHacker’s post for additional suggestions on how to organize and where to store this information.

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Posted in Organization on June 20, 2007