A List Of Documents You Don’t Want To Lose

Keeping tabs with some of your crucial documents can be overwhelming.

And if you haven’t noticed, these are the documents that could help to secure you a place in the employment slots. But there are unenforceable circumstances in life that could jeopardize your most important documents.

These might include home fires, floods, and other catastrophes.

But did you know that you could still have your documents safely stored at least a few kilometers from your humble aboard? It’s the reason they invented a safety vault inside a bank. This is because some sensitive documents are irreplaceable and if they were replaceable, it will cost you lots of time and valuable resources to have them restored. But before we get started, here’s what you need to know when it comes to safeguarding your most important documents.

Prepare Your Documents Checklist

Before you get all excited about the various ways you can safeguard all your important documents, you need to have all your documents accounted for in a safety list. This way, you’ll always know the documents that are missing or misplaced.

Having an important documents checklist could help you remember places you might have left or stored them. This is a documentation hack that could help to save you a great deal of time and money. You never know when the next catastrophe will hit or when you might just need that important document. And what better way than to have a checklist that will help you account for all your documents? That having been said, here is a list of documents you don’t want to lose. They include:

1. Current Deed Paperwork And Mortgage Documents

The reason this is the first pointer in this guide is perhaps that you need a roof over your head at the end of the day. Come to think about it, you have people in your household depending on the safekeeping of such documents. While you might have such documents retrieved at the time of your choosing, it could cost you.

The fact of the matter is, you want your deed or mortgage documents safely stored in such a way that they’ll easily be accessible. Additionally, you want to keep tabs with your financiers and also know what you owe them. This is what document safekeeping is all about.

2. Birth Certificates And Adoption Paperwork

For future reference, you need to have your birth certificates kept safe as well as those of your kids. Also, it could be that there are adoption documents involved that must be considered. While they might seem like simplistic documents to be taken for granted, they’ll certainly come in handy when you need them the most.

These are not the documents you want to stash in your attic or somewhere in your office drawer. On the contrary, have these documents safely stored in a safe somewhere in your home or in a safe deposit box. This will help to protect such documents from damage and theft.

3. Marriage/Divorce Certificates

Marriage is sweet, right? Or it’s sweet while it lasts. Either way, it’s of utmost importance to have your marriage certificate stored safely. In the event that both of you consider a divorce – and God forbid it comes to this – you’ll need the marriage certificate to get the divorce process started. Let’s take a look at the reasons why you might need a copy of your divorce decree documents. They include:

• When changing your name/s
• When considering a health insurance coverage
• When applying for a house financing
• When managing your finances and taxes

4. Tax Documents

Now, and don’t get it twisted, these might seem like a lot of papers when it comes to the tax filing processes. But believe it or not, your tax return documents will help when you have a business and need to have a financial audit even if you efiled for free online. In addition to this, you also need to keep up with your tax deductions. This way, it will help you to know your total expenses, whether monthly or annually. You can use professional tax preparation services to ensure that your tax documents are in order and properly filed. These professionals can also help you to identify potential deductions and credits that could save you money.

5. Copyrights And Patent Documents

If you are an entrepreneur and need to have your intellectual rights protected, then it’s high time you considered safeguarding your copyrights and patent documents. Remember, this is the only proof that you have on having registered your company/business. Yes, you might have an additional copy at the business registrar’s office, but as earlier mentioned, retrieving such important documents will cost you. The best part is that you could have such documents stored digitally and in so doing, have them whenever there are conflicts you need to solve.

6. Wills

Whether it’s a living will or one that has been left by a loved one, then it’s of importance that these documents be stored safely. In the advent that your loved one passes on and they had in their lifetime left a will, this is what will help to solve the most disreputable of inheritance disputes. It’s for this reason that most people hire estate planning attorneys. Here is what will prepare you when it comes to finding an estate planning attorney:

• They must be devoted to their estate planning practice
• They should make you feel comfortable sharing your personal information with them
• They must be well-versed with the particular laws of concern
• Most importantly, they should have safe documentation storage options

7. Crucial Medical Paperwork

Did you know that keeping your medical documents safely could help to save your life? The same applies when it comes to someone you love. There are so many dangers lurking out there and so many uncertainties. Not to mention are the various underlying medical conditions that could pop up without a warning. By this, it means having all this information at arm’s length.

You just don’t want the medical respondents arriving at the emergency scene hamstrung because they lack any of your medical records or medical history. Having such records on standby could also help you to keep up with your kid’s immunizations. As if this is not enough, you might also need such records when traveling abroad. So, before you toss that medical file, think again.

The above are crucial documents you need to keep safe at all times. But then again, it all depends on the strategies or the means to have them safely stored. Whether it is in your home or a designated location outside your home, it could help to save you valuable resources and time.