Over the last several years, we have watched numerous friends and family members deal with unexpected death. Something that has stood out to me in the midst of them grieving is that one added burden can be dealing with all of the paperwork and financial issues, especially if the information needed to address this is not easy to find. While it’s not fun to think about, consider how your own passing or even just a long-term medical issue could be even harder on your family if they have to search for important information. Creating a family emergency binder will ease that burden if the worst ever does happen.

Additionally, September is National Preparedness Month! I like to set a reminder each year to look through our binder and make sure all the information is updated.

Note: This binder is also something good to have on hand in the case of a natural disaster. If for some reason you ever need to leave your home quickly and unexpectedly, taking this information will make things much easier on the back end.

Creating a Family Emergency Binder

Supplies

Here are the supplies I’ve used to create our family emergency binder, along with some other suggestions.

I like this smaller binder because it’s not as bulky. If you fold documents in half, things fit perfectly.

Instead of hole punching important documents, I prefer to put them inside individual sheet protectors. This also lets you keep things like social security cards all in one pocket.

These divider tabs can be helpful if you have many different documents. You could sort by individual, or by category (house, car, etc.).

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