Have you ever lost a really important legal document or keepsake and then found it ?

[Willl]

Brin, aren't you the same one who recently found a few loaded ammo cans that you 'forgot' about ?

I'm starting to worry about you.....

 

[MarkV]

My Mother was terrible about putting things in a "safe place". She is now 89 and we do not throw anything away without going through it. Books with $100 bills in them, just in case, shoe boxes in the basement with jewelry, just in case, silver in ammo boxes on top of the metal duct work, so the burglars can't find it with a metal detector, just in case. Its become a real project. The wife and I stick with the safety deposit box and have our daughters name on the account, just in case.

MarkV

 

[yelbike]

Not really as important but we had $250 on two separate gift certificates hanging on the fridge by magnets. Our little guy thought it would make good paper to practice his letter to santa. Ooops. Never did find them.

 

[brin]

Brin, aren't you the same one who recently found a few loaded ammo cans that you 'forgot' about ?

I'm starting to worry about you.....

I know...gee, I forgot about that....Hmmmm ? Now I wonder what all these strings tied on all my fingers are for....

 

[Tollster]

Passport was MIA for 2 years, then I found it.

 

[mjarrels]

First Navy cruise I made was on the USS American (about 8 months long). Very little in port liberty time... was digging thru my brief case one day and found a stack of $20 bills. Most important papers are in grap and go small safes and cases. During my move from Wa. to Va., many boxes were not opened for years... like Christman when I find a few unopened boxes.

mark

 

[Coyote machine]

Original legal docs should be in the attorney's safe, off premises. Same with certified, notarized, docs. Copy of current will should be given to executor/trix, and to named guardians, etc.
Professional estate attorneys provide a binder with copies of will, POA, health care proxy and final directives to clients in a tabbed binder.
Its not hard to keep important records in one easy to locate place if one is systematic about doing so.
In home fire safes are a good idea too. I have two, because we ran out of space for important 'stuff' in the first small one.
We also use safe deposit boxes and keep the keys in the home safes.
A master list of where important papers are stored is a good idea too, on a spreadsheet or word type document, as stated previously.

 

[/pine]

This is just a suggestion...

IMO it is sage to keep a record of all things valuable in ones home/office ( as recommended by most insurance companies) in the case of fires, floods or storm (hurricane/tornado) damage etc...

by "record" I mean written descriptions, photographs, receipts and copies of documents etc. etc...however these records should not be kept in a place that is susceptible to the above mentioned catastrophes...

safety deposit boxes are good but even they can be destroyed in some catastrophic scenarios...

My recommendation is to create the "record" archive in a digital form...the archive can then be compressed into a password protected archive (zipped up) that both protects and reduces the size of the file and then burned to a DVD, or put on a flash drive etc...and kept (again) in a place safe from the above mentioned catastrophes...

A spreadsheet is a good way to create the record...a database record ( saved as a CSV or SQL) is even better...

IMO...one of the best places to keep a digital archive (zipped up and password protected) is on a remote server...i.e., create an account with a site like Google's " g-mail" etc. etc....And just upload (e-mail attachment) to your account...

another option is using your personal web space...almost all ISPs allow subscribers a specified amount of server space that can be accessed via an FTP client...

WinZip and WinRar are both very good archiving tools that allow you create password protected records...

 

[jerrybob]

Where do you keep the safety deposit box key and who knows you have one? I guess they still use keys.

One thing about boxes, heirs can get locked out of them until the contents are inventoried by a probate officer.

Can't tell you where we hide the key.....it's a secret! As for probate.....our grown daughters have access if need be and our living will has us covered. I think we're good to go.....but not for a long time hopefully.:thumbsup:

 

[SPIKER]

I have some REALLY REALLY great places to puts stuff, Some day I'll remember where they are cause I can NEVER find the stuff after I put it there... ??? lol

Right now I'm missing the Browning 22 hand gun I had given to my brother, after he passed I took it back as I was owner of record. I went to shot it and nope can't find that thing for anything. I have a S.S. of the same gun and had them together in the cabin yet only my S.S. one is there. I'm assuming I brought it home to put it into my catalog/home inventory (which it is there electronically on my inventory) but physically MIA. Same goes for a bunch of small things, like a brand new 100' of 1/2" rope & a older used length of same stuff.


Mark