How (and Why) to Make a Home Emergency Binder
If something happened to you tomorrow, would you be able to take care of your personal business while you’re incapacitated? Or what if a natural disaster forced you to evacuate your home?
It’s unpleasant to think of these things, but a home emergency binder can do a lot to minimize the financial fallout. For example, you’ll need to be able to notify creditors of your situation and prove you have the insurance policies you have.
You may even need to be able to prove you own your home. Your home emergency binder enables a trusted friend or relative to step in and take care of your business – and maybe also your kids and pets.
The goal here is to create a binder that has copies of all your important papers, such as your home title and mortgage, your insurance policies, bank accounts, etc.
You may be grabbing this binder as you hastily evacuate the house or you may be trusting it to a relative or close friend in case you’re incapacitated.
Note: Irreplaceable papers, such as birth certificates, should generally be kept in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe. The binder should contain copies.
The Emergency Notebook
You can set up an emergency notebook – printed and/or electronic, saved on a flash drive or CD – full of your important business papers. This is something you can grab as you evacuate, or that someone you trust knows to come and get if you’re ever temporarily incapacitated.
These papers allow you or the trusted person to handle your business as best they can.
Legal Note
If you want someone to be able to use your bank account funds to pay your bills, you will most likely need to set up a legal trust naming them as one of your trustees. It wouldn’t be strictly legal for any relative who is not on your accounts to simply log into your bank account to pay your bills for you. Consult an attorney to understand your options and set them up.
Because this notebook is basically a guide to your whole life, you don’t want to store it somewhere that a thief is likely to find it, should someone break into your home. You could save it electronically and encrypt it (TrueCrypt is free), and then leave encrypted flash drive copies at your home and with your trusted person.You could also put it in a safety deposit box, as long as (a) your trusted person can access it and (b) your bank doesn’t shut down in the event of a natural disaster.
I keep a flash drive with it in my emergency kit, so at least I have something lightweight to carry if I suddenly have to evacuate. For this, I used some Sandisk Cruzer flash drives, and they’ve been reliable for me.
Dropbox and Google Drive are online storage options, if you feel safe storing documents in the cloud with those companies – and there are more privacy-oriented storage companies, too. If your trusted person just knows the login info and the path to your digital notebook, you’re good to go.
What Emergencies Will This Cover?
Your emergency could be that you become incapacitated and your spouse suddenly has to handle everything for the household. The binder will explain to them how you normally pay bills, move money around to cover them, handle the kids’ schedules and medical needs, etc.
Or it could be you and your spouse both become incapacitated and a relative needs to step in and handle bills and take care of your kids, pets and plants for a while. The binder will instruct them on how you normally do these things.
Or you could be forced to evacuate your home due to a natural disaster. Should you need FEMA funds, you’ll need documents to prove to them who you are and that you own your home. So your binder will include deeds/title/mortgage papers on your home.
Creating the Binder
If you’re making a physical binder, you’ll want some tabs. If electronic, you’ll want a file hierarchy, and these would be your top files.
Given your particular situation, you may not need all of these, and you may need to make some others. But generally, these are the binder tabs to create first. They follow the flow of the notebook and make it easy for someone else to use under stress.
There’s a whole cottage industry of people on Etsy selling printables for emergency binders. That’s cool, but I preferred to type my documents up to make sure they’re legible, so that’s what I did.
You can also buy a whole setup on Amazon. I just used a binder I already had with your basic Avery binder tabs. Super fancy, yeah.
1. How to Use This Binder
Instructions for handling your money, paying bills, quick notes about caring for kids and pets, and who to call first.
2. Emergency Contacts
Family, friends, doctors, attorneys, utilities, schools, employers.
3. Identification
Copies of passports, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, Social Security cards.
4. Legal Documents
Trusts, powers of attorney, wills, guardianship paperwork, healthcare directives.
5. Financial Accounts
Bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, creditors, account numbers and contact info.
6. Credit Cards
Card numbers, issuing banks, phone numbers to report loss or fraud.
7. Insurance Policies
Health, home, auto, life, disability, renters. Include policy numbers and agent contacts.
8. Medical Information
Insurance cards, medications and dosages, immunizations, medical conditions for each family member.
9. Home Ownership or Rental Contract
Deed or title, mortgage, property tax records, lease agreements.
10. Household Records
Warranties, appliance manuals, major repair records.
11. Utilities and Services
Utility account info, shut-off instructions, internet, phone, cable, streaming services.
12. Children’s Information
Daily schedules, schools, teachers, medical needs, activities, emergency plans.
13. Pets
Vet records, medications, feeding schedules, boarding info, microchip numbers.
14. Plants and Yard Care
Watering schedules, seasonal notes, outdoor maintenance basics.
15. Employment and School Contacts
Employers, HR departments, schools, daycare providers.
16. Inventory of Valuables
Jewelry, collectibles, insured items, vehicle details with VINs and insurance info.
17. Home Description
Property listing printout, photos, notes about upgrades or renovations.
18. Evacuation and Disaster Notes
FEMA info, temporary housing plans, evacuation routes, disaster contacts.
19. Online Accounts and Passwords
Email logins, cloud storage access, password manager info if used.
20. Notes and Updates
Blank section for changes, reminders, and future updates.
This tab structure gives someone a clear path to follow, even if they’re tired, stressed, or unfamiliar with your day-to-day life. It’s always possible the person helping won’t be the one you expected – for example, if there’s a natural disaster that affects them as well as you.
Emergency Binder Content
Imagine you’ve just walked into your neighbor’s house to take care of things for them while they’re in the hospital. You realize you know nothing about their routine. What information do you need?
That’s what goes in the binder.
Intro with Instructions
This goes in the first tab, and it’s where you explain what to do with the information in the binder. For example, how do you move your money around? Does your salary get sent into your savings account or checking, or does someone need to pick up a paycheck for you, and if so how? How do you pay your bills? Check, autopay, electronic payments?
Essential Documents
The heart of your emergency binder will be the critical documents that you’ll need in the event of a crisis.
Identification documents: include copies of passports, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, etc.
Financial records: Include a list of your bank accounts and creditors if you have a trustee who could use the notebook to pay your bills for you while you’re incapacitated. Also include information on any investment accounts or insurance policies.
Medical information: make a copy of your health insurance cards, prescription details, and immunization records. List any medications and their dosages for each family member.
Emergency contacts: list your family’s healthcare providers, utility companies, and attorneys if you have them. Also include trusted family members and friends.
Household documents: include your mortgage/lease agreements, warranties and appliance manuals.
Kids’ schedule: Notes on your children’s typical daily agenda. A relative might end up moving in with them temporarily. If he or she is able to keep the kids on their usual routine, that will make it easier for them to cope with the uncertainty of the situation.’
Pets’ medical records and identification: include the vets your pets go to and at least a summary of their current medications or medical issues. Leave clear instructions on their daily schedules and activities. Don’t assume everyone knows how to care for a dog or cat, let alone a more “exotic” pet.
Plants’ (and yard/garden) needs: No, seriously. If someone’s willing to look after your children or pets, they’re probably happy to take care of your houseplants while they’re at it, but may not know how.
Credit card numbers: all the numbers you need to use your credit cards, in case yours have been lost in an evacuation or accident. (This is also handy if you lose your wallet or it’s stolen, so you can call creditors immediately.)
Your email address and password: if you have your passwords stored in your computer or phone, you probably don’t have them memorized. Keep them written down so you can access them from another computer as needed.
Employer and School contact info: keep these so you can notify them of what’s happening and stay in touch.
Inventory and Information Log
Valuables: You may want to create a section that lists items of value in your household, such as jewelry or anything you have insured. A list of cars with make, model, VIN numbers and insurance details should be included.
Home Description: It may also be wise to include a description of your home. I would suggest printing or digitally saving an accurate listing for your house from Zillow or Trulia. If the listing is not accurate due to removations, make notes about that.
Utilities: Include instructions on how to turn off the water and any other utilities that have shut-off options on your property. (Emergency services will know how to do this in the event of a natural disaster or home fire or flood.)
Suspend Utilities and Streaming Services: If it looks like you’ll be out of your home for months, your may want to suspend everything from Netflix to cable and electricity. Leave instructions on how to do this and save some of that money for your emergency expenses.
Keeping the Binder Safe
Your emergency binder should be stored in a secure, easily accessible location, such as a designated shelf or cabinet in your home. Ensure that all family members know where the binder is kept and understand its importance.
Consider also creating a digital backup of the binder’s contents, either by scanning the documents or using a secure cloud storage service.
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