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Blog: Paper Doll, Tackling The Stacks And Piles
 Top 10 Vital Documents--Do You Know Where Your VIPs Are?
As a Certified Professional Organizer, I find it's a common occurrence
to be sorting through piles of papers and then find a real
gem, a VIP or Very Important Paper. When this happens, the
client invariably shrieks with delight ("Oh, I've been looking for that
for months!") or dismay ("Oh, I was looking for that for months and
ended up spending lots of money to replace it.")
Today, we're
going to review the Top 10 VIPs you should (or may) have:
1) Birth Certificate
In theory, you should already have a birth certificate--you were born. You
need one to get a driver's license, apply for Social Security,
obtain a passport, to prove that yes, you really do qualify to be President of the United States. Usually, a photocopy will not suffice, as an embossed certificate,
stamped by your county of birth's ruling authority will be
required.
If you have multiple embossed certificates, keep one in your safe
deposit box or fireproof safe, and any other copies in the
VIP folder of the Legal section of your Family
Files.
Have you searched hither and yon and can't find your birth certificate? Was it was eaten by the dog
after he tired of munching on homework? Get a
replacement with minimal-to-moderate effort and expense:
Do-It-Yourselfer? The state in
which you were born maintains master copies. Contact your
state's Office of Vital Records in writing. To get the
contact information, fee schedule (for certificate and additional copies, plus
processing and postal costs), and required submission information, select your state from the Center
for Disease Control & Prevention's "Where to Write for Vital
Records" page. (Canadian readers, choose your
province from ServiceCanada.com's
birth certificate page.)
Be prepared to provide identifying details, including your full name at birth, date of
birth, sex, county or city of birth, hospital name, your mom's full
(maiden) name and your dad's complete name. You'll also have to supply
your signature (possibly notarized, depending on your state's
requirements), your mailing address and your phone number.
In-a-Rush? If you're
pressed for time, there are services that will obtain your birth certificate on an expedited basis, for an additional charge. You'll be able to fax the requested
information and proof of identification to them, along with your credit
card authorization. The best known of these services are Vitalchek and NationalBirthCertificate.com.
Born Elsewhere? If you were born abroad, you can apply for a Certified
Copy of a Consular Birth
Abroad.
2) Social
Security Card
Yes, it's possible Social Security won't be around by the time you retire. But
until then, you need proof of your registration with the Social
Security Administration in order to get a job, accrue benefits, and receive certain government
services.
You should already have your Social
Security card. If you don't, complete an SS-5 application at the Social
Security Administration's website and then mail it to your
local
Social Security office. You'll need to include
proof of citizenship or immigration status, age and
identity. Click here to
determine what types of documentation you need.
Can't find your card and you've looked
everywhere? You can get a
replacement for free, but they're limited to three
replacements per year and ten in your lifetime. Just fill out the SS-5 application, as noted above. (Questions #10-12 apply to replacing cards
for pre-existing SS numbers.)
As discussed in the posts on identity theft, don't
carry your Social Security card around with you. Take it out of your wallet! Unless you've been informed
that you'll need to supply your actual card (i.e., if you're meeting with
Human Resources after securing a job), keep your card in a safe
place and guard it as if it were a One Million Dollar bill.
3) Marriage Certificate
Every state requires that you have a
marriage license and resulting certificate to qualify your marital
status as legal. If you've just been married for 6 hours and your
passport has your old name but your fiancé booked your honeymoon
flights in your new name, you're going to need to convince the
airlines, and possibly the TSA. If your name differs from
your spouse, proving your marital right to visit in the
hospital with be a toughie without
documentation. Insurance companies might require a copy of
the certificate to provide spousal coverage, and Big Brother might need
proof of the marriage for everything from military housing to pension
and benefit collection to adoption and travel
abroad.
If you're getting married,
MarriageLicense.com can tell you what you need and how to proceed to
get the
license and certificate for your locale. If you're
already married, but you trusted your spouse to file the certificate
safely away, and your spouse trusted you to do the same (great trust
levels, not-so-great organizational skills?), you can use the same
CDC link
provided for birth certificates (above) to identify your state's office
of vital records and the requirements for requesting copies.
4) Divorce Decree
Certified copies of divorce decrees are
necessary if you wish to remarry, provide proof of legally separate finances to a tax authority or creditor, and to participate on
some of those ridiculous reality dating shows.
If
you've lost your divorce decree paperwork and live in or near the
county in which the divorce was granted, the speediest method will be
to arrive at the county courthouse with the following information in
hand: the full name of husband and wife,
including the wife's maiden name, the court case number, the date of
the divorce and the city and state where the divorce took
place. If you don't have the court case number, call the
attorney(s) and or mediator who handled your divorce to see if their
records include the case file number. With
this information, you'll be able to fill out an official request form
at the courthouse.
If you no longer live in or near
the county in which the divorce occurred, follow the CDC link for the state
in which the divorce took place, and follow your individual locale's
instructions.
5) Military
Separation/Discharge Papers and Other Military
Records
You'll need your own military records
and separation/discharge papers to obtain a job or a security
clearance, get proof or copies of medals, or apply for medical or
disability benefits. If a loved one who formerly served has
died, you'll need certified copies of records to arrange a military
funeral and obtain certain insurance benefits.
An
original signature of the veteran (or his/her next of kin) is required
to fill requests for copies of Official
Military Personnel Files (OMPF).
To a get a free copy of your (or your relative's) Report of Separation
(DD Form 214) or other military records, start with the electronic
search/request system eVetRecs,
or mail (or fax) a
standard form SF-180 to the National Personnel Records
Center.
6) Death
certificate
You'll need multiple certified embossed copies of a loved one's death certificate for everything from closing an estate to transferring car titles to notifying financial institutions regarding debts, transfers of ownership to beneficiaries and other legal, financial, and real estate transactions. If the death was recent, you might confer with the coroner or nursing home regarding expedited procedures. Otherwise, as with birth and marriage certificates, selecting your state from the CDC listings for your Office of Vital Records is your best bet.
7) Durable Power of
Attorney for Finances
8) Durable Power of
Attorney for Healthcare
A Power of Attorney is a written document authorizing someone to make legal and/or
financial decisions on your behalf. For example,
let's say you win the lottery, buy a ticket for a trip around the world
(perhaps to visit George Clooney's Italian villa), and grant someone Power of Attorney to make sure that the remaining lottery
winnings, safely invested, are being overseen if the stock market starts to
do some scary things.Are you wondering if plain-old, non-durable Powers of Attorney wears out after too much usage? With a garden
variety PoA, if something happens and you become
incapacitated (let's say you fell out of a hot air balloon while
hovering over George's villa and get a booboo in your brain), that
incapacitation nullifies the PoA. Conversely, a durable PoA stays in effect even when you're
incapacitated so that you can be sure someone you trust is looking out
for your best
interests.
A
durable PoA for financial matters is just that--a
document stating whom you've authorized to handle your money decisions
and
activities.
A
durable PoA for health care (also called a
health-care proxy, medical proxy or a medical power of attorney) is a
document stating whom you've authorized to make your medical decisions if you are physically and/or mentally unable to do
so. Married people usually authorize
their spouses, but you can authorize a sibling, parent or non-relative, too.
Authorize a Durable Power of Attorney for Finance and/or Healthcare by filling out (or copying) forms (downloadable from various sites for free or small charges), including those at Free-Legal-Documents.com or DocStoc and review these tips for drafting your own durable PoA for finances. Be sure to have your durable PoA witnessed and notarized, as required by your state.
9) Living Will or Advanced Medical Directive
A living will is a
document that exists to provide guidance to physicians regarding what
types of treatments you're willing to undergo, what pain management techniques are acceptable to you, etc.
Some people wonder why, if they have a living will,
they need a durable power of attorney for health
care, too. Good question! Only someone authorized by a durable PoA can make decisions about if, and under what
circumstances, life support might be withdrawn. The
assumption is that if you're incapacitated and have not authorized
someone to make your medical decisions, then your doctor will, defacto,
be in charge. However, the authority to make your health care
decisions shifts from the doctor, to whomever you've authorized (via
the durable PoA for health care document), once the
doctor makes the medical determination that you've been
incapacitated--if you're altered, delirious, comatose,
etc.
A living will or advanced medical directive
can't foresee future circumstances; the person authorized by a
durable PoA for healthcare can make sure your most recent wishes are
followed. Of course, you'll want to tell the person whom
you've authorized what your wishes are. For example, you
might wish to be kept on life support no matter the circumstances. My mother calls
this the "I want to be a burden to my children" option. Or,
you might wish to be receive life-sustaining treatment unless a certain
circumstance arises, such as a prolonged vegetative state. Or, you might wish for all life support to be withdrawn unless there's
hope for full (or vastly increased) restoration of mental and physical
health.
You can pick up a blank living will or advanced health care directive at most hospitals, or download a form designated for your state at a variety of sites (Google "medical directive" or "living will"), including PublicLegal.
10)
Passport
Does the thought of corralling all of these vital documents stress you out? Maybe a nice vacation would help? Well, you won't get far from our borders without a valid passport.
To apply for a new one, pick up a passport application at your local post office or download form DS-11 and read the general instructions at the Department of State web site. If your passport is lost or stolen, fill out a DS-64
and submit it, along with a DS-11, to get a
replacement.
Now, with all this straightened out, don't you feel like a VIP?
posted on: 7/21/2009 10:30:00 AM by Julie Bestry
category: Paper
Paper Doll, Tackling The Stacks And Piles:
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Paper Doll, Tackling The Stacks And Piles
by Julie Bestry
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Julie Bestry, President of Best Results Organizing in Chattanooga, TN, is a Certified Professional Organizer®, speaker and author. Julie helps overwhelmed individuals and businesses save time and money, reduce stress and increase productivity through new organizational skills and systems.
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