Family Emergency Binder and Vital Documents
Build a family emergency binder: what papers to copy, what to keep out (passwords, account numbers), insurance and cash, and a yearly review.
By Randall R. Russell, USMC Veteran
Health note: This is general information, not medical advice. Follow product labels and your doctor or pharmacist.
After a fire, a flood or a tornado, much of the hard part comes after the danger has passed, when recovery starts. The insurance company wants a policy number. The bank wants proof of who you are. The pharmacy wants your doctor's name. If all of that lived in a drawer that is now under water, you start from zero.
A family binder fixes that. It is one place for the information you need to start over, kept where you can grab it on the way out the door. This page walks you through what goes in it and what stays out. The free printable has every section with lines to write on.
"Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches." ~ Proverbs 24:3-4 (KJV)
Step 1: Why It Matters
Ready.gov says that after a disaster, having access to personal financial, insurance, medical and other records is crucial for starting the recovery process quickly. It says to gather financial and critical personal, household and medical information. Ready.gov also offers a free planning workbook for this, the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit.
Step 2: What Goes in the Binder
Use copies in the binder. Keep originals somewhere safe and separate, such as a safe deposit box or with a trusted relative, so one fire or flood is less likely to take both.
- ☐ Household contact list: family, doctors, pharmacy, insurance agent, employer, school, church
- ☐ Copies of IDs: driver's licenses, passports, birth certificates
- ☐ Copies of Social Security cards (or a note of where the originals are kept)
- ☐ Insurance: home or renters, flood, car, health, life. Policy numbers and claims phone lines.
- ☐ Property: deed or lease, car titles, and your photo inventory of the house
- ☐ Medical: each person's medical info sheet
- ☐ Money: the name and phone number of each bank and card company (not account numbers)
- ☐ Legal: wills, powers of attorney, guardianship papers for children
- ☐ Pets: vaccination records and a recent photo of each pet
For the medical sheet, use our First Aid Kit and Family Medical Info Sheet. For the photo inventory, see Step 4 of our Severe Weather Plan.
Step 3: What Stays Out
A binder that falls into the wrong hands should not empty your bank account. Keep these out of it:
- Passwords and PINs
- Full account numbers and full card numbers
- Anything you would not want a stranger to read
Write the institution's name and phone number instead. That is enough to start the call. Keep the ID copies in the binder too; Ready.gov lists a photo ID to prove the identity of household members.
Step 4: Cash and Insurance
- Ready.gov says to keep a small amount of cash at home in a safe place, in small bills, because ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster.
- Ready.gov also says to consider an emergency savings account for any crisis.
- Review your insurance. Ready.gov says not all policies are the same, and that homeowners insurance does not typically cover flooding. Flood insurance is available from the National Flood Insurance Program.
Step 5: Where It Lives, and When You Review It
Keep the binder where you can grab it in seconds, near the go-bags. Tell every adult in the house where it is. Put a reminder on the calendar to review it once a year, and after any big change: a move, a new baby, a new car, a new policy.
Gear for This Plan
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A Fire-Resistant Bag for Your Papers
SentrySafe Fire and Water Resistant Portable Bag (FBWLZ0) (paid link). Birth certificates, deeds and backups in one grab-and-go bag. The maker lists the inside as 13 x 9 x 1.5 inches, so check that your binder fits before you buy, or carry the filled pages and copies in it. Honest downside: it is resistant, not fireproof or waterproof, and it will not stop a thief. Keep copies somewhere else too.
Still on the List, No Pick Yet
A plain three-ring binder with sheet protectors and a few tabbed dividers. Any office supply store has them.
Get the Printable Binder
The free printable has every section: contacts, the document checklist with "where the original is kept," insurance, the money contacts page (no account numbers), legal papers, pets, and a review log. Print it, fill it in, and put it in the binder as the first pages. See all of our free printable guides.
Where This Advice Comes From
- Ready.gov: Financial Preparedness
- Product details: as on our gear page
Last checked: October 11, 2026 (Ready.gov). Product details as on our gear page.
Your free printable plan
5 pages with lines to write on. No store links and no prices inside.
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