Archive for ‘Vital Documents’ Category
How to Create, Organize, and Safeguard 5 Essential Legal and Estate Documents
LEGAL and ESTATE DOCUMENTS
Last week, we talked about How To Replace and Organize 7 Essential Documents. Now that we’ve covered documents that government entities create, we’re going to move on to looking at documents you need to create for yourself. Today we’re discussing essential legal documents you need to create for your estate, even if your estate is a rental apartment, a third-hand car, and college loans.
1) Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
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2) Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare (also called a Healthcare Proxy or Health Care Power of Attorney (HCPOA))
- What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney is a written document authorizing someone to make legal, financial, or medical decisions on your behalf. In this relationship, (the authorizing party) is called the principal. That’s you!
The person authorized to serve on your behalf can be an actual Perry Mason kind of attorney, but generally isn’t; the person may be called an agent or an attorney-in-fact. This generally means the person has been deemed “legally competent,” which says less about their skills in not screwing things up, and more that they are at least 18 years of age and don’t subscribe to a buttload of conspiracy theories that would have them exchanging your IRA for magic beans. (Editor’s note: buttload not actually a legal term of measurement. FYI.)
- Why Do You Need a Power of Attorney?
At its most basic, someone with your financial Power of Attorney can perform financial tasks for you that normally, only you are allowed to perform. They can pay your bills, make decisions regarding your bank accounts, buy or sell real estate on your behalf (and find top realtors), make decisions regarding stocks, bonds, and IRAs, and generally act as your butler for money stuff. (Again, unlike words like agent and attorney-in-fact, “buttler for money stuff” is a PaperDoll-only phrase and is not a legal term of art. Please don’t try to use it in court.)
Imagine that you win the lottery. Yay! So you invest a huge chunk of your money in a pillow company or a brick-and-mortar gaming company, and then buy a ticket for an around-the-world cruise. (Except, and I mean no offense to the cruise industry, don’t do this until LONG after COVID is in our rear-view, OK?) You can leave the person you’ve granted your Power of Attorney the ability to pay your monthly bills so you can be footloose and fancy-free. Again, yay!
Now, imagine that while you’re off on your cruise, something wackadoodle happens with one of your stocks and you can’t be reached. Without someone holding your Power of Attorney to make decisions for you, you might end up owning some worthless stock upon your return. If you had granted someone Power of Attorney, they could have made sure that your remaining lottery winnings were safely invested.
Not realistic? OK, imagine your child is a 19-year-old sophomore in college and gets sick. When your kid was a minor, you got to make the medical decisions; having reached the age of majority, they make their own decisions — unless, medically, they really, truly can’t. Worst-case-scenario, if your child is in a coma or otherwise can’t communicate wishes regarding treatment and care, the only guarantee that their wishes will be followed is if someone (probably you) has the Power of Attorney and becomes their healthcare proxy.
- What Does Durable Mean?
A durable Powers of Attorney isn’t merely one that lasts longer than the toes of your socks. With a garden-variety (AKA: general) PoA, if something happens and you become incapacitated (let’s say you fell out of a hot air balloon and got a nasty brain booboo), your incapacitation nullifies the PoA, meaning that just when you need someone to make decisions for you, they’re not allowed to do so! Yikes!
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.
Oh, and just because it’s durable doesn’t mean it lasts forever. Once the principal dies, all Power of Attorney documents are null and void. (That’ll be important later, in #s 4 and 5.)
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Power of Attorney for Finances
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A durable Power of Attorney for financial matters is just that—a document stating whom you’ve authorized to handle your money decisions and activities. Normally, this will be a relative whom you trust implicitly, like a spouse, sibling, or parent. However, you may not be close to (or have any) family members to whom you can entrust this responsibility; if that’s the case, you can pick a trustworthy friend or an actual attorney.
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Power of Attorney for Healthcare
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A durable Power of Attorney for health care (also called a health-care proxy, medical proxy, or a Medical Power of Attorney, depending on your state) is a document stating whom you’ve authorized to make your medical decisions if you are physically and/or mentally unable to do so.
Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash
As with a PoA for finances, married people usually authorize their spouses, but you can give this right to a sibling, parent, or non-relative, too. (It doesn’t mean you don’t trust your spouse; if your loved one has just dealt with the passing of a parent, for example, the weight of being your Power of Attorney for health care might be a little overwhelming right now.)
- Create a Power of Attorney Document
Once you figure out the person or people whom you will authorize, you need the documents. Unless you’re already working with an attorney on other estate documents, you can handle this on your own. A variety of sites offer free and low-cost forms. Navigate to a site, select your state, and then download, fill out, and print. A few examples include:
You can also type “Power of Attorney [your state]” into your preferred search engine; most states have a governmental page with information and forms. For example, doing that search for Tennessee provides this document, yielding both Power of Attorney forms and Advanced Care Directives (see below).
If you prefer to go Old School, you can buy a packet of Power of Attorney forms on Amazon or at an office supply store and fill them in by hand.
- Consider Designating Backup Agents
It’s a good idea to have a backup person, or a secondary agent, in case your primary agent cannot accept the responsibility. For example, if you give PoA authorization to a spouse, and you are both stuck on a mountain pass in the Andes on a vacation (that you never even wanted to go on in the first place, thankyouverymuch!), that’s not good. It’ll be better to have named a secondary agent who can release funds to pay for a helicopter and a search party.
Be sure to have your durable PoA witnessed and notarized, and follow all instructions as required by your state.
- Safeguard Your Power of Attorney Documents
Make multiple copies of your signed, notarized Power of Attorney documents. Give one to the person you’ve named as your agent; if you have a secondary agent, give a copy to that person. Keep the original in your fireproof safe, and scan a copy to the cloud (like in Dropbox) so that you can access it from anywhere.
3) Living Will (also called an 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., and usually relates to end-of-life situations.
- Why Do You Need a Living Will?
Some people wonder why, if they have a living will, they would also need a durable Power of Attorney for health care. Isn’t one enough? Excellent question!
Only someone authorized by a durable Power of Attorney can make decisions about if, and under what circumstances, life support might be withdrawn. The assumption is that if you’re incapacitated but have not authorized someone to make your medical decisions, then your doctor will, de facto, be in charge. If you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy, you know this isn’t the case.
The authority to make your health care decisions shifts from the doctor (who makes emergency decisions, like in surgery), to whomever you’ve authorized (via your signed, witnessed durable Power of Attorney 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 all future circumstances; the person authorized by a durable Power of Attorney for healthcare can make sure your most recent wishes are followed. Perhaps, when you were 25, you believed that you should be kept alive no matter what, even if you were just a head in a jar, like Nixon in Futurama. But at 95, you might not feel the same way.
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, and it’s my preference. Or, you might wish to be receive life-sustaining treatment unless a certain circumstance arises, such as a prolonged vegetative state. Or, you might want all life support to be withdrawn unless there’s hope for full (or vastly increased) restoration of mental and physical health.
It’s your choice, but it’s only your choice if you make your preferences known!
[Editor’s note: Friend of the blog Carol Kaufman of Pinventory has wisely raised a point that I should reiterate here: for the same reasons your adult children (including college students) should have a designated Power of Attorney for healthcare, they should also have their own signed, notarized living wills and HIPAA release forms. Thanks, Carol!]
Unlike completing Power of Attorney documents, which you can do in a matter of minutes, completing your living will or advanced healthcare directive requires answering some pretty difficult questions, like:
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- Would you want to be put on a ventilator if you could no longer breathe on your own?
- Would you want CPR or other resuscitation if your heart were to stop beating?
- Would you wish to have tube or needle feeding if you lost the ability to swallow?
- If you had progressive dementia, what health treatments would you want?
- Would you want to be an organ donor?
In Tennessee, my form asked the following questions about quality of life and treatment. Both gave me pause, and it took weeks before I felt prepared to put my decisions in writing.
- Create a Living Will
In non-COVID times, you can easily pick up a blank living will or advanced health care directive form at most hospitals. These days, just download a form designated for your state, such as those at the following sites:
eForms (Advanced Medical Directive)
Or, plug the terms “advanced medical directive” or “living will” along with the name of your state into your preferred search engine.
- Safeguard Your Living Will (Advanced Healthcare Directive)
Make multiple copies of your signed, notarized living will.
Give one to the person you’ve named as your agent for healthcare decisions; if you have a secondary agent, give a copy to that person, too.
Keep the original in your fireproof safe, and scan a copy to the cloud (like in Dropbox) so that you can access it from anywhere. It’s also helpful to keep one copy clipped to the interior front your Medical folder in your Family Files, as well, so that as you file paperwork regarding your health and wellness, you are reminded to keep your wishes up to date.
4) Will (also known as a Last Will and Testament)
- Why Do You Need a Will?
You may assume that if you die intestate (that means, “without a will”) that your money and stuff will automatically go wherever you told everyone you wanted it to go. But that’s not how it works. If you die without a will, depending on the state in which you lived/died, those state’s intestacy laws determine who gets what, and it’s often not very pretty…and not what you would have wanted.
For example, if you are single and have no children when you die, everything you own would likely automatically go to your parent(s)—even if you were estranged; or, if they are no longer living, to your siblings (even if you didn’t like them), then to random relatives of ever-increasing relational distance, even if you’d wanted your Star Wars memorabilia, Beyoncé CDs, and Bitcoins to go to your best friend. If you are not married but in a romantic or domestic partnership and die intestate, your partner generally cannot inherit. And the state rules for married people can be equally frustrating.
Unless you want the state deciding who gets what, you need a will!
- What Do You Need to Mention in My Will?
The short answer is, ask your attorney! Seriously.
At the very least, you’re going to need to create a list of all of your assets and debts (something we’ll be discussing in an upcoming post). This will include traditional assets like bank accounts and investments, but you’ll also need to consider all of your tangible property. Will your executor sell your car and add the revenue to your overall assets, or would you like your great-niece to have a more dependable ride? Will you donate your library of books to charity or sell them or have someone create the Biggest Memorial Little Free Library in your name?
If you have any minor children, your will should spell out whom you wish to name as a guardian. (If you have pets, while it’s less of a legal issue, ethically you want to make sure you provide for Fluffy or Mr. Barker.)
And while you can create your wishes regarding funeral arrangements as part of your will, that’s not the only place they should be listed, and we’ll be covering that in a future post.
The reading of the will in Monseiur Verdoux (1947), in the public domain
- Types of Wills
Without turning this into a law school class, there are three types of wills (notwithstanding a living will, explained above):
A simple will lets you specify who will get your assets. If you have minor children, this is where you name who will be their guardian. Depending on the rest of your financial and legal situation, you can create a simple will fairly easily, even without an attorney. LegalZoom has a good piece on the starting point for gathering the essential information, writing your will, and making sure it’s kosher.
A testamentary trust will lets you place some of your assets into a trust. If your eyes glaze over at the sight of “wills and trusts,” just know that this a way to make things easier for your beneficiaries and all of your assets (investments, accounts, etc.) live inside the trust. This is advantageous in a few different ways.
First, if you have minor children (or beneficiaries who sometimes act like children) this is a safe way to put conditions on how and when they can access their inheritances. Second, while a will only takes effect after someone dies, a trust becomes active as soon as you create it, and you can spell out the distribution of your assets prior to your death. There are also sub-categories, like living trusts, which you can change, and irrevocable trusts, which can’t be altered after they’re put in place.
A joint will is basically a will where two spouses each have wills that mirror one another’s, and each leaves everything to the other. These are prickly, because the terms of a joint will can’t be changed, even after one of the spouses dies.
- How Do You Create a Will?
If your life is fairly simple — if you’re single and you have relatively few assets, even if you have a spouse and/or a child, you can probably use the internet to create a will at a fairly low cost. Check out sites like:
Legal Zoom Last Will and Testament
To help you in this process, Cake has a detailed piece comparing 13 different online will-making sites.
That said, no matter how simple your life, and how likely you are to select a simple will (vs. a testamentary trust will), I VERY strongly encourage you to at least sit down with an attorney to make sure that you have covered all of your bases and considered all of the issues. Doing so will help you sleep better at night.
An attorney can help you recall assets you may not have remembered, help you fine-tune the decision-making process regarding beneficiaries, guide you with regard to selecting an executor and choosing guardians for minor children, and more.
- What about a Holographic Will?
You may have heard about a holographic will, and no, it has nothing to do with the holodeck on the USS Enterprise. A holographic will is a handwritten and signed document that you can create without a lawyer, and it doesn’t require notaries or witnesses. Sounds great, right?
Nope!
First, some states don’t recognize holographic wills at all. Others have very strict requirements to prove that you (the “testator”) wrote the will and that you are of “sound mind and body” (as they say in the movies), and in the 21st century, if you’re hand-writing your will, somebody is going to question that soundness! A holographic will also has to include your wish to disburse your personal property to your beneficiaries. Nine states will only accept a holographic will from out of state, treating it as a foreign will, and two states (New York and Maryland) only accept holographic wills from members of the military, and only under narrow circumstances.
So, even if you have the best penmanship and can prove that you are “all there up there,” Paper Doll is going to discourage you from creating a holographic will. Come on, if you are reading this post on the web, you can, I’m sure, create your simple will on the web.
- Safeguarding Your Will
Once you have written your will, made sure it is legal for your state, signed it and had it notarized, then you need to keep it safe. Make multiple copies.
Store both the original and one copy in your fireproof safe or lockbox, and one in your Family File system. If an attorney helped you prepare your will, he or she will likely maintain a copy at the law firm.
At the very least, let your significant other and close family members know where the documents are and how to find them.
Do NOT keep your only copy of the will in your bank safe deposit box, because if you are the sole key-holder, access to your box will be shut down upon your death.
5) Digital Will
Digital wills are a relatively new concept. However, as more and more of our assets and accounts can best be accessed digitally (like bank and investment accounts) and exist solely digitally (in terms of intellectual property, web sites, social media accounts, etc.), a digital will is now just as important as a traditional last will and testament.
Your traditional will covers your tangible possessions and financial assets, and creates an executor to handle disbursement of assets to your beneficiaries. Your digital will is your opportunity to create a digital executor to handle digital issues, and spells out what you want done.
First, all of your financial assets will need to be accessed, so you’ll need to create a list of all such accounts and passwords to pass along to your digital executor (or, if you use password software, you’ll need to provide your master password to your trusted executor).
But what about all of your other online property? Do you want to leave accounts open, shut them down, or turn them into memorials to your memory? Each web site has its own very complicated set of guidelines regarding who can access online accounts and how.
Until we cover this in a future post, I strongly urge you to check out Creating Your Digital Estate Plan (Second Edition) by the professional organizing industry rock star, Judith Kolberg. She specializes in this field and has deeply researched the best approaches.
Finally, if the idea of thinking about all of these estate and end-of-life documents trouble you, I encourage you to read Chanel Reynold’s What Matters Most: The Get Your Sh** Together Guide to Wills, Money, Insurance, and Life’s What-Ifs.
Next week, we will finish this series by discussing a variety of non-governmental, non-estate documents that you should create and organize to make your life, and the lives of your loved ones, run more smoothly. In the meantime, I urge you to consider which of these documents you have, which you need, and which you should update.
Paper Doll Post:
How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents
All documents are not created equal. If you lose your electric bill, you can log into your account, and then view, pay, and even print a copy of your bill. Other items fall into the Very Important Paper, or VIP, category, and require more effort to replace. These are the documents without which we cannot pass GO or collect 200 (or any) dollars unless we present an original, certified copy.
The Search for Vital Documents
While stuck at home, numerous clients and friends have been reporting on the states of their files and important documents.
A few months ago, in anticipation of the world returning to “normal,” a client wanted to make plans for a big post-quarantine trip. Although she hasn’t traveled outside of the country in decades, quarantine left her feeling claustrophobic and she’s eager to explore the world. But her passport is both expired and (unfortunately) missing.
Elsewhere, a reader had seen my blog post, Paper Doll On Narwhals, Fake News, and How To Get A REAL ID from last February, and wanted to get a REAL ID so she’d be able to fly domestically. (As a reminder, that deadline has change from October 2020 to October 2021.)
Both would need their birth certificates. Like many people, neither had needed one since applying for driver’s licenses as teens. One couldn’t find hers; yes, that was the one who also lost her passport. The other knew it was somewhere in her elderly parents’ home but couldn’t risk traveling during COVID to acquire it, nor could she accurately direct her parents to find it or trust the (lately chaotic) postal service to deliver the vital document if it were found.
Another client had received a notice that a company related to one of her late father’s stock holdings had liquidated, and the remaining value had been escheated. This means that having lost sight of his correct address when he moved from his longtime home to a nursing home, the transfer agent for the stock sent the check to his state’s unclaimed property division. To prove that she had a right to that amount, my client had to provide the state with her father’s death certificate and a copy of the will, showing that she was a beneficiary.
When my own father died, to prove Paper Mommy‘s right to certain veteran’s survivor benefits, we had to provide his military separation papers dating from World War II. Luckily, I had located these during the process that went into writing The Great Mesozoic Law Office Purge of 2015: A Professional Organizer’s Family Tale.
Replacing the Documents
As a Certified Professional Organizer, I’m often working with clients, sorting through random piles of papers. Wedged between expired car insurance declaration pages and outdated kindergarten registration paperwork, I’ll find some essential VIP and a client will exclaim, “I’ve been LOOKING for that!”
Whether you want to get benefits or insurance, travel or remarry, obtain a job or live happily ever after (whatever that means to you), you’re going to need to produce certain government documents. And if you don’t have them, you’ll need to replace them to make life easier for yourself and your loved ones.
1) Birth Certificate
You’re reading this, so you’ve already been born. (I mean, unless you’re a time traveler, in which case, howdy, and please leave a comment below about the winner and score of the upcoming Super Bowl!) Further, as you were born in the 20th (or 21st) century, you almost certainly already have a birth certificate, even if it’s not in your possession.
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
Why you need one: A birth certificate is not merely proof of your arrival on the planet. You need one to get a driver’s license, apply for Social Security and other government benefits owed to you, obtain a passport, join the military, and perhaps prove the date and location of your birth to show you are eligible to be a congressperson, senator, or President of the United States.
Usually, a photocopy will not suffice; you’ll need an embossed (bumpy) certificate, stamped by a government entity related to your place of birth. That might be your county clerk, the registrar of records, or someone else.
If you were born in the United States, contact the office of vital records for your state or territory of birth in writing.
First, visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Through that site, you’ll find information regarding to whom (and at what address) you must write, the fee schedule (for as many copies as you need, plus postal and processing charges), and what information or proof you’ll need to submit. Fees are determined by locale; to get copy of a birth certificate from Guam, it’s only $5; for New York State (outside of New York City), it’s $30. (For New York City, it’s $15, which this Buffalonian considers an unfair discount.)
If you were born abroad to American parents, your birth would have been registered with your nation of birth’s embassy or consulate. If everything is hunky-dory, instead of a standard birth certificate, they would have been given Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and you can request a copy from the U.S. Department of State. If they can’t locate your CRBA, or your birth wasn’t registered with an embassy, but you were born on a military base, you can try to contact the hospital where you were born.
If you were born abroad, even if you were adopted by a family in the United States, you won’t have an original U.S. birth certificate; you’ll have to contact the nearest embassy for that nation for assistance. If you were born “on the high seas,” on an aircraft, or in the Panama Canal Zone, you’ll want to read this page for special guidance. (You’ll also want to record your mom telling the story of how that came to be for the delight and amazement of future generations!)
If you were born in Canada, contact the vital statistics office for your province of birth.
To replace your birth certificate, be prepared to provide identifying details, including:
- your full name at birth
- date of birth
- sex (as assigned at birth)
- county and/or city of birth
- hospital name
- your *mother’s complete (including maiden) name, and
- your *father’s complete name
*In the future, it will be more likely that birth certificates will indicate parents names without assuming parents of two genders; currently, however, most locales show these as gendered categories.
You’ll also have to supply your signature (possibly notarized, depending on your state’s requirements), your mailing address, and your phone number.
If you are pressed for time, there are third-party services, like Vitalchek, that can expedite the process for an added cost. (Be sure to do a deep-dive to verify that any expediting service is on the up-and-up.)
2) Social Security Card
Why you need one: You need proof of your registration with the Social Security Administration in order to get a job, accrue benefits, and receive certain government services. Your parents probably completed the paperwork for your Social Security card when you were a newborn, so like a birth certificate, someone has already done the hard work for you. (If you are over the age of 12 but have never received a Social Security card, you will have to apply in person at your local Social Security office.)
You should already have your Social Security card; you would have needed it to apply for your first “grownup” job. However, if you’ve lost it at some point, you can replace it in one of two ways.
The standard method is by completing an SS-5 application, available online at the Social Security Administration’s website. You will have to print the application and then mail it to your local Social Security office. And that’s the first wrinkle – the Social Security Administration halted all face-to-face services and closed their field offices on March 20, 2020 and they have not yet resumed services. Their website states, “However, we are still able to provide critical services via phone, fax and online.”
Happily, you can replace your Social Security card online, provided that you have (or are willing to create) a mySocialSecurity account.
You’ll be happy to know that unlike a birth certificate, driver’s license, or almost any other official document, you can get your replacement Social Security card for free! However, this isn’t a “Get out of jail, free” card for keeping your paperwork disorganized. You are limited to three replacements per year and ten in your lifetime. (Questions #11 and #12 on the application refer to replacing cards for pre-existing Social Security numbers/cards.)
Remember, don’t carry your Social Security card around with you. That’s like carrying a one million dollar bill, and puts you at risk of identity theft. Unless you have been asked to provide your card for an official reason, such as when you are meeting with Human Resources at your new job, keep your card in a safe place, like your fireproof safe at home.
3) Marriage License & Certificate
Are you married? Mazel tov! But do you know where your marriage license and certificate are?
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
Why you need one (of each): Every state requires a marriage license, the paper that legally authorizes you to get married, and a marriage certificate, to prove the deed has been done. You apply for a marriage license at some point prior to when you expect the ceremony to be. However, depending on your state, your license might expire anywhere from 30 days to a year after you receive it.
Let’s say you got your marriage license on March 1, 2020, expecting to get married two months later, on May 1, 2020. And let’s say licenses in your state don’t expire for six months. Normally, you wouldn’t be too worried. But perhaps due to COVID, your wedding got postponed and your license expired. No problem; you just apply for a new one.
But let’s say that someone accidentally loses your marriage license, or it got accidentally destroyed after the wedding ceremony but before you were able to submit it to your county. (If it wasn’t accidental, Paper Doll suggests couples counseling.) If that happens, you need the officiant (the minister, priest, rabbi, judge, etc. – the person who officiated) to intervene on your behalf. The officiant has to contact the license-issuing office to get a get a duplicate to ensure that your marriage is kosher.
So, your marriage license is what you need in order to get married; a marriage certificate is proof that the marriage ceremony has happened. If you are taking your new spouse’s name, you will need your marriage certificate in order to legally change your name on your driver’s license, passport, and other official documents.
If your name differs from your spouse, proving your legal right to visit in the hospital may be difficult without documentation. (Granted, during COVID, in many places, visitors – even spouses – are not allowed in hospitals right now.) Insurance companies might require a copy of the certificate to provide spousal coverage, and proof of your marriage is required for everything from qualifying for military housing to obtaining pension benefits to adoption and travel abroad.
The point is that unless you are a character on Grey’s Anatomy, a Post-It Note of marital promises isn’t going to cut it.
If you’re already married, but you trusted your spouse to file the marriage 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 to identify your state’s office of vital records and see the fees and requirements for requesting copies. You might also take this opportunity to speak with a professional organizer about the best system for organizing your family’s paperwork and maximize future joy.
4) Divorce Decree
Why you need one: Certified copies of divorce decrees are necessary if you wish to remarry, to provide proof of legally separate finances to a tax authority (like the IRS or the state) or a creditor, and to be a contestant on a TV show like The Bachelor. (But please, don’t do that.)
If you’ve lost your divorce decree paperwork and live in or near the county in which the divorce was granted, the fastest method will be to arrive at the county courthouse with the following information in hand:
- the full name of both spouses (including any maiden names) as of the wedding date
- the court case number
- the exact date of the divorce
- and the city, county, and state in which the divorce took place
If you don’t have the court case number, you will need to call one of 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
Image by Shonda Ranson from Pixabay
Why you need them: 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 relative who served has died, you’ll need certified copies of these records to arrange a military funeral or obtain certain survivor’s 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.
And here’s where there’s another wrinkle.
Due to COVID, the National Personnel Records Center is closed except for emergencies, and they state on their site:
While we remain in this state, we will continue servicing requests associated with medical treatments, burials, and homeless veterans seeking admittance to a homeless shelter. Please refrain from submitting non-emergency requests such as replacement medals, administrative corrections, or records research until we return to pre-COVID staffing levels.
In other words, unless you are seeking a DD214 so that a veteran can get healthcare or space in a homeless shelter, or to facilitate a veteran’s burial, you may have to make a note on your “To Do After COVID” list for replacing these documents.
6) Death certificate
Why you need one: After someone dies, you will need multiple certified embossed copies of a death certificate for almost everything, including:
- canceling cell phone and utility contracts
- closing an estate
- transferring car titles
- notifying financial institutions regarding debts
- transferring ownership of tangible and intangible property to beneficiaries, and
- other legal, financial, and real estate transactions
If someone has recently died, it is easier and more convenient to acquire death certificates from the funeral home, which generally maintains ongoing relationships with local government offices. In most states, there is a standard fee for acquiring a death certificate, and ethical funeral homes should acquire and pass along requested copies of the death certificate charging an additional fee.
If you need to acquire a death certificate for someone whose passing was not recent, and getting the assistance of the funeral home is not applicable, the procedure is similar to other obtaining copies of birth and marriage certificates. Select your state from the CDC listings for your Office of Vital Records and follow the instructions for your state.
7) Passport
Right now, international travel is an iffy proposition and even where travelers are welcome, many new rules abound, but it can’t help to dream about traveling the globe when all is calm again.
Applying for a new passport still requires some of the process to be completed in person. However, much can be accomplished online, including downloading forms, calculating fees, and getting information about your passport’s application status.
To apply for a new passport, download form DS-11 and read the general instructions at the Department of State web site.
If your passport is lost or stolen, you’ll have to report it. Fill out a DS-64 and then submit it, along with a DS-11, to get a replacement.
To renew your passport by mail, whether it has expired or not, fill out a DS-82 and submit it, along with your old, undamaged passport and required documentation. However, if your expired passport is more than 15 years old, you will have to apply for a new one; if your prior passport was issued before you reached the age of 16, you will have to apply anew. And, you may only renew your passport if it was issued in your current name; or if you can provided legal proof of your name change.
The Department of State has a section explaining delays related to COVID.
What to Do When You Get Your Replacement Documents
Once you spend time and effort replacing a government document, you don’t want to have to do it again. Do the following:
- Scan a copy of your vital documents.
- Provide a scanned and/or paper copy of each of these vital documents to a trusted friend or relative so that if your copies are damaged in a fire or natural disaster, you will at least have some guidance regarding the information contained in them.
- Place your official, embossed (bumpy) paper copies somewhere safe and logical, like a fireproof safe. If you have multiple copies, you can keep extras in a VIP folder of your Family Files.
- Create a digitized index of all of your VIPs so you know what you have. Share a copy with your trusted friend so that, in case of an emergency, your friend can help you identify your documents.
- Make a habit that whenever you remove something from your VIP file or safe, set a reminder on your phone to return it to its proper place. Even if you have to keep snoozing the reminder, it will ensure you put the document back. Otherwise, you’re likely to put it down instead of putting it away, making it more likely to get lost or misplaced again.
A Final Note
Unfortunately, with many of the procedures listed, you may hit speed bumps related to COVID. Many governmental offices are closed, and those that are open often have reduced hours and accessibility. These links and instructions are starting points for official channels; if you hit a road block, you may find assistance by calling your county clerk’s office to seek guidance.
Paper Doll Post:
Paper Doll On Narwhals, Fake News, and How To Get A REAL ID
Sometimes, it seems like reality is subjective.
Real Housewives.
Fake news.
Real animals that seem like they should be fake. Don’t try to tell me that you believed narwhals were real when you first learned about them. I mean, unicorn fish? (Yes, I know they’re mammals.)
Narwhal Isolated by Piotr Siedlecki under the CC0 Public Domain License
Fake IDs. (My sister once had a fake ID, a driver’s license that had belonged to a family friend. They even shared a birthday. However, they did not share the same color eyes…and when quizzed by a bouncer, my sister didn’t know what eye color she was supposed to have had. Oops.)
REAL IDs.
WHAT IS A REAL ID?
Effective October 1, 2020 May 3, 2023 May 7, 2025, the REAL ID Act passed by the Congress in 2005, will finally go into effect. (Note: the date has changed several times due to COVID, but this is the effective date as of the DHS announcement in December 2022.)
As of that date, if you don’t have a REAL ID, identification that complies with the requirements of the REAL ID Act, your access to certain locations will be limited. The act, passed in the shadow of 9/11, did the following:
- It set clearer standards for government-issued photo IDs (like driver’s licenses, non-driver ID cards, and other government-issued cards), establishing a uniform set of security standards.
- The act prohibits any of the various government agencies (including the TSA) from accepting forms of identification that don’t meet the new standards.
- It’s supposed to add an extra layer of security to the process of flying by making it harder to acquire false documents and use them to board airplanes.
WHY DO YOU NEED A REAL ID?
Given the above, the main reason people will want to make sure their IDs are REAL ID-compliant is so they can board airplanes to fly for business, pleasure, and those uncategorized trips in between (to take care of ill relatives, look for houses in the cities to which they’re moving, visit a speciality doctor or clinic, or otherwise go somewhere too far away or inconvenient to drive or take the train). Basically, if you want to fly, you’ll need a REAL ID.
“But wait, what about passports?” you may be wondering. That makes you a smartypants! The document you use must be REAL ID-compliant unless you are using using an alternative acceptable document such as a passport or passport card, or a state-issued Enhanced Driver’s License.
But flying isn’t the only reason you might need a REAL ID. They will also be required to enter federal buildings (such as to give testimony or participate in legal procedings in a federal courthouse, and to enter nuclear power plants. Unless you are Homer Simpson, the former is a bit more likely than the latter, and flying more common than either one.
Please note: You cannot be required to show a REAL ID to vote. (I mean, unless your assigned polling place is on an airplane, in a federal building, or in a nuclear power plant. But that would be weird.)
As of this writing, there are seven states with voter ID laws, but they only issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state IDs; in Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and South Dakota, you can use an expired license as ID to vote, while in Hawaii, Utah, and Colorado, your ID must be current; in all seven, there are alternatives to using REAL ID. (For more on current state-by-state ID requirements for voting, VoteRiders.org has a great article, How Does Real ID Relate to Voter ID?)
The Act doesn’t require you to present identification anywhere it’s not currently required for accessing a federal facility, like the public areas of the Smithsonian Institute. And, again, the federal building or facility isn’t prohibited from accepting other forms of identity documents (such as a U.S. passport or passport card). But as we’ve discussed before on this blog the majority of Americans do not have valid passports. Currently, only 42% of Americans hold them. Granted, that’s a huge increase in the past few decades. In 1990, only 4% of Americans had passports. When I wrote about Passport Day in 2011, that number had reached 30%.
Children under 18 are not required to have REAL ID-compliant identification.
MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS
For a state-issued ID (whether a driver’s license or other identification card) to be valid to serve as a REAL ID, it must include the following infomation:
- The person’s full legal name.
- The person’s date of birth.
- The person’s gender.
- The person’s driver’s license or identification card number.
- A digital photograph of the person.
- The person’s address of principle residence.
- The person’s signature.
- Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.
- A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.
In addition, states (and territories) have a whole slew of rules to follow regarding how they must organize and use the documentary evidence they receive.
For example, states must retain any paper copies of the documents you provide for a minimum of 7 years or scanned/capture images of those source documents for a minimum of 10 years. (I suspect the federal government might need the help of some professional organizers to accomplish all of this!)
Shockingly, some states didn’t previously require photos even for driver’s licenses, but now all REAL IDs will require “facial image capture” and must establish “an effective procedure to confirm or verify a renewing applicant’s information.” (Isn’t it a bit surprising that wasn’t required before?)
All states will need to confirm Social Security account numbers with the Social Security Administration and check with other states to make sure your old licenses have been “terminated.”
States will also have to limit the validity period of all driver’s licenses and (non-temporary) ID cards to 8 years.
HOW DO YOU GET A REAL ID?
First, gather your documents. You will need to present the following original or certified documents to your state to apply for a REAL ID.
- Proof to establish citizenship or legal presence – Again, if you have a passport or passport card, you’re covered. Otherwise, you’ll need official documentation to prove you are a citizen.
- Proof of your full Social Security number – Find your official Social Security card. If you’ve lost yours, you’ll want to replace your Social Security card before trying to apply for a REAL ID.
- Two proofs of residency of the state in which you currently reside.
- Documentation of any name changes (due to marriage, divorce, adoption, change of name associated with a gender reassignment, etc.) explaining a discrepancy between the names on all your forms of proof
In general, you will apply to the local branch of your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent. You will be be required to apply in-person, and it’s possible that only some (or even one) DMV location in your community will process these applications.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY ID IS A REAL ID?
Look in the upper right-hand corner of your ID. Do you see a star that looks like any displayed below?
No star? It’s not REAL ID-complaint. Chance are that if you haven’t gotten a new state-issued ID card in the last couple of years, you probably don’t have a Real ID.
Tangential story: When I started college, it was right after the drinking age in New York State had gone from 19 to 21. A friend from a state that did not put birthdates on driver’s licenses and confidently ordered a beer to go with his dinner. The server squinted, puzzled that there was no birthdate.
“Oh, we don’t have birthdates on our driver’s licenses in [his home state].” The server was puzzled. “Then how do I know if you’re legal?” My friend smiled warmly and pointed to the top right corner of his ID. “See that green sticker that says 21? That’s how you know I’m at least 21. It’s a Green 21!” Mollified, the server handed him back his ID and wandered off to get his burger and beer.
Yes, readers, he randomly found a tiny, round, green sticker with 21 imprinted on it, and had the notion to put it on his license. The world was a lot less complicated in the mid-1980s.
DO I REALLY HAVE TO GET A REAL ID RIGHT NOW?
Not necessarily. Maybe you’re thinking, “But I have another five years left on my current driver’s license. Why should I pay a fee to get a new one?”
No plans to visit a nuclear power plant in the near future? Great! Pretty sure you won’t need to visit any federal buildings. OK. But flying? There are all sorts of unanticipated emergencies where you might unexpectedly need to fly. Wouldn’t you rather be prepared?
As mentioned above, there are alternatives to getting newly-issued REAL IDs in the short term, but most people are unlikely to have the majority of them. They include:
- Driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
- U.S. passport
- U.S. passport card
- DHS trusted traveler cards like Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST (but see the next section)
- U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
- Permanent resident card
- Border crossing card
- State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (Currently only Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington issue these types of licenses.)
- Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
- HSPD-12 PIV card (Personal Identification Verification Credentials are granted to federal government employees and contractors.)
- Foreign government-issued passport
- Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
- Transportation worker identification credential
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
- U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
If you opt to put off getting a REAL ID, make sure that you always keep your passport and/or any of these other identification cards accessible. If you keep your passport in your bank’s safe deposit box and unexpectedly find out on a Saturday afternoon that you need to fly on Sunday, you’ll be out of luck.
WHAT’S THE HUBBUB ABOUT GLOBAL ENTRY CARDS?
You can use your Global Entry card, if you already have one, and the benefits of Global Entry are great. You get to keep your shoes, belt, and light jackets on when going through security, you don’t have to empty your pockets, and you can keep your little bag of liquids inside your carry-on.
There’s one small hitch. The current administration has just ruled that residents of New York State will not be allowed to renew or apply for new Global Entry cards, and it’s uncertain at this time if other states’ residents will be banned. (This is a complex political issue outside the parameters of an organizing blog. Please visit your preferred search engine for more details.)
GET REAL
Bottom line: if there’s any chance that you will be flying in 4th Quarter 2020 2nd Quarter 2023 (as of spring 2022) and you don’t have a passport, now is the time to gather your documents and apply for your REAL ID. The lines will only get longer as October approaches.
Finally, if you read the list of alternative IDs and were surprise that there is still a U.S.Merchant Marine, be assured you are not the only one. But like narwhals, they’re real. But Green 21s? Not so much.
Paper Doll Post:
Paper Doll on the Smead Podcast: Essential Lists For Organized Travel
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
Whether you’re going over the river and through the woods for a holiday with Grandma or jet-setting off to some foreign rendezvous, travel can be both exciting and nervewracking. There are so many issues, from worrying that you’ll forget your medication to figuring out how to pack properly for the weather, that it’s easy to become anxious or overwhelmed.
Taking Twain’s message to heart, I would rather spend my twilight years remembering the joys of my madcap adventures (even if they involved some momentary anxiety) than basking in the coziness of never making a misstep due to never having taken a step at all.
Readers, you’ve heard me say this before: organizing cannot prevent all catastrophes, but it can prevent them from being so catastrophic.
Organizing cannot prevent all catastrophes, but it can prevent them from being so catastrophic. Share on XI’m a big believer that lists help keep our space and time organized, and work particularly well for banishing – or at least keeping at bay – some of that pre-travel anxiety.
You may recall my post from last fall, Paper Doll’s 5 Essential Lists For Planning an International Vacation, which I wrote after returning from my grand tour of Italy. Recently, that post prompted a great two-part conversation with John Hunt on the excellent Smead video podcast, Keeping You Organized.
We discussed exactly how you can use lists to conquer your trip-preparation fears and travel more confidently. For convenience, both parts of our conversation appear below.
Essential List for Organized Travel – Part 1 (Keeping You Organized, episode #263)
Essential List for Organized Travel – Part 2 (Keeping You Organized, episode #264)
If you’d rather listen to the podcasts (perhaps while packing or roaming through romantic, far-flung airports than be distracted by my hair (which I swear always looks better ten minutes before the podcast starts), you can visit the podcast pages directly at Smead and download the mp3s:
Essential List for Organized Travel – Part 1 (Keeping You Organized, episode #263) Audio Only
Essential List for Organized Travel – Part 2 (Keeping You Organized, episode #264) Audio Only
On the podcasts, I talked about the kinds of lists I use, as well as the apps, products, and services that I think help create a more organized travel experience. One of those items wasn’t widely available yet when I went to Italy, nor when I wrote my recap.
Last February, I was watching Smead’s myOrganized.life daily Facebook show. When I tuned in, I learned that friend-of-the-blog and Smead personality Leiann Thompson (John Hunt’s partner in crime) was stuck in a snowstorm and John was on his own, touting a new product: the Smead Poly Three-Divider Travel Organizer File.
Once John showed off the Travel Organizer File, I knew I had to get a closer look at this hybrid tool for organizing travel documents and necessities. It’s made of durable poly material, so it’s tear- and water-resistant. The back portion of the letter-sized organizer has three 1/3-cut tabbed divider sections, each of which has a 25-sheet storage capacity. The sections are useful for sorting documents by:
- different days of your itinerary
- different aspects of your trip (family reunion notes, conference documents, sightseeing itineraries), or
- different travel elements (airline reservations, hotel bookings, ground transportation info, etc.)
The Smead Poly Three-Divider Travel Organizer File also has a snap-closure pocket (also made of poly material) for collating travel expense receipts, baggage claim or valet tickets, restaurant/business cards, walking tour maps, and anything you collect along the way.
Smead has three colorful, fun designs, all of which give your enclosed documents some privacy from prying eyes. (You know, there’s always that one seatmate looking over your shoulder!) The teal-white flowered is shown above; Smead also makes purple and teal versions with a charcoal privacy design (below):
You can find a two-pack of the Smead Poly Three-Divider Travel Organizers at Amazon for around $9, as well as at Smead, and most office supply stores and stationers.
Happy (organized) traveling!
Paper Doll Post:
Paper Doll on the New Medicare Cards: How To Organize Against Identity Theft & Scams
Are you one of the almost 60 million Americans enrolled in Medicare? Are your parents or grandparents? If so, it’s important to know that all Medicare recipients will soon be getting new identification cards. The first of the new cards will be mailed starting April 1, 2018, and the rollout will continue through April 30, 2019.
Why the Change?
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the new cards will better protect an enrollee’s identity and guard against fraud. Basically, the hope is that the new Medicare ID cards will make it much harder for the bad guys to scam Medicare recipients and steal their identities.
The new Medicare cards will have less personally identifying information than in the past. Cards won’t have the bearer’s Social Security number, gender, or signature.
Each new card will have a computer-generated Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) assigned specifically to each Medicare enrollee. The MBI will be a combination of eleven numbers and letters, and healthcare providers (including physicians, labs, and hospitals) will be required to bill using MBI instead of Social Security numbers.
Medicare has created a special website, go.medicare.gov/NewCard just to help people feel more at ease with the changes. (CMS has special links available to help healthcare providers and office managers, health insurance and drug plans, employers and media, and individual states cope with the change.)
But what do you have to do?
Step one is to be aware that the change is coming. If you’re a Medicare recipient, or your parents, grandparents, or older friends have Medicare, start by letting them know the cards are on their way.
Doctor’s offices will be asked to play the following video for the benefit of their Medicare patients, and I encourage you to share this video via social media so that other enrollees and their loved ones can be apprised of what’s going on.:
Cards will come automatically. Benefits stay the same. There’s nothing else you absolutely have to do. However, if you’ve moved recently or are just starting to receive benefits, the Social Security Administration urges Medicare enrollees to make sure the agency has their correct address on file.
Log into your Social Security account at socialsecurity.gov/myaccount (What? you didn’t follow Paper Doll’s advice for setting up your online Social Security account? Not even when I pestered you about it?) or call 800-722-1213 to update your address in the system.
[One special note: Every Medicare enrollee is getting a new Medicare card, but if you are also enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO), your Medicare Advantage Plan ID card is your main card for Medicare. So hold onto your Medicare Advantage Plan ID card, and keep it for whenever you need healthcare care. However, healthcare providers may ask you to show your new Medicare card, so keep it ready, too.]
So what’s the catch?
The Department of Justice reports that identity theft for seniors aged 65 and above is a serious problem. In fact, in 2014, the most recent year for which statistics have been released, 2.6 million seniors are victims of identity theft annually! (The Federal Trade Commission has released a document explaining the seven most common identity theft schemes targeting seniors.)
There’s little doubt that scammers and identity thieves are already anticipating this Medicare card change, using potential confusion to their scummy, scammy advantage. However, sharing some basic information can help protect those most in danger of being victimized.
Spread the word (to Dad, Grandma, Aunt Gertrude, and your older pals) that if any of the following things happen, it’s a scam.
If you’re called on the telephone and asked to pay to receive your new Medicare card, hang up. The card is free to all Medicare recipients.
If you’re called and asked for your Social Security number and bank number in order to get your new card, hang up. Medicare won’t call you. Medicare doesn’t need to know your banking information. Ever.
If you’re called and told you will lose your Medicare benefits if you don’t send money or provide your banking info or credit card now, roll your eyes and hang up.
If there are any “fragile” seniors in your life who may be at risk for being coerced, assure them that if they ever get such a call, they should hang up without fear. If they are still ill at ease, tell them to ask for the caller’s name and number and say that their “financial representative who handles all of these tasks” for them will return the call. Then, you can call and report these ne’er-do-wells to the police.
What’s the Timeline?
Medicare beneficiaries in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia will be the first to receive the replacement cards (between April and June). Medicare enrollees in Alaska, American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Oregon will also start getting their cards in the April to June 2018 range. If you’re in any other state, the mailing date is merely defined as “after June 2018” and the rollout will continue over the course of the next twelve months. Almost 60 million recipients getting new cards means a lot of mail to process!
Medicare recipients will have until 1/1/2020 before they are required to use the new card, and while both cards will be valid until that date, getting the new card in action and shredding the old card will ensure protection. I also encourage you to make a photocopy of your new Medicare card (just as I always advise photocopying the contents of your wallet) and keep it in a safe place, like your fireproof safe with your other VIPs (very important papers).
For more on the important documents that should (and shouldn’t) be in your wallet, refer to these classic Paper Doll posts:
What’s in Your Wallet (That Shouldn’t Be)?
What’s in Your Wallet (That Should Be)?
What’s in Your Wallet (Part 3): A Little Insurance Policy
Lost and Found: GONE in 60 Seconds: Your Wallet
Stay healthy. Stay aware. Stay organized!
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