The experts from the DFK Group provide information: Tips on the contents and how to use the emergency folder.
Where is the power of attorney or will? What insurance policies exist? Who needs to be informed? These and similar questions must be answered quickly in an emergency. Because if a person is no longer able to do this themselves due to illness or death, other relatives or friends have to take care of their personal matters from one second to the next. If the documents have to be laboriously collected, not only is valuable time lost, but important deadlines can also miss.
Original or duplicate?
To ensure that all important things are summarized in one place, the experts at the DFK Group recommend creating an emergency folder. Instructions, information and documents can be stored centrally here. Whether copies or originals are stored in the emergency folder is an individual decision. It is generally recommended to use duplicates in the folder and to keep the originals in a particularly safe place. These include, for example, bank lockers, safes and safes. What is important is that the folder is a “living system”. Over time, things appear and others disappear. In order to keep the emergency folder up to date, it should be checked and adjusted at regular intervals. Below, the DFK experts have summarized what information and documents the emergency folder should contain.
Personal Data
First of all, all important personal information belongs in the emergency folder. The easiest way to do this is to provide a copy of your identity card and the family register with birth, marriage and death certificates. A list with the contact details of important people is also helpful at this point. This includes relatives, close friends or, if necessary, the lawyer and tax advisor. Photos of vehicle licenses and letters can also be included in this category.
Assets
All information and documents on all monetary and material assets are summarized under “Assets”. Let's start with the accounts. A list of all checking, daily money and savings accounts as well as savings books is sufficient. The respective credit institutions and the account numbers must be noted on it. If there are bank safe deposit boxes or stock or fund deposits as well as other investments of this type, these must also be added to the list. For real estate, such as land and real estate, it is advisable to attach a copy of the land register entries.
Insurance
The most important information in this category concerns accident, life, pension and funeral insurance. This is because short deadlines sometimes apply when an insured event occurs. For example, the accident insurance company must generally be notified of a death within 48 hours. And life insurance companies usually set a deadline for reporting the insured event. It is therefore helpful to provide copies of the relevant insurance policies and, if necessary, current contacts with the insurance companies. Also recommended: information on all other insurances, such as health, nursing care and liability insurance. Information about the statutory pension also belongs in this section of the emergency folder.
Injunctions
If a person is no longer able to make decisions about their own affairs – whether due to illness or death – other people have to take over. In order for this to work smoothly, powers of attorney and orders must be made. Only with such legitimacy can third parties access bank accounts, act with insurance companies, regulate care or manage the estate. Common documents in this area include living wills, wills as well as health care, care and banking powers of attorney. These also belong in the emergency folder. To ensure that the documents clearly reflect your own wishes and are written in a legally secure manner, legal advice and notarization are recommended.
Medical records
In this area, the initial aim is to record information about illnesses, medical procedures and medications to be taken in list form. Information about allergies, intolerances or the like as well as vaccination, blood donation and organ donation cards also find their place here. The contact details of the family doctor and any specialists can also be stored.
On-line
Many people today have access to a large amount of online access as well as user and email accounts on the Internet. That's why it's not just helpful to make a list in an emergency. Whether user names and passwords are written down at this point is an individual decision and depends on how securely the emergency folder is protected from unauthorized access.
More documents
Not absolutely necessary, but it can be extremely helpful if all other important documents in the emergency folder are stored in a central location. These can, for example, be private law contracts, memberships in clubs or subscription contracts.
Pursue
It is important for entrepreneurs that the company remains able to act in an emergency, for example if the head of the company fails. Various precautions must be taken in advance. For example, powers of attorney must clearly regulate who is allowed to make decisions or have access to bank accounts. The people concerned need all the necessary documents and, if necessary, passwords, keys, etc. The emergency folder should at least contain where all these things can be found and who should manage and issue them. Helpful in this context: A short sketch or a fully formulated emergency plan that summarizes the individual steps.
storage
Since an emergency folder contains a number of sensitive data, the storage location should be carefully considered. On the one hand, the folder must be safe from unauthorized access and, on the other hand, it must be quickly at hand in an emergency. Therefore, one or two people you trust should know that such a folder exists and where it is located.
Digital version
Of course, in the modern world, an emergency folder does not have to be kept in paper form. If all documents are scanned as files, a safe place on the computer hard drive, on the server, in a cloud or on a USB stick is sufficient. However, some documents are only valid in the original. However, their storage location can be indicated in the digital emergency folder.
The DFK Nord supports
Anyone who decides to create an emergency folder has the opportunity to obtain support from experienced experts at the DFK Group. The employees at the advisory locations throughout Germany are happy to help set up the folder so that everything important is ready in an emergency. Because even if, in the worst case scenario, other things are initially in the foreground: time can mean money and therefore it should not be spent searching.
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