Personal Documents

Are you ready to start getting your information organized? Join the Facts of Life Book Course and Community. 

As paperless as we try to be, it still takes a lot of paper to be a human in this world - and for that matter a pet as well (don't worry - I won't forget our furry, scaly, feathery and all other skinned pet friends). 

Typical Documents for Each Person

In the Facts of Life Course, I'll guide you through identifying what information you need for each important person (and animal) in your life - whether that's your immediate family, someone for whom you have caregiving responsibilities, or another person. For each of those individuals, you'll want to gather their important documents. Here is a list of some of the things Facts of Life Course participants gather for each individual:

• birth certificate

• social security/government identification card

• driver’s license/identification card

• passport and other residency documentation (visa, green card, etc.)

• birthdates and place of birth for each person

• social security or identification number(s) for each person

• marriage license

• adoption papers

• divorce records

• current addresses and phone number for each person

• current baby sitter/school/work phone number for each person

Please know that this is in no way an exhaustive list so I hope you’ll add comments with other documents that you include in your book.

Typical Documents for Pets

My dog Kona is a full-fledged member of the family and so I treat him as an equal in my Facts of Life Book. Here are a few things you might include for the important pets in your life:

• adoption or purchase records

• registration documents with AKC or other organization

• current vaccination records

• veterinarian, doggy day care, groomer, and/or boarding contact information

Resources

In the Facts of Life Course and Community, you'll gain access to carefully curated and evaluated resources including web sites, tools, books, and more to help you gain more knowledge and information in areas that might be particularly important to you. Here on the website, I share just a few of my favorites for each major topic.

• Ready.gov - The U.S. Federal Government has a well designed resource page to help you get prepared specifically for emergencies where government intervention may be necessary (think natural disasters, terrorist events, etc.). Specifically, I like their "Make a Plan" tool which provides a perfect way to get started with gathering your personal information in an easy to complete online form that will email you a summary PDF of the information you enter. 

• Want to have a bit of fun with this? Create a User Manual for You - this is a nice example of one.