Emergency Document File Template (In Case of Emergency)

Emergency Document File: [Household name]

An "in case of emergency" file: one place that tells a trusted person where to find everything if you are suddenly ill, injured, away for a long time or have died. It lists contacts, where original documents are kept, accounts, insurance, property, debts, digital accounts, legal documents and personal wishes. Structure based on the categories of the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) published by FEMA and Operation HOPE (Ready.gov page updated 2026-03-13) and on the CFPB guides for managing someone else's money, written in plain language for any country. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example. This is a document format for organising your own information, not financial, legal, tax or estate-planning advice.

Document control

Approvals

For a household file, "approval" means each adult has read the file and agrees it is correct.

Revision history

Contents

1. Security rules for this file
2. Key people and contacts
3. Where originals are kept
4. Identity and household documents
5. Bank and payment accounts
6. Investments, pensions and retirement accounts
7. Insurance policies
8. Property and vehicles
9. Debts and recurring payments
10. Digital accounts and devices
11. Legal documents
12. Medical information
13. Personal and funeral wishes
14. First steps for the reader and update log
15. Glossary and references

1. Security rules for this file

This file is a map, not a key. It tells a trusted person where things are and who to call. It must never contain anything that lets a stranger take money, open accounts or pretend to be you.

Never write any of these in the file:

Never keep a hardware wallet and its seed backup (recovery phrase) in the same place: one theft or one fire would lose both the device and the only way to restore it. Never photograph the seed phrase, type it into any app or file (including this one) or store it in cloud storage. The sealed letter explains the process, not the words.

Store the file safely:

1. Keep the working copy encrypted (an encrypted disk or folder, an encrypted archive, or a secure note in a reputable password manager) or offline (a printed copy).
2. If you print it, keep the printout in a locked place such as a home safe or with your lawyer, and shred old versions.
3. Do not email the file, paste it into chat apps or upload it to shared folders that are not encrypted.
4. Markdown Editor keeps documents in this browser on this device. That keeps the file off servers, but anyone who can use the device can open it. Lock the device, and for the long-term record export a copy and encrypt it with a separate tool (an encrypted archive or encrypted disk), unless the app you use offers encrypted export.
5. Tell your trusted readers where the file is and how to get access in an emergency. They do not need to read it today.

Sealed-envelope option: Some households keep a short sealed note with the master password of the password manager in a safe or with a lawyer, separate from this file. The file then says only "Master access: see sealed envelope in [place]". Decide whether this suits your situation, and check the emergency-access feature of your password manager as an alternative.

2. Key people and contacts

The first people a reader needs are the ones who can make decisions or who hold information. Give a phone number or "in phone contacts as [name]", not a home address, unless the address is already public.

People who should not be contacted, or should be told only later: [Write here if there is a reason, for example a family dispute. Keep it factual.]

3. Where originals are kept

Write each storage place once, give it a short code, and refer to the code in later sections.

Spare keys and access: [Where spare house, car and safe keys are, using location codes.]

4. Identity and household documents

Identity documents are needed to deal with banks, insurers, employers and government offices, and to register a death. Use the last 4 digits only.

5. Bank and payment accounts

For each account, say whose name it is in. Joint accounts usually remain usable by the surviving holder; accounts in one name may be frozen until the legal process finishes, so write down how household bills would be paid in the meantime.

How bills would be paid if one person's accounts are frozen: [Example: Joint account ACC-001 holds about two months of bills; salary of the surviving partner is paid into it.]

6. Investments, pensions and retirement accounts

Public pension or social security: [Where the latest statement or contribution record is, and the agency to contact. See the local equivalents table in section 15.]

7. Insurance policies

The policy IDs match the Ellisons' Insurance Review (personal/insurance-review), so a reader can move between the two files without confusion (Example).

Also check credit cards, bank accounts and loans: some include accident or travel cover, or loan protection that pays off a balance on death.

8. Property and vehicles

Rental or tenancy: [If you rent, where the lease is and the notice period.]

9. Debts and recurring payments

Full subscription detail can live in a Subscription Audit (personal/subscription-audit). Money owed to you (personal loans to friends, deposits held by landlords, tax refunds due) belongs here too: [list].

10. Digital accounts and devices

Devices

Password manager: [Name of product]. Emergency or legacy access granted to: [name] on YYYY-MM-DD. If not set up: "Master password in sealed envelope in LOC-A."

Important online accounts

11. Legal documents

Local names for these documents (examples only, as of 2026-10, check local rules):

If you live, own property or hold accounts in more than one country, list each country and ask whether you need documents valid in each.

12. Medical information

Emergency medical ID on phones: [Set up / not set up]. Health insurance cards: see DOC-007 and POL-006.

13. Personal and funeral wishes

14. First steps for the reader and update log

14.1 First steps checklist

The order below suits most households; adapt it to yours.

14.2 Update log

Yearly review questions: Are all contacts still willing and reachable? Any new or closed accounts? Do beneficiaries on accounts and policies still match your wishes? Are the will and powers of attorney still right after any move or family change? Is the password manager's emergency access still active?

14.3 Completing, testing and handing over the file

How to complete it. Work in short sessions rather than one long evening. Start with sections 2 and 3, because a reader who knows who to call and where the originals are can solve most other problems. Then walk through the house and your online banking once, section by section, and write down only what you can see: the name of the provider, the type of account or policy, the holder, the last 4 digits and the location code. If you do not know whether something exists (an old workplace pension, a small savings account opened for a child, a store card), write it as a question and check it within a month. Unknown accounts are far harder for a family to find than for you to list.

How to test it. Once the file is complete, ask the person most likely to use it to do a ten-minute "dry run" without your help: can they find the home safe key, the will, the mortgage lender's phone number and the password manager's emergency-access instructions using only this file? Every place where they hesitate is a gap to fix. Do not let them open accounts or read sealed letters during the test; the point is to check the map, not to share the secrets.

How to hand it over. Tell each trusted reader three things: that the file exists, where it is, and how they would get access in an emergency (for example "the encrypted folder on the home computer; the password manager's emergency access will give you the key after 48 hours"). They do not need a copy today. If you print a copy, number it and record who holds it, so that old versions can be collected and shredded when you update the file.

Common errors to avoid.

• Writing secrets "just this once": PINs, full account numbers or a seed phrase. Each one turns a useful map into a target.
• Keeping the only copy in the same place as the originals, so one fire or theft destroys both.
• Forgetting accounts in one person's sole name. These are the ones most likely to be frozen, so the file must say how bills would be paid in the meantime (section 5).
• Letting beneficiary designations drift. A pension or life policy usually pays the person named with the provider, whatever the will says, so check them at each yearly review (sections 6 and 7).
• Naming people who have not agreed to act. Ask each executor, guardian and emergency contact first, and record the date they agreed.
• Treating the file as finished. Any move, new job, new account, birth, death or separation should trigger an update and a row in the update log.

Review points for a second person. When a partner or trusted relative reviews the file, ask them to confirm that every location code used in later sections exists in section 3, that every policy and loan in sections 7 and 9 matches the latest statements, that no row contains a full number or a password, and that the first-steps checklist in section 14.1 still reflects the order in which the household would really act. The Example rows use the same policy and loan IDs as the Ellisons' Insurance Review and Net Worth Statement, so that a reader can move between the files without confusion.

15. Glossary and references

15.1 Glossary

15.2 Local equivalents for public pensions and workplace plans

Examples only, not exhaustive, not advice. Names as of 2026-10; check local rules.

15.3 References

Standard and licence note

Based on the category structure of the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit published by FEMA with Operation HOPE and on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guides for managing someone else's money. FEMA and CFPB works are US federal government works in the public domain; the FEMA, CFPB and Operation HOPE names are used only to identify the sources, and this template is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. The text, tables and examples are original and written for this collection; the household "Sam and Jordan Ellison" is fictional. Legal document names and rules differ by country: check the current official guidance and local law, and ask a qualified professional before relying on any document. Template licence: MIT.