Source: The Care Guide

Emergencies strike suddenly. You need to have quick access to information about insurance coverage, who the family doctor is, what medications are being taken, a medical history and the living will and durable power of attorney for health care for your care recipient.

As the caregiver of an older adult, it is important to organize a loved one's important legal, medical and financial documents. Here are a few tips to help you keep your loved one's legal papers organized:

Get organized!
If you're generally a disorganized person, this is a good time to acquire new skills. Staying organized means keeping files for every-thing, including receipts, insurance company correspondence, and other useful items you'll want to have on hand for later reference. 

Start with an accordion file. Dedicate yourself to maintaining it; it will make your life easier in so many ways.

What are the documents that we must save?
Take inventory of the following documents and make a list of their locations. If most of the important documents are to be kept with your senior, consider making copies for you to keep at home. Some of these items may not apply to your senior, but keep track of those that do and take care of loose ends this list may remind you of:

Birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, Military discharge papers, immunization records, wills, stock certificates, diplomas and certificates of completion of important classes, bank and credit card account numbers, passports, insurance policy “face” pages, social security cards, health insurance information, Medicaid and/or Medicare information, and cash are just some of the important papers in our lives.

Convince them to give you legal, medical, financial or insurance information.
Start off a conversation about how you have organized this information in case you are involved in an accident or suddenly get sick. Talk about how important it is for you to have this information in a situation where they might need immediate care. Point out recent newspaper articles that describe sudden emergencies and what you would do in such a situation.

Where is a good place to save these valuable papers?
A fire-resistant safe or box in your home. You can purchase a fire-resistant box or safe at most large discount stores including home improvement stores and at office supply stores.

These are recommended only for storing articles that are irreplaceable. A safe deposit box should be in two persons’ names with each having access to the box. In case of death of one of the box holders’ it may take months for a will to go through probate and allow the box to be opened, especially if only one person has a key and that person is the one who dies.

Other things to consider
Get a small notebook and use it as your caregiver diary. Keep lists of your parent's medications and their dosages. Make an entry for every health episode, describing the problem, the solution, the attending physician, and so forth. Keep this book with you always! This diary will serve as an invaluable document down the line when doctors require a complete history. (And it will save you from tear-ing your hair out when you are asked these questions umpteen times!)

If you are a high-tech type, a personal digital assistant (PDA) can become your best friend by organizing information on all of your senior's important documents and by holding multiple schedules (yours and your senior's) at the same time. There are even special programs designed specifically for keeping track of medications, medical records, and so forth.

Whenever you decide to organize or rearrange things, let your father know about the changes, get his input if possible, and be patient as he readjusts. A frequent complaint of seniors with well-meaning loved ones who have reorganized things is that they can't find anything!

Hang a large bulletin board and tack up everything from reminders and receipts to keys, eyeglasses, important phone numbers, orphaned earrings, and the like.

Keep an extra set of everything: keys, eyeglasses, hearing aids (keep the old one in case the new one gets lost), IDs, and so forth.