Residents of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and the surrounding areas face the same fire danger that everyone in Southern California has to put up with.
That’s why, as we observe the early start of fire season in Southern California, we note the need for taxpayers to go into “Recovery Mode” immediately, even as you are evacuating, if there is an imminent fire danger. Here are some tips from our blog — Accountant For Disaster Recovery — and from the United Policyholders website.
If you need to evacuate you home, here is a list of documents you should protect. And it’s always a good idea to prepare in advance by having these documents in one location.
PERSONAL DOCUMENTS:
This is a list of financial documents that you might consider securing and recording in digital form:
- Cost records for real property (escrow statements) and major items of contents, including jewelry, cameras, electronics and art works.
- Record the cost of significant assets in every room of your home and office in a ledger or journal.
- Wills, and living trust documents, grant deeds and property escrow settlement statements.
- Power of attorney, living will (health directive) / medical powers.
- List of emergency contacts, including doctors, financial advisers, and family members.
- Birth, death, and marriage certificates.
- Copies of drivers’ licenses.
- Copies of important medical information, including your health insurance card, doctor’s name and phone number, immunization records, and prescriptions(including prescriptions for glasses and contacts).
- List of insurance policies (life, health, disability, long-term care, auto, homeowners, renters), including the type, company, policy number, and name of insured, agent contact information, claims contact information.
- Copies of insurance policies including declaration pages.
- Adoption papers.
- Passports.
- Social Security cards.
- Divorce and child custody papers.
- Military records.
- Mortgage/property deeds.
- Stock and bond certificate-s.
- Retirement account records.
- Recent checking, savings, and investment account statements.
- Vehicle and boat title documents.
- Inventory of your possessions.
- Warranties and receipts for major purchases Credit card records.
- Recent pay stubs and employee benefits information.
- Rental agreement/lease and/or mortgage documents.
- Safe deposit box information (location, contents, and key number).
- Store negatives of photographs, protected in plastic sleeves, separate from the prints.
- Income tax (federal and state) returns for past seven years, plus any older returns that may include important continuing information.
For more information, please visit the Accountant For Disaster Recovery blog.