Many families divvy up household chores. One member will manage the joint finances. Another is the family chef. Sound efficient? It is, except for one thing: If the cook doesn’t have time to broil a chicken, they can always order pizza. But if (heaven forbid) anything ever happened, would all members of the family know where to find important documents?

Consider putting your heads together to compile a Vital Documents Map. Don’t worry – it’s not nearly as scary and imposing as it sounds. A Vital Documents Map is merely an index of all your most important records, so that in the worst-case scenario – you lose your wallet; your files are somehow destroyed; you have a sudden medical emergency – you’ll be able to reconstruct them with ease....