How to Locate and Organize Financial Records and Documents

Plan to spend an hour or two with your parents, collecting all the papers they have around the house: recent tax returns, bank and account statements, bills, deeds, trusts. Also, ask about documents they may have elsewhere, such as papers kept in a safe deposit box or with a professional advisor.

Once you've gathered the papers together, organize them by document type and make a list of them for easy reference. Don't forget to ask for PIN numbers for credit or debit cards (but keep these numbers separate from the primary list of documents and accounts). Make copies of the documents and the list to keep for yourself.

If this kind of simple organizing isn't possible -- either because they've lost track of things or for other reasons -- here are some things you can do, in addition to simply hunting for and gathering papers in their home:

• Start with wallets and purses. Most people keep some important financial information in their wallets or purses -- credit cards, bank cards, insurance cards, business cards, and the like. Make copies -- front and back -- of every card or paper you find.
• Look for tax returns and bank records. These will give you leads regarding sources of income and regular expenditures that you can't find on other documents. The IRS and individual financial institutions each have their own forms for your parents to sign allowing you access to their records.
• Get in touch with professional advisors. Accountants, bookkeepers, tax preparers, lawyers, brokers, or other financial advisors who have worked for your loved ones can be of help. Note that they will need to give the advisors permission -- probably in writing -- to provide you with information.
• Regularly check their mail. Watch for bills, account information, and the like that you might not have seen before, or that updates the status of an account.