What should go in an emergency binder?

The essentials your family would scramble for: a list of financial and insurance accounts (and where they live), key passwords and codes, important legal documents (and where the originals are kept), medical information, property and vehicle details, pet care, and a short list of people to call — your attorney, advisor, and emergency contacts.

Digital wins on the things that matter most: it’s searchable, it’s shareable in an instant, and — crucially — it’s easy to keep up to date, which paper binders never are. Keep physical originals (wills, deeds, birth certificates) somewhere safe and simply note their location in the digital version. A minimal printed backup of the “where everything is” page is a nice belt-and-suspenders touch.

Who should have access?

At least one person you trust completely — usually a spouse or partner — should know the binder exists and be able to reach it. In Squirreld you share through your Household, and you can keep especially sensitive items private while still sharing the rest.

Is it safe to store passwords and codes digitally?

In Squirreld, vault entries are encrypted with AWS KMS and stay masked until you tap to reveal them, and nothing sensitive is cached on your device — it loads securely each time. The biggest thing you can do for your own safety is protect the account it lives behind: a strong password and two-factor authentication on your email and your Squirreld login.

Do I need a lawyer for this?

For a will, power of attorney, or an advance directive — yes, talk to an attorney. Squirreld isn’t a law firm and this isn’t legal advice. The binder’s job is to record that those documents exist and where to find them, so the people who need them aren’t left guessing.

How to Build a Digital Emergency Binder Your Family Can Find

The problem

Most of it lives in one person's head

The Wi-Fi password. The safe combination. Which bank the mortgage is at. The life-insurance policy number. The vet's name and the dog's medication. For most households, all of it lives in a single person's memory — and when that person is in the hospital, traveling, or gone, everyone else is left opening drawers and guessing passwords during the worst week of their lives.

An emergency binder fixes that. It's not morbid — it's a gift. And the digital version is the one your family will actually be able to find and use.

The checklist

What to put in it

You don't need everything at once. Start with the first two groups and add the rest over a few sittings.

Money
Banks, credit cards, investment and retirement accounts, any kids' accounts (Trump, 529, or custodial), debts and loans, and where the tax documents live. List where each account is — full credentials can stay in your vault.
Insurance
Health, life, home, and auto — policy numbers and the agent or company to call.
Passwords & codes
Your password manager, the key logins, and the small codes that run the house — alarm, safe, garage, and the Wi-Fi everyone always asks for.
Legal documents
Will, power of attorney, advance directive, trust — and, just as important, where the signed originals are kept. (For drafting these, see an attorney.)
Identity
Where to find Social Security cards, birth and marriage certificates, passports, and the like.
Medical
Medications, allergies, doctors, and the pharmacy — for every member of the household.
Home & vehicles
Deed or lease, and each car's title location, plates, and VIN (your glovebox records already cover this).
Pets
Vet, medications, feeding routine, and who's agreed to take them — the kind of thing in your pet records.
People to call
Emergency contacts, your attorney, financial advisor, and employer.

The part people skip

A binder no one can find isn't a binder

The most carefully built emergency binder is useless if it's locked in your head along with everything else. Two rules make it real: at least one trusted person knows it exists and can reach it, and it stays current. Accounts close, policies change, codes get updated — a binder that's three years stale can send your family down the wrong path. Pick a date once a year to give it a five-minute look.

Where Squirreld fits

A binder that's shareable, secure, and current

This is exactly what Squirreld is for — the easy-to-lose, important-to-find stuff, in one place your family can reach.

Codes and logins in the Vault
Passwords, safe combinations, and PINs, encrypted and masked until the moment they're needed.
Shared with the people you trust
Add your spouse or a trusted contact to your Household so they see everything — except the items you choose to keep private.
Portals and references in Links
The login pages, the insurance site, the attorney's contact — one tap away instead of a frantic search.
Kept current by a reminder
Set one yearly nudge to review the whole thing, the same way every Squirreld reminder works.

On security

Yes, it's safe to keep this digitally

Storing your family's most sensitive details means the security has to be real. In Squirreld, vault entries are encrypted with AWS KMS and stay masked until you reveal them, and nothing sensitive is cached on your device — it loads securely each time you open the app. You control who in your household sees what. For the documents a binder shouldn't hold outright — a signed will, a deed — keep the originals safe and record where they are. Squirreld isn't a law firm, and this isn't legal advice; for wills, powers of attorney, and directives, work with an attorney.

FAQ

Common questions

What should go in an emergency binder?

The essentials your family would scramble for: a list of financial and insurance accounts (and where they live), key passwords and codes, important legal documents (and where the originals are kept), medical information, property and vehicle details, pet care, and a short list of people to call — your attorney, advisor, and emergency contacts.
Paper or digital?

Digital wins on the things that matter most: it’s searchable, it’s shareable in an instant, and — crucially — it’s easy to keep up to date, which paper binders never are. Keep physical originals (wills, deeds, birth certificates) somewhere safe and simply note their location in the digital version. A minimal printed backup of the “where everything is” page is a nice belt-and-suspenders touch.
Who should have access?

At least one person you trust completely — usually a spouse or partner — should know the binder exists and be able to reach it. In Squirreld you share through your Household, and you can keep especially sensitive items private while still sharing the rest.
Is it safe to store passwords and codes digitally?

In Squirreld, vault entries are encrypted with AWS KMS and stay masked until you tap to reveal them, and nothing sensitive is cached on your device — it loads securely each time. The biggest thing you can do for your own safety is protect the account it lives behind: a strong password and two-factor authentication on your email and your Squirreld login.
Do I need a lawyer for this?

For a will, power of attorney, or an advance directive — yes, talk to an attorney. Squirreld isn’t a law firm and this isn’t legal advice. The binder’s job is to record that those documents exist and where to find them, so the people who need them aren’t left guessing.

Put the accounts, codes, and documents your family would need in one secure place — shared with the people you trust, and easy to keep current.

Start your binder