What to Include in an "In Case of Emergency" Document: A Checklist

An “in case of emergency” document, sometimes called an ICE file or a “when I’m gone” binder, answers one question for the people around you: if I could not speak for myself tomorrow, what would you need to know?

It is not only about death. The same document helps if you are in hospital for a month, temporarily unable to manage your affairs, or simply out of reach while something at home goes wrong.

Below is a checklist organised by section. You do not need to complete all of it at once. Start with the first two sections, which matter most in the first hours of an emergency, and add the rest over a few weeks.

Before you start: two rules

Locations, not secrets. For most items, write where something is and who to contact, rather than copying sensitive numbers. “Home insurance: policy with [insurer], paper copy in the blue folder in the study desk” is safer and more useful than a policy number on its own.

Date it. Put the date at the top and update it at least once a year. An undated document leaves readers unsure what is still true.

1. Emergency contacts

Who to call first (name, relationship, phone)
Two or three backup contacts
Your employer or manager, and whether they should be told
Your doctor or GP practice
Your lawyer or solicitor, if you have one
Your accountant or financial adviser, if you have one
Neighbour or friend with a spare key
Who should not be contacted, if that matters to you

2. Medical information

Allergies, especially to medications
Current medications and doses
Ongoing conditions (diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, etc.)
Blood type, if known
Implanted devices (pacemaker, insulin pump)
Where your health insurance details are
Organ donation wishes and whether you are registered
Location of any advance directive, living will or healthcare proxy

Much of this also belongs on a portable card. See our guide to creating an emergency medical info card.

3. People and animals who depend on you

Children: school, childcare, pediatrician, routines, who can collect them
Your wishes for guardianship (and where the legal paperwork is)
Anyone you care for: their needs, medications, other carers
Pets: food, medication, vet, microchip details, who would take them

This is the section families most wish had existed. A few lines about bedtime routines or which friend a child should call can matter more than any account number.

4. Home and property

Where spare keys are, and who has one
Alarm codes, or where to find them
Location of the water shut-off, fuse box and gas meter
Landlord or mortgage lender
Home and contents insurance
Regular services: cleaner, gardener, deliveries to cancel
Vehicles: where they are, where the documents are, insurance, finance

5. Money

Banks and building societies (names, not full account numbers)
Credit cards and who issues them
Savings, investments and pensions
Loans, mortgages and other debts
Regular bills and which account pays them
Income sources (salary, benefits, rental income)
Safe-deposit box or home safe, and where the key or code is kept
Any money owed to you

6. Insurance and legal documents

Life insurance policies and beneficiaries
Income protection or critical illness cover
Location of your will, and the name of your executor
Power of attorney documents
Birth and marriage certificates, passport, property deeds
Funeral plan, if any

7. Digital life

Your primary email address, which unlocks most other accounts
Your phone: how it can be unlocked, or where that is recorded
Your password manager and who has emergency access
Photo libraries and cloud storage
Social media accounts and your wishes for each
Subscriptions to cancel
Business assets: domains, websites, client files

For the reasoning behind this section, see what is a digital legacy plan. For handling credentials, see how to share passwords with family safely.

8. Work

Employer, HR contact and your manager
Employee benefits such as death-in-service or group life cover
Work devices that need returning
For self-employed people: clients to notify, open invoices, tax obligations

9. Personal wishes

Funeral or memorial preferences, or a note saying you have none
Religious or cultural considerations
Items with sentimental value and who you would like to have them
People you would like to be told personally
Letters or messages for specific people

Where to keep it

The document has to be private now and findable later. A few common approaches:

Option	Strength	Watch out for
Printed binder at home	Easy for family to find	Fire, flood, theft, going stale
Copy with your lawyer	Secure and formal	Slow to update
Encrypted file shared with one person	Easy to update	They need to know the passphrase
Password manager secure notes	Encrypted, syncs	Needs emergency access configured
A service with trusted contacts	Releases when needed	Check how it is secured

Whatever you choose, tell at least one person that it exists and how to reach it.

This kind of document is exactly what InCase is being designed to hold: an encrypted vault organised into sections like the ones above, where you decide which trusted contact receives which section, and access is released only if you stop checking in. Until it launches, a printed copy in a known place is a perfectly good start.

Keeping it current

Review it:

Once a year (pick a memorable date, like your birthday or New Year).
After a move, marriage, separation, birth or death in the family.
When you change banks, insurers or your main email address.
When your medications change.

The short version

Start with contacts and medical information, then work through dependants, home, money, insurance, digital life, work and personal wishes. Record locations rather than secrets, date the document, keep it somewhere private but findable, and tell someone it exists. The perfect document is not the goal; one that exists is.