Even if you’ve taken steps to secure and store your important personal and legal documents, accidents can happen and these items can become lost or damaged, or even stolen. While losing these documents can be extremely stressful, there’s a way to replace just about every important document. Keep reading to learn how.  

Depending on the type of legal document you need to replace, it can be simple or difficult. For example, any legal documents that have been filed with the court – marriage or divorce certificate, trademark registrations, articles of incorporation, etc. should be available through your local state or county government office. In most cases, you’ll need to fill out a form and pay a small fee to get a certified copy of that document.

Other legal documents such as a Power of Attorney, other Estate Planning documents, or Promissory Notes may be more difficult to obtain an original or certified copy of. In some cases, your attorney may have a copy, but you shouldn’t depend on that. Instead, you should make duplicates of important legal paperwork and store them separately, or an even better option is uploading these documents online to digital storage.

In the event, you didn’t upload them to the cloud and your attorney does not have a copy, you might need to simply recreate the document.

Government documents are fairly easy to replace in the event they are lost or stolen. If you lost your driver’s license, you can contact your local DMV office to get the necessary paperwork for obtaining a replacement driver’s license. Similarly, if you lost your passport, Travel.State.Gov has steps for replacing your passport (keep in mind if it was stolen you need to take additional steps to replace it).

If you need vital records such as a birth certificate, social security card, or death certificate you’ll need to contact your local vital records office to obtain replacement copies.

For lost tax returns, you can obtain copies of past filed tax returns directly from the IRS for a fee.

**Disclaimer: The content used in the article is not to be used as legal advice and is for illustration and general informational purposes only. If you have questions about your particular situation, please contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.