Sometimes, when you are in the throes of caring for an aging parent, your mind doesn't go beyond everyday necessities, like whether you have enough Depends on hand. But take time to attend to business matters now while your parents are lucid and alive.Whatever your parents’ current health status, it’s never too soon to locate their important papers. Following is a checklist:

• Bank accounts – Make sure you know all the banks and account numbers for your parents, including banks where they may have certificates of deposit.
• Security numbers, be aware that you will need to notify the Social Security Administration immediately upon a parent’s death. Checks or deposits received after death must be returned.
• Insurance policies—Your parents may have a number of life insurance policies, through employers or former employers, and privately purchased policies. Make sure you know the locations of the policies and have contact information for the companies. Your parents may also have credit card insurance or loan insurance.
• Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits—Anyone receiving VA benefits should have a current Benefits Summary. If not receiving benefits, you should keep a copy of discharge papers and other verifying documents in case benefits are applied for at a later date.
• Wills—Know the location of your parents’ wills. If they don’t have wills, remind them it will be much easier for a surviving spouse, and you and your siblings, if a will is in place.
• Marriage certificate—A surviving parent needs a copy of a marriage certificate in order to file for life insurance benefits. If your parents can’t locate their marriage certificate, a copy can be obtained through the county clerk’s office in the town where the original license was issued and may also be available through the county or state web site.
• Birth certificates—If your parents don’t know where their birth certificates are, get copies from the records office in the county where your parents were born or through the state’s vital records office which may be accessible on-line.
• Death certificates—If one parent pre-deceases another, you should several certified copy of the death certificate in order to finalize the estate, get life insurance benefits, and remove the name from accounts. Death certificates are available through county or state vital records offices.
• Liabilities—Try to get an idea of the amount of debt your parents are carrying. Ask them about mortgages, promissory notes, credit card debt, and any money they owe family members or others.
• Assets—This includes deeds to real property, vehicle and boat titles, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts, checking and savings accounts, and contact information for banks, financial advisors, or brokers. Don’t forget hidden assets. Sometimes our Depression-era parents don’t trust financial institutions and squirrel away cash or other assets in unusual locations.

After Lyn’s grandfather died, her grandmother sent her great-grandsons into the backyard with metal detectors to search for buried treasure. When the digging was done, they had uncovered $56,000 in gold and coins!

Ask your parents now if they’ve hidden money or other valuables in locations you’re not aware of (behind mirrorsand in books seem to be favorite locations). They may even have a bulging safe deposit box in a bank in another state. Now is the time to find out. Otherwise, these assets may never be found.

Portions of this article excerpted from When Your Aging Parent Needs Care: Practical Help for This Season of Lifeby Candy Arrington and Kim Atchley (Harvest House Publishers). www.whenyouragingparentneedscare.com