The checklist
| Document | Where the original lives | Sealed scan in the Library? | Vault? | Date to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||||
| ID document or identity card | With you | Yes: a reference copy. It does not replace the paper original | No | |
| Passport | A safe place at home, with the family’s passports together | Yes | No | The expiry date printed in the passport |
| Driving licence card | With you when you drive | Yes | No | Card expiry: five years from the date it was ordered |
| Family | ||||
| Birth certificatesUnabridged, where you have them | A fire-resistant box or safe at home | Yes | No | |
| Marriage certificate and antenuptial contract | A fire-resistant box or safe at home. | Yes | No | |
| Will | The signed paper original, somewhere safe your family knows about, such as with the person who drew it up. You can prepare a will to sign in ink. | Yes, as a reference copy, beside a note of where the original is | No: the people who need to find it cannot open your Vault | |
| A note of where everything isOriginals, policies, who to call | In the Library | This is a Library record | No: keep it where emergency access can reach it | Update it when something moves |
| Money and policies | ||||
| Life, funeral and medical aid policy schedules and membership details | Paper or email from the insurer or scheme | Yes | No | Renewal or anniversary date on the schedule |
| Bank, investment and retirement fund statementsStatements, not passwords | Online banking, or paper | Yes | No | |
| Home | ||||
| Title deed and bond papers | With you, your bank or your conveyancer: find out which | Yes | No | |
| Home and contents insurance schedule | Email from the insurer | Yes | No | Renewal date |
| Car | ||||
| Vehicle registration certificate | A safe place at home | Yes | No | |
| Vehicle documents | With the vehicle papers | Yes, a photograph | No | The expiry date on the document |
| Car insurance schedule | Email from the insurer | Yes | No | Renewal date |
| Tax | ||||
| Children | ||||
| School reports, consent forms, clinic cards | Paper | Yes | No | Form due dates |
| Only you | ||||
| Records only you should ever openSuch as private letters, or a medical history you do not want shared | No | Yes: encrypted on your device; set up recovery first | ||
In KuduDoc, there are four collections to start with: home and lease, school and family, policies and records, cars and licences.
Where should the originals live?
Paper originals stay paper, in one fire-resistant place, and someone you trust knows where.
After a death, the paper original is what the family needs. A sealed scan and a note of where the original is help the family find it.
Where a contract has to be signed before a notary, sign it on paper.
Scans and sealed copies
Photograph the pages, keep them as one PDF, and seal the scan. For a birth or marriage certificate: keep the certificate, and a sealed scan of it.
A sealed scan does not replace a paper original where one is required.
Certified copies
Have the paper copy signed as a true copy. KuduDoc then keeps it with that date. The person you share it with opens it with a free KuduDoc account.
Library or Vault?
Your account has both, side by side: the Library, and the Vault beside it. Which one a record belongs in comes down to who may ever need to open it.
- Library
- Records someone else may need, such as the policy schedule, the lease or the medical aid details. You choose who you share with, and emergency access, on Family, can reach them.
- Vault
- Records only you should ever open. The Vault is encrypted on your device with its own passphrase and a recovery key you keep, and it is never part of Ask or emergency access. Set up recovery first: if both the Vault passphrase and the recovery key are lost, the contents cannot be recovered. Here is how the Vault works.
Who can reach it if you cannot?
With emergency access, on Family, you choose one or more trusted people in your household. They ask for access from their own accounts, and you are told.
Cancel any request. Block someone who keeps asking. For an elderly parent, require two or three of the children to all ask before anything opens. Set the waiting time, for example a day. If you have not cancelled when it runs out, they open your ordinary documents from their own accounts.
The Vault is never included.
Originals Updated 12 Sep 2026
Who to call
Trusted people From your household
Family is €6 a month (€57 a year) per occupied seat, with a 14-day trial. Start a 14-day Family trial.
Keep the dates in view
Passports, driving licences, vehicle documents, policies and the lease all have dates. KuduDoc emails you reminders before each date: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose.
How long each one lasts, with its official source.
Questions people ask
What is a life file?
The set of papers your household would need if you could not be reached: IDs, birth and marriage certificates, policies, property and vehicle papers, tax records, and a note of where each original is kept.
Can I keep my will in KuduDoc?
Keep the signed paper original somewhere safe that your family knows about. A sealed scan in KuduDoc is a reference copy, and a note of where the original is helps your family find it.
What belongs in the Vault rather than the Library?
Only records nobody else should ever open. The Vault is encrypted on your device with its own passphrase and a recovery key you keep, and it is never part of emergency access. Set up recovery first: if both the passphrase and the recovery key are lost, the contents cannot be recovered. Anything your family may need belongs in the Library.
How can my family reach my documents in an emergency?
On the Family plan, choose one or more trusted people in your household. They ask from their own accounts, and you are told. You can cancel any request, block someone who keeps asking, require two or three people to all ask, and set the waiting time. If you have not cancelled when it runs out, they can open your ordinary documents. The Vault is never included.
Is emergency access a will or a power of attorney?
No. Emergency access is not a will, a power of attorney or an executorship. It gives nobody authority over an estate.
Does a sealed scan of my ID replace the paper original?
No. A sealed scan is your own reference copy: anyone can check that it is unchanged since sealing. It does not replace the paper original.
Which dates in a life file need watching?
Passports, driving licences, vehicle documents, policy renewals and the end date of a lease. KuduDoc emails you before each date you confirm: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose.
Sources
- Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965justice.gov.zaSection 8(1): the original will goes to the Master.
- Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937deeds.gov.zaSections 86 and 87: an antenuptial contract is attested by a notary and registered.
- Renew driving licencegov.zaThe card and when to renew it.
- Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011gov.zaSection 29: five years from the date the return was submitted.
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