The checklist
| Document | Where the original lives | Sealed scan in the Library? | Vault? | Date to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||||
| ID document or smart ID card | With you | Yes: a reference copy, not a certified copy | No | |
| Passport | A safe place at home, with the family’s passports together | Yes | No | Expiry: 10 years if issued at 16 or older, 5 years under 16 |
| 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; an antenuptial contract is also registered at a deeds office | 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 | |
| Lease, deposit receipt and ingoing inspection | Paper, or the signed PDF. Keep the ingoing inspection report with the lease. | Yes, as one collection | No | Lease end date; where the CPA applies, the landlord’s notice falls 40 to 80 business days before |
| Home and contents insurance schedule | Email from the insurer | Yes | No | Renewal date |
| Car | ||||
| Vehicle registration certificate | A safe place at home | Yes | No | |
| Licence disc | On the windscreen | Yes, a photograph | No | Every year; 21 days’ grace |
| Car insurance schedule | Email from the insurer | Yes | No | Renewal date |
| Tax | ||||
| IRP5s, assessments and the medical scheme’s tax certificate | eFiling, or paper | Yes | No | Keep five years from the date you submitted the return: how long to keep tax records |
| 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.
A will is signed in front of two or more competent witnesses present at the same time (Wills Act 7 of 1953, s2(1)(a)). The ECT Act gives no validity to executing, keeping or presenting a will electronically (Schedule 2), so the paper original is the one that counts.
After a death, the original goes to the Master of the High Court (Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, s8(1)). A sealed scan and a note of where the original is help the family find it. See which documents stay on paper.
An antenuptial contract is signed before a notary and registered at a deeds office (Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, ss86–87).
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
When an institution asks for a certified copy, a sealed scan is not one: certifying a paper document electronically needs the certifier’s advanced electronic signature (ECT Act s18(3)). Have the copy certified by a commissioner of oaths. KuduDoc then keeps it with its certification date, and lets you share a copy of your ID safely: view-only, until the end date you set. 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 R99 a month (R948 a year) per occupied seat, with a 14-day trial. Start a 14-day Family trial.
Keep the dates in view
Passports, driving licence cards, the licence disc, 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: renewal dates in South Africa.
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 will is signed in front of two or more witnesses present at the same time (Wills Act s2(1)(a)), the ECT Act gives no validity to a will signed or kept electronically (Schedule 2), and after a death the original goes to the Master of the High Court (Administration of Estates Act s8(1)). 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.
Is a sealed scan of my ID a certified copy?
No. Certifying a paper document as a true copy electronically needs the certifier’s advanced electronic signature (ECT Act s18(3)). A sealed scan is your own reference copy: anyone can check that it is unchanged since sealing, but it is not certified.
Which dates in a life file need watching?
Passports (10 years if issued at 16 or older, 5 years under 16), driving licence cards, the yearly licence disc, policy renewals and the end date of a lease. KuduDoc emails you before each date: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose.
Sources
- Wills Act 7 of 1953justice.gov.zaSection 2(1)(a): signed in front of two or more competent witnesses present at the same time.
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002gov.zaSchedule 2, item 3: the execution, retention and presentation of a will. Section 18(3): certified copies of paper documents.
- 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.
- Travel documentsdha.gov.zaPassports: ten years from 16, five years under 16.
- Renew driving licencegov.zaThe card and when to renew it.
- Renew motor vehicle licencegov.zaEvery year; 21 days’ grace.
- Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011gov.zaSection 29: five years from the date the return was submitted.
- Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008gov.zaSection 14(2)(c): notice 40 to 80 business days before a fixed-term lease ends.
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