How to replace lost documents, one by one

Every replacement document comes from somewhere specific, and half the frustration is asking the wrong office. Here is the map, plus the order that avoids doing anything twice.

To replace lost documents efficiently, one principle does most of the work: documents beget documents. A replacement passport wants a birth certificate; a REAL ID wants two proofs of address; nearly everything wants a photo ID. So when several things are gone at once — a fire, a flood, a stolen bag, a move gone wrong — sequence matters as much as speed. This is written for the US; other countries differ in offices but not in shape.

Start here: the two roots

Birth certificate

Comes from the vital records office of the state where you were born — not where you live now. Order a certified copy (photocopies don't count for official use) online, by mail, or in person; most states charge a modest fee and route online orders through their portal or an authorized service. While you're there, order two or three — certified copies are cheap in bulk and expensive in emergencies.

Driver's license or state ID

Your state's DMV, and it's usually the fastest replacement on this page — often same-day for a duplicate. Do it early, because it's the photo ID every other replacement wants to see.

Then the rest, in any order

Social Security card — the SSA, free, and in many states entirely online with a my Social Security account. Before ordering, ask whether you need the physical card at all; knowing the number is enough for most of life, and a card in a drawer is mostly a theft risk.
Passport — report the loss first (form DS-64, online or by phone), which voids the old one against misuse, then apply as a first-time applicant with form DS-11, in person, with your birth certificate and photo ID. A lost passport can't be renewed by mail — that's why the birth certificate came first.
Marriage certificate — vital records or the county clerk where the marriage happened. Divorce decrees: the court that issued them.
Vehicle title — a duplicate from your state DMV; if there's a loan, the lender may hold the title and the request routes through them.
Property deed — the good news of the page: the recorded original lives at the county recorder's office, so nothing is truly lost. Order a certified copy for your files.
Naturalization/citizenship certificate — USCIS, form N-565. Slow and one of the pricier ones; order the moment you notice it missing, not when a need appears.
Insurance policies, statements, tax returns — not vital-records problems at all: your insurer, bank, and the IRS (transcripts online, or form 4506 for full copies) reissue on request. These belong at the bottom of the panic list.

If they were stolen, not lost

Two extra steps, same day: a credit freeze with all three bureaus (free, fast, online) so the documents can't open accounts, and a police report — some replacements go smoother with the report number, and identity-theft claims later want it to exist. The FTC's identitytheft.gov generates the recovery plan.

Where Drawer fits

A scan is not a certified copy — but in every office on this page, walking in knowing the exact numbers, dates, and issuers beats walking in with nothing. Households that keep documents in Drawer have that layer even when the paper is ash: every ID number, expiry and issuer, findable by asking. And the reminder engine notices expiries before the renewal-with-no-documents spiral starts. Private beta; waitlist here.

Questions people actually ask

Which document should I replace first?

Photo ID, because everything else asks for it — then birth certificate, because it's the root document for passports and much else. Those two unlock the rest of the list in any order you like.

Are online document-replacement services legit?

The offices themselves are the source; third-party services are middlemen that add fees, and some are outright scams dressed as official portals. Start from the .gov site of the relevant state or agency — if it routes you to an authorized partner, fine, but let the government site do the routing.

How many certified copies of things should I keep?

Two or three of birth and marriage certificates covers most lives — processes occasionally hold one for weeks, and certified copies are cheapest when you're not in a hurry. Everything else can usually wait to be ordered when needed, if you know where it comes from — which is most of what this page is for.