Reply to How prepared are your parents/grandparents for the future?

Forum Index » Family Relationships

Reply to "How prepared are your parents/grandparents for the future?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, from your experience, can you list what you think should be done to get one's house in order?[/quote]

Life insurance.
LTC insurance.
Power of attorney in place so that various affairs can be handled if the person is long-term incapacitated. 
Medical power of attorney and advance directive.
Home de-cluttered to the extent possible.
Will in place with designated executor.
Contact info for lawyer, doctors, financial advisor/accountant, and any other important folks such as religious advisors, long-lost relatives, etc.
Funeral wishes.

http://getyourshittogether.org/  Here is a good checklist.

I learned this the hard way when my dad was suddenly in a coma for a while.  He wasn't retired and had an operating construction business.  It was hell on me trying to pause work on multiple construction sites, pay his employees, deal with rented equipment, etc. all from the hospital bedside.  He is divorced and my siblings are much younger, so all the responsibility fell pretty hard on me.  He recovered well and it was a real reality check for all of us on what it would be like.  After that experience and much pleading, he eventually yielded to my wishes that he stop denying his own mortality get his house in order.  Now that I have kids of my own, I just am not able to drop everything and run to his aid.  I think having kids was what made the difference-- I had to give him a reality check that I may not be able to travel and stay on-site next time.  I basically pleaded with him to spare his daughter and baby/toddler grand-daughters from another stressful experience like this, because it's just too hard on us, and that got through.

Sometimes hearing it from someone their own age is really helpful.  I went to my dad's best friend, who is better about this kind of thing, and asked him to have a talk with my dad, and I think that made a difference.  I basically told him how hard it was and how overwhelmed I felt, and told him that he would be my #1 phone call for help sorting everything out.  [/quote]

I'm not OP, just to clarify.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics