Posted: 4/13/2007 5:14:42 PM EDT
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Hiya guys... Its been a while since we've had a Frozenny financial rant... I'm about to step up onto the soap box, so grab a chair and hang on.... Is this true 'survival' related? Perhaps only peripherially (I dunno if I spelled that right, and quite frankly, I don't care right now). Question: How many of you have a Will? Great. How many have DURABLE power of attorney documents AND health care proxies AND advance directives? If not, why not? Mrs. Frozenny was a late-life child (accident!). Her parents are 80 and 85, with Alzhimers and Parkinsons. Several years ago I literally nagged them until they gave in and did the paperwork on ALL the documents referenced above... On Friday we had a serious family meeting. We decided it was time to place Mom in a nursing home, due to the alzheimers and related dementia. No big problem. However, on Sunday morning Dad was walking up steps into the house, slipped, fell backwards and smashed his head on the concrete. Fractured skull, bleeding in the brain, and likely brain damage. He's been non responsive since the accident. Bith parents are out of commission, and they referenced each other as POA. Luckily I INSISTED on alternates. Problem: There is money enough for all health care needs. Nursing home wants a check for $16,000 (two months care) for Mom, and then $8,000 a month thereafter. Now Dad is going to head to the same facility (if he lives). So we are on the hook for an up-front payment of $32,000 and $16,000 a month. Because we have all the paperwork in order, we simply write the checks... Imagine what it would be like otherwise: Mom and Dad have financial resources but its all locked up. You go through weeks and months of legal wrangling trying to access their resources for their own care, and all this legal crap is ontop of hospital bills, and the emotional stress of moving parents into nursing homes. Doctors are making decisions that are not in keeping with your parents wishes and their is not a damn thing you can do about it. Meanwhile, you cannot get mom the care she needs because you cannot come up with the check... If this shit happened to you, could your family cope? GET YER SHIT IN ORDER! Wills: These designate who gets what once you die. They are of NO value if you are still living. In a coma? Unresponsive? Too bad. The will means NOTHING if you still live DURABLE Power of Attorney: Gives someone the power to manage your resources. In many cases, the POA becomes null if you are unresponsive. You specifically need a DURABLE POA, meaning it stays in force if you are medically incapacitated. In addition, select an ALTERNATE. If you give your wife a POA, and she give you one, and you both are in the same crash, you are screwed... And alternate is necessary. If you are worried about someone going wild with your assets, find a different person. In addition, you can create springing POAs: These are ineffective until you become incapacitated. Health Care proxy: Provides information and authority to your deisngated person, so they can pull the plug, provide treatment, etc. POA's and Wills do NOTHING for these medical situations... Location: Got these documents? Great. can your family actually get em? DO NOT put them in a safety deposit box! You cannot access the box without the POA, and the POA is in the box! Get multiple copies and give them to your designees so they can store em and find em... Our weekend and week have been truly a mess. One big gut wrenching mess. However, our troubles would be 10 times worse than they already are if these documents were not in order. If you do not have these documents, and/or if they are outdated, FIX THIS NOW! Forget buying that new AR upper, or the optics or additional 1000 rounds of ammo and go see a decent lawyer. FIX IT! And don't gimme the "I'm only 28" bullshit. If you have a wife, kids, a significant other, you have all the reason you need to get this done. In addition, even if you are young, you likely have parents whom YOU will be looking after in some way. GET THIS CRAP DONE! |
Good rant.  I actually started working on all of that stuff a couple of weeks ago.To get an easy jumpstart on the stuff mentioned above, head on over to www.nolo.com/ - you can even buy/download Quicken Willmaker and just fill in the blanks and you can get all of the above documents done. |
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Problem: There is money enough for all health care needs. Nursing home wants a check for $16,000 (two months care) for Mom, and then $8,000 a month thereafter. Now Dad is going to head to the same facility (if he lives). So we are on the hook for an up-front payment of $32,000 and $16,000 a month. Because we have all the paperwork in order, we simply write the checks... " Mr. Lowdown's nursing home in Georgia will only cost you $6,995. a month and will include a complete house all to herself with 24 hour on call nursing care, 3 squares of storage food a day plus all the fresh rabbit, chicken, fruits and vegetables she can eat! |
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While we're on the subject, you might want to give consideration to ALL of these that apply ... and more of them than you think, might apply; Last Will & Testament (appoint an executor and express your wishes) Separate Writing for Tangible Personal Property ( instructions for bequeathing particular things) Guardian of Person and Property Alternates Guardianship for Children Alternates (think worst-case scenario) Estate Planning Living Trust (Revocable Trust Agreement) A/B Trust (for tax shelter and to avoid probate; must be funded and all assets should be in it) Successor Trustee Alternates Designation of Health Care Surrogate(Medical Guardian) ; to make med. decisions if you cannot Medical Power of Attorney Alternates Declaration of Living Will Medical Power of Attorney Alternates Decision on DNR order Durable General Power of Attorney to Spouse and/or alternate Declaration Naming Preneed Guardian (in case of incapacitation) Alternates Funeral Arrangements (cremation, pre-paid plot, etc.) Life Insurance (for trust funding, burial, living expenses, pay probate, investment) Education for Children 529s PrePaid programs Education IRAs Put copies of everything in more than one safe place and let "trusted others" know about where the copies are. Stay safe |