“Plan for your future because that’s where you are going to spend the rest of your life.”
Mark Twain
Ben and Shirley have been married for 47 years. Ben always managed the family’s money. But since his stroke, Ben can’t walk or talk. Shirley is worried about Ben’s health, but also feels overwhelmed because she has no idea what bills need to be paid or even when they are due!
Across town, 80-year-old Louise lives alone. One night, she fell in the kitchen and broke her hip. She spent a week in the hospital and 6 weeks in a rehab in a nursing home. Her only child, Mike, lives across the country in California. Mike was able to pay her bills and make inquiries with Medicare and her Medicare supplement easily. That’s because, several years ago, Louise and her son hired an Elder Law Firm to put a plan in place in case Louise had a medical emergency.
Plan for the Future
No one ever plans to be sick or disabled. Yet, it’s just this kind of planning that can make all the difference in an emergency. Long before she fell, Louise had put all her important papers in one place and told her son where to find them. She gave him the name of her Elder Law Firm as well as a list of people he could contact at her bank, doctor’s office, insurance company, and investment firm. She made sure he had copies of her Medicare and other health insurance cards. She had a Durable Power of Attorney drawn up to allow her son to be able to pay her bills, if she couldn’t. His name was on her safe deposit box at the bank as well. Louise made sure Medicare and her doctor had written permission to talk with her son about her health or any insurance claims.
Back across town, because Ben always took care of family money, he just never talked about the details with Shirley. No one but Ben knew that his life insurance policy was in a box in the closet or that the car title and deed to the house were filed in his desk drawer. Ben never expected that his wife would have to take over. His lack of planning has made a tough job even tougher for Shirley.
See The Three Most Important Documents Anyone Over The Age of 18 Needs. Don’t wait until an emergency strikes to get prepared. No one wakes up and says, “I think I’ll have a stroke, or car accident, today.” Plan ahead!
