039. Getting Organized! Creating a Binder Of Essential Documents for Aging Parents
When Lynne Von Villas' father passed away and her mother was suffering dementia, she was inspired to get organized.
She had plenty of paperwork to deal with while carrying out her father’s will and moving her mother to a memory care facility. Eventually she realized she’d benefit from making all the information she needed portable and easy to reference. Having a 3-ring binder containing important information is a great idea for families to have ready, especially if the unthinkable happens.Lynne will discuss tips and tricks, plus important documents to have on hand.
She also explains how having the right paperwork ready can make it more stress-free for loved ones who will be in charge of a family member’s medical care and estate after they’re gone.
Topics discussed:
- Wills and estates
- Paperwork for elderly family
- Crisis preparedness
- Insurance and long-term care policies
- End-of-life / funeral plans
- Social Security and identity theft preparedness for seniors
Takeaways from this episode:
- Having a binder filled with important paperwork for senior family members is a great idea if they need to go to the hospital unexpectedly or you’re receiving frequent calls about their estate.
- For a medical crisis it’s essential to know if your loved one has veteran’s benefits, a Medicare plan (and which), a DNR, insurance policies, medication prescriptions or a long-term care policy.
- For finances, you should be a signer on their bank accounts and have your name is on stocks and bonds (and have them in electronic form).
- Send your loved one’s death certificates to the 3 credit bureaus to protect from identity theft.
- Binders can also include household accounts, electric, gas, and cell phone account information and passwords.
- It’s difficult for loved ones to dig around for marriage certificates, social security cards, etc. - so the more prepared you can be when preparing your binder, the less stressful it’ll be for them.
- Keep your binder and paperwork in a safe or somewhere secure.
Creating Your Binder List:
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2c62c2_65a3d9193ff5449bb47d6c1b4ab5e883~mv2.jpg
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