Talk to Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season

This holiday season, instead of talking politics around the dinner table (which can only lead to trouble!), talk to your loved ones about the most significant issues you will face as an older adult: your long-term care wishes, your estate plan, and the keys to a successful estate transfer. You’ll be glad you did and your loved ones will be forever grateful that you brought it up so they didn’t have to.

For example, do your loved ones know where you would like to live as you age? Many people say they would like to remain in their homes for as long as possible, but what if that becomes medically unfeasible? Or financially impossible? Have that conversation now while you can – before a crisis hits and you have no choice. This allows you to explore options together, such as visiting assisted living communities in your area, or pricing out home modifications. It also allows you to discuss and take action regarding asset protection planning, such as setting up an irrevocable trust to protect your home or your life savings. By protecting assets early, all care and living options can be open and available to you without the unnecessary spend-down of assets.

What are your end-of-life wishes? You may have thought about this, but have you discussed it with your loved ones? They need to know how you feel and what you want and don’t want for medical intervention should you have a terminal condition. And of course, you need to document your wishes and appoint an agent in a Living Will who will carry out your wishes. At the same time, you should execute a Health Care Proxy and a Power of Attorney, collectively known as Advance Directives.

You must include your loved ones, or at least one trusted person, to ensure a successful estate transfer. For example, a trusted person needs to know where you keep your original Last Will and Testament and Trust(s), who your estate and elder law attorney is, and how to access your Advance Directives and estate planning documents. In addition, your trusted agent needs to know the username and passwords to all of your accounts, including bank accounts, mutual funds, retirement plans, life insurance, etc. as well as usernames and passwords for all household bills and credit cards. Your executor needs to marshal all your assets, pay all your bills, and terminate credit cards and certain other bills immediately to avoid identity theft and other scams.

At Cona Elder Law, we provide our clients and their authorized agent(s) access to their estate planning documents via a triple-secure online Document Vault. That way, our clients and their agents can access their legal documents anytime from anywhere. If there is a health care emergency, they can access their Health Care Proxy and Living Will in seconds, likewise for a financial emergency.

In addition, Cona Elder Law provides all of our clients with a Legacy Logbook, and a Financial and Estate Planning Journal, in which to record, among other things, all account usernames and passwords. Having this information in one place is critical to ensure a successful estate transfer, saving your Executor and estate time and money when it comes to probating your Will.

All older adults face the very same issues. That is not to say it makes it any easier. At Cona Elder Law, we give you the tools you need to succeed, and we help you every step of the way with compassion and expertise. Contact us at 631.390.5000 or elder@conalaw.com if we can help you. 

Jennifer B. Cona, Esq. is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cona Elder Law, an award-winning law firm concentrating in the areas of elder law, estate planning, estate administration and litigation, and health care law.  The firm has been ranked the #1 Elder Law Firm by Long Island Business News for eight consecutive years.