Simplicity News February 2004

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You'll notice this month's newsletter is slightly different,
and also includes my photo. I'm experimenting with a new format
so let me know your thoughts.

In This Issue:

THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT THE FUTURE

ROUNDING UP THE IMPORTANT STUFF

It's been said that the only guarantees in life are death and taxes.
Neither one is something to look forward to, but advance planning
can really help ease the stress of both. You may wonder why I chose
this less-than-happy topic for my newsletter this month. It's because
I just lost my mother to cancer.

I spent most of the month of January in Pennsylvania with my family.
My mother went into the hospital with back pain, was diagnosed with
advanced cancer and she passed away just two weeks later. I was fortunate
to have had a week with her in the hospital, during which time she was
lucid and we were able to talk a lot and just be together in her final days.
During that week, she was able to tell me just where all her
important papers were located, as well as her will and her living will.

I am so thankful that we had discussed these things well enough in advance
for them to be useful during this extremely stressful time. We knew her
wishes and were able to carry them out with a minimum of stress because
it had all been taken care of ahead of time. It doesn't mean that the
experience of losing a loved one is any less painful emotionally. However,
in difficult times, it's a relief to know that things are as organized
as they can be. Handling grief and settling an estate at the same time
is challenging enough without the added stress of information chaos, which
is why advance preparation is so helpful.

There is no easy way to say this, but if you love your family, I want you
to consider drawing up some documents in advance. Take care of things
yourself, so that in the event of your death or incapacitation, the people
you love most will be able to handle your affairs with a minimum of stress and
heartache, and in the manner you specify.

Here are three items to consider creating for yourself and your spouse:

A Living Will. Also known as an Advance Healthcare Directive, this document
states exactly what you would and would not like done from a healthcare
standpoint, should you become unable to communicate or make your own decisions.
You can stipulate whether or not you want blood transfusions, pain medication,
life support, and various other medical procedures.
Here is a link to get you started on a Living Will:
http://www.findlegalforms.com/xcart/customer/home.php

A Power of Attorney. There are several types of Powers of Attorney, so
do a little research before you choose the ones you want. A Power of
Attorney is a document which will allow someone else to make financial,
legal, or medical decisions on your behalf, depending on the type
you choose to draw up.
Here is a link to get you started on Powers of Attorney:
http://www.uslegalforms.com/poweratty.htm

A Will. A will is an important document for you to have if you wish to
have any control over what happens to your assets when you die. To die
intestate (without a will) means that the state will decide what happens
to the assets of your estate, and believe it or not, if you're married,
your spouse may NOT automatically receive everything you own.
Read the following, which is taken directly from the web site for the
National Association of Financial and Estate Planning:

Dying intestate is like taking your property and attempting to throw it
to your heirs on the other side of a deep chasm, a chasm which is filled
with hazards. These hazards (probate, creditors, con-artists, lawsuits,
judgments, lawyers, and death taxes) can damage much or most of the value
of your estate.

Here is a link to the NAFEP site which offers a lot of
great information about wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools.
http://www.nafep.com/estate_planning/

In the event that you become involved in a medical emergency, you'll
want some information handy. The following is a list of recommended
pieces of information to be able to access quickly if you need to:

Personal And Family Information:
Birth certificates
Marriage certificates
Divorce/separation papers
Adoption papers
Social security numbers/cards
Driver's licenses (number, expiration dates)
Military records

Medical Information:
Names/address/telephone numbers of healthcare professionals
Healthcare proxies/living wills
Medications (dosages, names of physicians, pharmacy, address/ telephone
Address and phone numbers of hospitals of choice
Medicare numbers
Medicaid numbers (caseworker numbers, address/telephone)
Social worker or caseworker names and contact information

Financial Information:
Income sources (retirement and/or disability benefits, Social Security, etc.)

Financial assets (bank and other institution names, account numbers, address/telephone, form of ownership, current value) of cash, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds, retirement and pension plans, IRAs, annuities, life insurance

Real Estate (property addresses, location of deeds, form of ownership, current value

Other assets (location of items/titles/documents/form of ownership, current value) including automobiles, boats, inheritances, precious gems, collectibles, household items, hidden valuables/items in storage, loans to family members/ friends

Liabilities (Creditor institutions, address/telephone, approximate debt) of mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, notes, IOUs, other).

It is also useful to collect names, addresses and phone numbers of professional
advisors such as bankers, attorneys, clergy, stockbrokers and insurance agents.
Also include in this category names and relevant dates of past employers, names and numbers of close friends, club memberships and landlord information.

If you store important documents in a safe deposit box, make sure that someone
close to you has a key to the box. Documents, such as original copies of wills,
powers of attorney, advance medical directives, etc. would be betterkept with
an attorney or in another safe but accessible place. A safe deposit box full of
documents is no good to anyone if they can't get into it.

I urge and encourage you to invest a little time now, while you can, to
create these very important documents. It is generally not too complicated,
usually not expensive, and it will help ease your family's burden should
you pass away or become incapacitated. Do it now. Your family will thank you.

Monica Ricci is an Organizing Specialist, and the founder of Catalyst
Organizing Solutions, an Atlanta based company. She is the immediate
past president of the GA Chapter of the National Association of Professional
Organizers.

To schedule Monica to speak to your conference, convention, team,
department, or association, or for an on-site organizational evaluation,
contact her at 770-569-2642 or at Monica@CatalystOrganizing.com

Catalyst offers on-site productivity consulting, distance coaching,
speaking and writing, as well as expert guest appearances on radio
and television.

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