Posted March
23, 2005: The sad and
15-year long Terri Schiavo tragedy is yet one more reminder
to get your paperwork act together...NOW. Marriages,
divorces, births, deaths...all triggers to get your
paperwork completed or updated. File at least
four (4) copies of the
executed paperwork and leave one with your attorney, one
with your spouse, one with the executor/executrix of your
Will, and finally, one in your freezer.
If your house every burns, that'll be the
safest [and coolest] place on the block.
Posted December
29, 2002: If
you're healthy enough to be reading these words right now, then
you're healthy enough to read through to the bottom of this
section. It won't take you long, but it will save your
family a ton of grief down the road...
1a.
I urge Texans to consider membership in the
Funeral
Consumers Alliance of North Texas [more
information about them below]. It's on $35 (and tax-deductible); they
provide terrific information and a great service for
families dealing with end-of-life issues. The
"Alliance" will provide you with a slew of forms and
guidance when you need it.
1b. While
making end-of-life decisions, consider saving
lives even after yours is over. One
organ donor can save and enhance 50 or more lives...and since
there's no cost to you or your family, there's no excuse. All
you've gotta do is make sure your family members know your
wishes ahead of time so they'll be able to carry them out. To be
a donor, you don't need to sign any forms or put anything on
your license, and you definitely don't need anything in your
will. The key to
making sure your wishes are carried out is to share them with
family members: Frankly,
if you haven't told your family you're a donor...you're not.
Of course you'll want to get more information on organ
donation, call (800) 788-8058
or visit
www.organ.org
that appears to have gone off
Internet radar for now. So I've substituted [as of
March 2005]
www.familycaregivers.com.
They're a good source for free "boilerplate" forms that
I discussed in this column and have talked about many
times in the media: the Medical Power of Attorney and
Directive To Physicians and Families forms that I urge
you to download, print and execute. [You can thank me
later.]
3.
Boilerplate software packages for pre-attorney preparation of
your affairs: Let me repeat....I'm not a fan of these packages
for generating the final Last Will & Testament documents,
but I do think they can serve a valuable role in preparing for
your visit to the lawyer and hopefully, reduce your final legal
bill.
4. You'd
better read this before you go any further:
I want you to take a look at
Marty Kuritz'
Beneficiary Book. It's a really good
"here's
where everything's located/hidden/buried" organizing
software [and traditional book form] guide that will help
whomever's in the hot-seat to find where all of your papers,
insurance policies, cash (and anything else that's appropriate)
after you've checked out. It's extremely effective when it
comes to making you think about stuff you might not even
consider. Check it out...
You'll probably break your "I'm
gonna go on a diet and finally lose that weight" or "I'm
stopping smoking once and for all" or "I'll
get my finances together this year!" resolutions by
the time the Super Bowl rolls around at the end of January, but
I hope you'll follow through on these important steps that can
make all the difference to your family.
But it's also the most empowering.
Because when you face this inevitable chapter in your life, you're
taking a huge step towards controlling your life and
making your eventual passing a whole lot easier on your family or
friends.
So...enough with the lecturing. Let's give you some
resources to assist you in your quest to get your "house in
order" and avoid lining the pockets of those individuals or
businesses that surface at the most difficult time of your life.
Namely, the funeral and cemetery salesmen and the attorneys.
Right outta the chute:
I want to clarify something I mentioned in the column; the part
about making your feelings known on how you'd like your body
handled after your passing. You know the mess that followed
baseball legend Ted Williams' death. The son said dear old
Dad wanted to be put on ice [frozen for future uses which is
another story altogether]; the daughter said no way and the press
had a field day with the story.
I want to share some advice from one of my experts on the subject
of funerals, Pierson Ralph, Executive Director of the
Funeral
Consumers Alliance of North Texas
has some excellent advice
on where to put body disposition instructions:
"A Will is not the
best place to have instructions for how you'd like your body
handled after your passing. The reason? The Will in
almost all circumstances will probably not be looked at until
after the funeral and body disposition has taken place.
In fact this happened to a friend of mine. After the funeral, he
discovered in his father's Will that Dad wanted something quite
different from what they had selected.
Funeral instructions should be in a separate document and stored
in a place that's easy to find. The "Before I Go, You Should
Know" packet offered by the Funeral Consumers Alliance for
$10 comes complete with a plastic pouch for storing in the freezer
compartment of your refrigerator, and is an excellent
solution."
Thanks for the great advice, Pierson! And I agree...so let's
get everyone the tools they'll need to Be
Prepared:
Get all of your legal documents signed/sealed and
delivered before you need 'em. Don't wait until it's too
late...and here comes the disclaimer:
I'm not an attorney
and I'm not gonna give you legal advice. But I've covered
this story for a long time and know the usual land-mines that seem
to get in the way at the worst possible times for consumers.
Like anything "legal" you need to do your homework,
don't go cheap and spend a few bucks with a qualified attorney to
have all documents reviewed to make sure they're properly drawn
and enforceable. Otherwise, you could be creating a whole
new set of problems for you or your family.
