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As your parents age there are a number of important things you need to do.
I learned these things the hard way and am hoping to help you in advance.
The topic of death is seldom pleasant, but it's a fact we all must face.
Every family needs at least one person willing to take the lead with preparing for the eventual death of a parent.
Once they are gone it can be very difficult to find important information you are sure to need.
Sometimes the surviving spouse doesn't even know the answers and that is exactly what happened in my life recently.
My wife's parents were married for 62 years.
Suddenly, without warning my Mother-in-law had a stroke that eventually took her life.
She managed all aspects of her household and my Father-in-law knew very little about important items we would soon need to know.
We could no longer ask Mom so we had to figure everything out the hard way.
I have no doubt that things have been missed.
Before you are faced with a similar scenario with your aging parents I urge you to take steps to help yourself deal with the inevitable.
The following suggestions are many of the important lessons I learned over a three month period.
1.
Make a list of all medicines and supplements being taken, including frequency and dosage.
2.
Document the names, phone numbers and addresses for all doctors.
3.
Make copies of their medical cards, prescription cards and social security cards.
4.
If they have a Living Will make sure you have a copy.
5.
Learn about what is owned and what is owed.
6.
Have your aging parents name an Executor of Estate.
7.
Get Durable Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney.
8.
Get named on their bank accounts.
9.
Make a list of all important accounts, including user name and passwords.
10.
Start asking lots of questions and take some notes.
Obviously there are many other items that could be added to this list.
If you at least do these things you will find that you will be able to handle most issues that surface.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that your aging parents will continue to age for as long as they live.
The longer you wait to take these steps the more at risk you are of having some very difficult and frustrating times ahead.
This all comes from difficult personal experience that I would like you to avoid.
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