As My Parents Age - Step One

As my parents age, what should I do? 
 
Step One:  It is critical that you determine if your parents have estate documents.  If they do, make sure that their estate documents are up-to-date.  By estate documents, I mean a Last Will and Testament, Living Will (this is the “Pull the Plug” document), Health Care Durable Power of Attorney and General Durable Financial Power of Attorney.  When I say up-to-date, I mean within the last 5 years.  

Note that not all estate documents are created equal.  When I first started practicing law, to make a living, I pretty much “specialized in whatever cam in the door.”  Yes, that is a bit cute and even funny, but I can tell you from personal experience that my documents were not the best, most comprehensive documents.  When I began to narrow down my interests, the documents became better.  Not until I began teaching law school, and also began to concentrate in estate planning, did these documents begin to take shape.  Not until I wrote some curriculum on elder law and began to seek advanced training, did everything take shape.
 
I review documents all of the time and I tell some clients that their documents are good, adequate or not so good.  I tell them that laws and times have change. And I explain where and why I would do things differently.
 
On the other hand, you should go through this process as well.  How old are your documents?  What circumstance have change in your life that might merit revisions or new documents?  Often, if your go through this process, your parents will as well.

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