Sudden Changes & Your Estate Plan

We all get lulled to sleep sometimes. The perceived permanence of everyday life leads you to anticipate… more of the same. Rumblings of thunder in the background may be audible but, in our minds, the reality of an impending lightning strike still seems farfetched.

Then your world explodes.

I was 25, fresh out of law school, when my mother became seriously ill. My parents’ marriage, already strained to the breaking point, disintegrated into nothingness on a Friday night in September. I remember the sun shone brightly the day after and the day after that, but I could only see darkness. My family was gone, never to return.

The word “cataclysm” was all I could attach to those concurrent events. There was no quick and easy solution. My mother would need assistance in one form or another for the rest of her life. My father had a short burst of energy for a while after that miserable year, but his health issues ultimately took him way before his time.

The lawyer in me knew that I had to bring order to this chaos – quickly. Health insurance and retirement benefits had to be solidified to preserve both my mom and my dad’s quality of life. Advance directives such as powers of attorney, health care proxies, and living wills had to be prepared to ensure there would be no gaps in decision making, should one or both of my parents lose capacity. Beneficiary statements had to be updated to reflect the familial changes and proper estate planning documents were needed to avoid court intervention.

Most of these functions were in place by the time my original Mahopac office was up and running. Save for a few updated forms, they remained in effect for another 21 years until my mother’s passing.

It could be a life changing medical diagnosis, the sudden death of a loved one, or a marriage ending; the comforts of stability have disappeared, and you are left in a state of bewilderment and mourning. How you react and recover will determine more than you think.

The first step is to process what happened. Uncertainty follows loss – but you have reservoirs of strength that are available for these moments. Use them. Write down priorities and set up a plan of action.

What type of long-term care is needed for my loved one, and will Medicaid be required? Did that person handle the bills? Make a list of the bills and payment sources. Was that person your power of attorney, your health care proxy, trustee? If so, who will you choose to replace them? Do they need advance directives? Are there assets or job benefits that need to be secured?

Once you have begun to map out a plan, it is time to seek the services of a legal professional who can help you execute that plan.

Action is the only cure for life’s surprises.

Alan D. Feller, Esq., is managing partner of The Feller Group, located at 572 Route 6, Suite 103, Mahopac. He can be reached at alandfeller@thefellergroup.com.