Its never easy and I don’t want to make it sound like I have personally dealt with this situation, but there will be a time when it will happen.
Why am I writing about this? A close friend of mine informed me that his mother, also a client, was recently diagnosed with a very aggressive gastric cancer. At her age, the course of treatment would be very aggressive and even with the treatments, her prognosis wasn’t great. I have had numerous conversations with my friend
and his mother. Answering questions about Medicare insurance, hospice, long term care, life insurance and wills have been discussed numerous times with fine details and points covered.
Ultimately, his mother has decided to forgo treatment and enjoy the time she has with her kids and grandkids! That news wasn’t easy for my close friend to take, nor was it for me when they called me to tell me! Over 22 years of doing this and I am just as emotional as the family is when I get phone calls about a passing of a
client and friend!
I put together this checklist for the family to consider after the goodbyes:
1. Call your attorney
2. Contact the Social Security Administration
3. Locate the will and trust documents
4. Contact former employers
5. Contact the VA if they were a veteran
6. Notify all insurance companies both life and health
7. Update property titles
8. Update joint account: banking, investment, and credit accounts
9. Contact the 3 credit bureaus
10. Meet with your CPA/accountant
11. Contact your financial professional.
Look for more information in the upcoming newsletter, I will give more details for each and include important contact numbers. The list is not in order of importance, but more of a guide of things to consider.
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