LATER LIFE PLANNING FUNERAL PLANS, WILLS & POWERS OF ATTORNEY

At White Doves, we regularly help clients at difficult times in their lives. Just this month we were guiding a family through some challenges when their father passed away unexpectedly. Unfortunately, Dad hadn’t left a Spanish Will, nor did he have a funeral plan in place and to add more to the complicated situation, Mum has dementia, and nobody had power of attorney.

Dad was Mum’s unofficial carer and handled everything. Although, they lived in Spain for many years, like many people they buried their heads in the sand and thought nothing was ever going to happen to them. Then, the unexpected happened and Dad, the carer, passed away. His monies were kept outside of Spain, and nobody knew how to access the accounts. The family struggled to get the money together for the cremation and were in the awful position of having to borrow from friends. Like many families, an unexpected bill of this sort, throws them into turmoil. Not to mention the loss of Dad and the challenge of what to do with Mum and her finances. The legal process is underway but not easy and it will take some time to unravel everything.

None of us know when life with throw us a curve ball and we cannot predict what lies ahead.

One thing for sure, we are all going to die at some time and none of us want it to be soon. Please, think about your family or friends and don’t leave them in a mess, not knowing what to do, how to pay for things and what your wishes would have been.