Essential Documents

By Danielle Barbieri

Essential Documents

Of all the things that most of us postpone, end-of-life planning must be at the top of the list. Who wants to think about the end of their life when it hasn’t happened yet and could be years away? The sobering fact is that an accident or illness can happen at any age and scrambling to put end-oflife documents in place during a time of crisis can lead to family conflict and disagreement over your wishes.

Not only is advanced planning complicated, but to make things more challenging, every state has different names for similar documents. Still, the goal is the same — to allow you to state what you or your family member wants for healthcare interventions and who is designated to carry out those wishes. The documents we will discuss will also serve a dual purpose of guiding your family during times of medical and financial need. We will conclude with some tips on having these challenging conversations about preplanning with your loved ones.

Advance Directives

The term advance directives cover a group of documents that ensure your medical treatment decisions are followed if you are no longer able to communicate. The inability to communicate could be due to severe dementia, a medical event, or unconsciousness. These documents should be reviewed yearly or as often as needed according to your changing health or family status.

1. Living Will

A living will is a document that outlines the specific medical treatment you want and don’t want if you are unable to communicate. In some cases, you may prefer to let a trusted family member make those medical decisions outlined in your healthcare power of attorney. For urgent or unusual circumstances, such as for a terminally ill or very frail older adult, you may want to consider a Physician’s Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). A doctor must sign the POLST (or MOLST in some states) to be valid.

2. Healthcare Power of Attorney

This document designates someone as your health care proxy or power of attorney to make any medical treatment decisions if you cannot make them for yourself. In some states, the healthcare power of attorney will act as a HIPPA release allowing you to obtain healthcare information to assist in a loved one’s care. Some healthcare power of attorney documents also allow you to designate a legal guardian should you be deemed incapacitated. 3. HIPPA Release A release of your rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows the loved ones you designate to access your medical information. Some healthcare entities will require a separate release for each facility.

Estate Planning Documents

Estate planning documents allow you to designate someone to make financial decisions on your behalf if you cannot while alive or after your death.

1. Financial Power of Attorney

You may need a financial power of attorney for your aging parent sooner than you think, and without it, you will be immobilized in your efforts to help. For example, imagine if your parent has dementia and succumbs to fraudulent activity or a scam. It will be tough to intervene on their behalf without legal authority.

2. Will

You can create a will to ensure all of your property, money, investments, and other possessions are given to the people you choose. A handwritten will is acceptable in some states, but you should check the legal status of such a will with an estate planning attorney. Understandably you may be confused about the difference between a will and a trust.

3. Trust

There are different types of trusts, but the primary purpose is to allow you a vehicle in which to place all of your assets to avoid probate court. The trustor or grantor is the person who sets up the trust, and the trustee is the person or entity responsible for managing those assets according to the wishes of the trustor. 4. Funeral and Burial Arrangements If you don’t designate what burial arrangements you want after death, it can cause family conflict. Not everyone holds the same values and principles around death and dying. If you want a cremation, you should put it in writing. The same goes for an earth burial. Spell out any specific funeral services or celebrations. Some people opt for a pre-paid plan to lock in pricing and take the burden off of their loved ones left behind.

How to Have the Conversation

Getting things started with end-of-life planning can be rocky. It is almost always better to start the conversation as early as possible while your loved one has the capability and capacity to make decisions. Let’s start with some tips for starting and continuing the conversation.

• Be Respectful

You may encounter resistance when beginning discussions of end-of-life planning. Resistance may be due to a reluctance to talk about the end of life. Reassure your loved one that you don’t think they are about to die! You simply

End-of-Life Planning

want to discuss ways to ensure that their wishes are honored. It is not about taking away their independence. Many people don’t understand that discussions alone are irrelevant. Everything must be in writing. Discussions are a means to an end: the creation of written documents that express the person’s wishes in as much detail as possible.

• Give Examples

A general conversation about advance planning and beneficiary designations might not be productive: give specific examples of situations where you may need to step in to advocate for your family member in case of an accident or illness. These examples will create possible scenarios that will clarify the value of endof-life planning.

• Have Several Conversations

Try not to expect to build Rome in a day. End-of-life planning is complicated and emotional. Accept that the process will take patience and anticipate having several conversations, but keep the ball rolling.

Sharing the Information

Now that you and your family have completed the hard work of getting endof-life documents in place, where should they go? If you have the option of an online portal to keep these documents safe and accessible, it can be a great way to give access to family members in a time of need. Many advance directives have a contingency person if the primary designated person can’t perform their duties. That person needs access as well.

Paper copies are also a must for healthcare providers and hospitals. Every healthcare provider needs a copy of the advance directives. Also, consider copies of all financial documents for a financial advisor and estate planning attorney. If the advance directives are locked away in a safe and the designee is out of town during an emergency, that could create a significant problem.

End-of-Life Planning for Peace of Mind

The greatest benefit of starting your end-of-life planning is peace of mind, for you and your loved ones. We encourage everyone to take a few moments and think through this process as we begin the New Year.

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American Founders reveals men and women of African descent as key protagonists in the story of American democracy. It chronicles how black people developed and defended New World settlements, undermined slavery, and championed freedom throughout the hemisphere from the sixteenth thorough the twentieth centuries. While conventional history tends to reduce the roles of African Americans to antebellum slavery and the civil rights movement, in reality African residents preceded the English by a century and arrived in the Americas in numbers that far exceeded European migrants up until 1820. Afro-Americans were omnipresent in the founding and advancement of the Americas, and recurrently outnumbered Europeans at many times and places, from colonial Peru to antebellum Virginia. Africandescended people contributed to every facet of American history as explorers, conquistadores, settlers, soldiers, sailors, servants, slaves, rebels, leaders, lawyers, litigants, laborers, artisans, artists, activists, translators, teachers, doctors, nurses, inventors, investors, merchants, mathematicians, scientists, scholars, engineers, entrepreneurs, generals, cowboys, pirates, professors, politicians, priests, poets, and presidents. The many events and mixed-race individuals included in this book underscore that black and white Americans share the same history and, in many cases, the same ancestry. American Founders is meant to celebrate this shared heritage and strengthen these bonds.

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Use the Pandemic to Get Organized-Life in a Box Workshop

Are your records organized? If something were to happen to you would it be easy for loved ones to take over your affairs or settle your estate? Would they know where to find all your necessary healthcare information, legal documents, passwords, and PINs? Would they know how bills are paid and how sources of income are credited to your bank account?

Not to worry. Every January, we conduct a workshop at the Montgomery Moore Wealth Management office called Life in a Box. We give you a step-by-step approach to gather all relevant records, so they are all contained or referenced in one fire-resistant box. We will conduct the 2022 webinar at noon on Wednesday, January 26th. For further information and reservations, please call 334.270.1672, or email

sarah@moorewealthmanagement.

com. If you miss the webinar, we also offer free consultations that are without obligation.

The ten categories we cover in detail include healthcare, estate planning, tax records, investments and bank accounts, liabilities, insurance, military records, personal identification documentation, deeds and similar documents, and a miscellaneous one that covers pet information, house maintenance, etc.

In addition, we go over what to keep where, for example, in a safe deposit box, fire-resistant box at home, in a file cabinet or with your attorney or financial advisor. For example, it is advisable NOT to keep the only original of your will in your safe deposit box and we will tell you why. Another example is your passport. A copy of the passport should be kept in the safe deposit box, but not the original, and we will tell you why.

We also go over ways to manage technology. If something were to happen to you, loved ones need to be able to access electronic as well as paper records. To do so, they have to know passwords and PINs. We go over electronic means to store passwords and PINs so loved ones can access them in an emergency and help protect you from identity theft.

Make one of your new year’s resolutions to get your records organized. Our webinar and method is designed to help you get your Life in a Box organized. We make it easy so once organized, it is easy to keep it that way!

Financial Thoughts with Susan Moore

By Susan Clayton Moore, J.D.

Principal of Moore Wealth Management, Inc.

Susan Clayton Moore, J.D., is a financial advisor and wealth manager of Moore Wealth Management, Inc.., with offices in Auburn, Montgomery, and Alexander City, AL. Susan has under advisement over $170 million (as of 3.31.2021) in brokerage and advisory assets through Kestra Financial and has been a financial planner for over 38 years. Contact Susan at 334.270.1672. Email contact is susan@moorewealthmanagement.com.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney or tax advisor regarding your individual situation.

Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. Kestra IS or Kestra AS are not affiliated with Moore Wealth Management, Inc.

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Life in a Box Workshop January 26th, Noon, Call today and register, 334.270.1672

Topics include: healthcare, estate planning, tax records, investments and bank accounts, liabilities, insurance, military records, personal identification documentation, deeds and similar documents, and a miscellaneous one that covers pet information, house maintenance, etc.

AUM OLLI had a successful term in the fall of 2021 with the return to in-person classes that adhered to safety protocols. Building on that accomplishment, the schedule for the 2022 Winter Term contains a wealth of options in all three categories – study/discussion, active, and hands-on (creative). Enrolling in AUM OLLI in this new term allows members to fulfill New Year’s resolutions to become active physically, mentally, and creatively.

Options for developing physically include Tai Chi for Pain Management, line dancing, hiking, and birding. Each of these three classes has a different approach for physical demands, so members should read the course descriptions carefully.

The “mental” courses are art studies at the museum, an art history course, and a course that will focus on issues of the Middle East region. The brain bowl option also presents mental challenges for the participants. Since these courses are offered at different times, members can really challenge themselves and take all the discussion courses.

There are at least two courses that bridge the mental and creative categories: Photography – Practicing the Art of Seeing and the writing workshop (which studies writing with the option of “publishing” a memoir-like selection at the end of the term).

With the return of in-person classes, AUM OLLI has been able to offer more hands-on (do-it-yourself) courses. On the schedule are: jewelry, using pieces of torn paper to create art, pine needle basket weaving, and painting with watercolors. As with the “mental” category of classes, the hands-on classes are offered at different times. Participants can really challenge themselves creatively by taking more than one of the options. However, this category has limits on openings, so people need to register early in the process. Registration opened on December 08, 2021, at noon, so late registrants may go onto a waiting list.

AUM OLLI members cannot only learn new things, develop new skills, and become active, but they can also make new friends and become part of communities. Some of the classes are going to lunch together in addition to meeting in the classroom, even when classes are not in session.

Lunch presentations and field trips are also scheduled. See the catalog for details.

Go to the website www.aum.edu/olli for a detailed look at the 2022 Winter schedule.

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