At only three blogs into “Carol-Ann’s Top 10 Caregiver Peeves”, are you detecting a common theme already? This Will Never Be. It’s Not THAT bad. It’s Surely Not THAT Urgent. Oh, the denial and avoidance! Will you please tolerate a Reality Check?
Don’t Do This at Home, Kids
Over the years since my parents’ passing, I have been asked by numerous interviewers what I would do differently. The answer is little except… I would have begun conversations to finalize essential paperwork far ahead of my father’s continued decline. Much as my Dad and I managed to squeeze in joint account banking set-up under the wire, it was truly under duress. The unpopular “talks” (you know the ones if you dig deep) ought to have occurred sooner.
Learn from Others’ Examples
Don’t believe me. How about the friend who finally located his parents’ Will tucked behind a basement floorboard after searching high and low? How about the one where mother had her investments dispersed with multiple institutions, causing huge nightmares with the Canada Revenue Agency IRS-equivalent? Or, how about the couple who knew Mom was dying in hospital and still they could not align their act to update her Will before she entered hospice?
Why Not Combine Our Expertise?
Together, these few examples (while representative) are but a fraction of what you will encounter when you avoid, procrastinate and bury your head in the sand like the ostriches depicted on my two eldercare book covers about Coping with Un-cope-able Parents and Systems. At the end of the day, you can either have it easy or hard. Let me spell out hard – defined as lengthy probate which progressively bankrupts your funds while The Estate settles.
Next Time Around
Instead, how about you take heed from this important series on “Carol-Ann’s Top 10 Peeves”? A reminder: I am doing this so that you benefit from my lessons BEFORE it is too late.
Next time, our focus is: How Difficult Can “The Talk” Be? Have you got all day despite how competent you believe you are in other realms of life?
Meanwhile, you might want to tune into weekly radio shows I have recorded on these themes (and others) as “The Conscious Caregiver” at www.boldbravemedia.com and available also on iheart radio, Apple podcasting and Spotify.
Carol-Ann Hamilton
Latest posts by Carol-Ann Hamilton (see all)
- Once Housed, We’re Good - January 21, 2021
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- “I Can Hack It When the Time Comes” - August 1, 2020
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