Are you prepared with a living will, medical power of attorney, an actual will, etc

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Patchouli

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If you've been to an ER in the past few years or hospitalized, you're asked if you have a living will and medical power of attorney.
I'm curious as to how many here may have these documents or records.
Also curious to know, do you have a will?
I've never done it but have been looking over the papers, trying to figure out what I want to do, how specific.
 
No but where we live hubby gets all if I go first and I do if he does.
This place will be sold faster than you can say, goodbye once we are gone. None of the city slickers will ever move out here. Which there is nothing wrong with being a city slicker ,matter of fact we have been here for 20 years and the world is still about the same as it was.
 
No and I've been bugging the hubby to do it but its like he doesn't want to think about it. *sigh* so frustrating. I know there are "generic" wills and such you can find on the net for your state and you can download them and fill them out and then take them to your local courthouse to get notarized and to register. No lawyers involved. But if you have loads of things like stocks and investments or antiques and such worth money it may be better to go the lawyer route.

People think that just because you're married that the spouse will get everything but thats not true. In some cases the state will come in and take over or the dead spouse's family will wreak havoc on the surviving spouse. Its best to have it stated and documented and iron tight so that doesn't happen
 
In my medical record my next of kin is my lawyer and he has a spare key to everything. But by law he can't be executor to my estate, due to being my legal representative. I have a younger cousin who's a good person, works as a police officer, and he's my executor with everything going to my lawyer.

However, I have a nephew who's graduating medical school soon, and if things work out, and he's willing to take me as his patient, I might leave everything to him. For me, it's how well someone in my family treats me, and I think that's fair since it's my personal wishes and I'm the one dying.

My lawyer's office sent me a link to a website that had the appropriate paperwork for a will in my state. I could have found it myself, but that's how it worked out. If I ever want to leave any living children out of my will, or have any other wishes outside of the basic will, then I have to make an appointment with him due to the legal wording, at least that's my understanding.
 
No. But my mom now has a will. My three sisters and I are all on medical power of attorney and financial power of attorney. But I'm the one who sees her most, so I just let them know what I'm doing with health appointments and bills. The thing to watch on financial is someone hijacking your accts by online access. Mom never has owned a computer and the (bad) sister who put her away had everything online and was spending money right and left. All she knew before she was put away was that she stopped getting statements in the mail.
 
Since I live with my girlfriend (sounds tacky but it is for monetary reasons), and we purchased a house together, we went to an attorney and wrote up two separate Living Trusts, which are cross connected, but remain separate, as a way to protect our own assets, protect our own children, and ensures that when one of us dies, the other can remain in the home without being kicked out by the estate of the non-living entity.
 
My parents had everything arraigned well before they passed.
The number 1 thing they did that I will forever be grateful for is they planed their own funerals.
Everything was taken care of and paid for in advance.
Right down to the flowers and music.
They set a limit for all expenses so there was no funeral home trying to up-sell.
Dad knew us boys would have bought him that very nice, but expensive wood casket so he took that option away.
I was with him when he was planning his funeral.
When the woman told him the casket was guaranteed for life he asked her whose life.
She was a bit confused.
My wife and I have a will but it is a bit out of date.
Our son is listed as "any future children" and he will turn 40 next month.
Might need to get a new one.
Like a lot of others I keep meaning to get things done but just never get around to it.
 
A casket, guaranteed for life. Who told them that saying that as part of the marketing was bound to get a sale?
Wow. Your dad sounds like mine @backlash
 
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We both have wills, living wills, medical power of attorney, named beneficiaries for the investments, and copies here, with our health care alternates and with our financial manager.

Us too. I am pretty organized that way. We had a Suze Orman kit given to us and we used the templates on that to get everything done and then got it notarized at the bank. It is legal in our state and allowed us to add specifics that we wanted to for certain people. I'm pretty sure you can get those kits online or off ebay for very little money. Having something is much better than nothing......and having it before you need it is imperative.

We decided not to prepay for funeral expenses but did put in our will what we wanted. Instead of paying for it, we saved the money for it (so they won't have to pay) since funeral places around here change hands fairly often and I'm not sure how a funeral bankruptcy would affect that. Neither of us want our kids to buy a fancy funeral or an expensive casket. We basically put in there to do the cheapest thing possible.....we don't care.....we're dead! And I do NOT want a funeral in a funeral home......they creep me out! Have a party in a bar and say some things about me, maybe a couple nice things!! Drinks are on me!:D I bet I'd get a good turnout that way. LOL!!!
 
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Getting some very helpful ideas here.

I know people who don't even have funerals. They ask for their bodies to be donated to science if not good enough for organ donation. The last time I was aware, funerals cost way too much. If you're affiliated with a church that can save you some money but funeral homes always want you to do the visitation at the f.h. $10,000 for all their services. I hope it isn't higher than that!
Cemetery plots I really have no clue how much for those. Headstones? Very expensive as well.
I've heard from a relative that if you have a cemetery plot and you want to sell it, you can only sell it at the price you bought it at, not the going rate the cemetery is selling plots.
A bar, huh? I don't go there anymore, @angie_nrs ! But for you I would. :D
 
If you are not rich, you do not need a living will, no one can afford to keep you on a machine for days, forget weeks, months or years.
DW gets med power of attorney, son gets limited power of attorney.
I do need to up date my will, funeral will be planned when I retire.
If DW refused to make a will, I would set an appointment & tell her she needs to show up for her on protection.
But I am a loud know-it-all, who believe in making people do the right things, to not leave me a mess to clean up.
 
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