Theresa was a single woman (with no children) who had lost her twin sister, with whom she lived. They owned their home jointly and split expenses 50/50. A year later, she began to realize that she had not set up any provisions, if something was to happen to her. She contacted me, and we spent several sessions discussing:
- POAs (both financial and durable medical)
- how to create a will (and what happens if there isn’t one in place)
- adding a beneficiary or POD (Pay-on-Death) to her checking and savings accounts, so that her designee would be able to pay for expenses while the estate was being settled
- verifying/changing the beneficiary on her 401K, which was still her deceased sister
- Indiana’s recent law that allows you to also place a POD on your home, which helps avoid probate expenses
- Documenting key information regarding financial, medical and household information, so that if something happened to her (short-term or long-term), her family/POA would be able to quickly access information in order to oversee things in her absence
By creating a solid plan with specific action steps, Theresa was able to ensure that her surviving family members would not be burdened or left unaware of her wishes. This included setting up legal documents, designating beneficiaries, and organizing key information so that her loved ones could easily manage her affairs if something happened to her.