Planning for the future isn’t something many people think about. This is especially true when you’re planning for your twilight years. No one wants to face mortality, but being prepared for it can make those elder years far more pleasant and stress-free, and it doesn’t take much to accomplish. Explore those aspects of your future and financial planning that you should cover while healthy, and how an elder law attorney is vital to the process.

Proper Documentation for Financial Planning

The first thing you want to have in place is all of the documentation you’ll need when the time comes. Do you have a will? Now is the best time to get that taken care of. What about your insurance documents, be it medical coverage or life insurance? Will the people in charge of your estate have access to things like your property deed or mortgage records?

Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney can be a vital part of your financial planning. Should you ever become incapable of making important financial decisions, paying your bills, or meeting your other financial commitments, you need someone in place who can handle that for you.

Make sure that the person who holds your financial power of attorney is someone you trust implicitly. After all, they’re going to have largely unfettered access to your accounts and finances as long as you’re alive.

Living Will

A living will is a document that outlines what you want to happen should you be in a situation where you’re unable to make medical decisions. Most people think of it as an end-of-life document, which states that you should or shouldn’t be kept on life support to take the pain of that decision away from your surviving children and loved ones. In truth, a living will can outline a variety of medical decisions for just that same reason.

Medical Power of Attorney

If a financial power of attorney is essential to having your money handled, a medical power of attorney does the same thing for your medical needs. Even if you have a detailed living will, there can still be important circumstances which arise and for which you have not accounted. In such cases, you need someone you can trust with your life to be able to make those all-important medical decisions, and to have access to all medical records and influence over doctor’s decisions.

Final Arrangements and Insurance

It never hurts to take care of your final arrangements in advance. We all have to face mortality in the end, and it can be so hard for families to close estates, arrange for funerals, burials and the like. Many of these things can be taken care of years in advance, so that when you pass on, your loved ones have less to worry about.

Where to Find Help

Many of these issues can be complex and tricky to handle. It’s always a good idea, when approaching your final arrangements, to secure the services of an experienced and knowledgeable Ohio elder law lawyer. If you’re considering beginning your twilight year’s medical and financial planning, contact the attorneys at Stano Law for help today.