Estate planning | Help! Aging Parents

Dentist’s vetting Aging Teeth-2 post not back in time. Thus, thoughts about Tuesday’s NY Times’ New Old Age Column “Where is That Advance Directive?” generates this replacement post.

Much time, thought, and energy–under the best of circumstances–go into planning end-of-life directives. In the olden days this no doubt consisted primarily of a will. Today, in our more complex society, additional important aspects of Estate Planning impact not only who is beneficiary of our worldly goods after death, but–on earth– our very life itself.

4 previous posts have addressed aspects of this subject: Health Care Proxies, Do Not Resuscitate orders, Power of Attorney, family disputes, remarriage to name some. The October 17, 2013 New Old Age column focuses on bringing one’s advance directives to the hospital.

We never know when something serious could happen that sends us to the hospital; and I doubt any of us keep advance directives in our purses, wallets, or smartphones. Thus, this New Old Age column (which instructs us to give copies to our primary care doctor, “health care decision-makers” and keep copies for ourselves) is worth the quick read.

Check out the related posts below, especially noting the importance of adult children’s knowing where important end-of-life papers are (or–conversely–if parents don’t want adult children to have this information ahead of time, how to handle it).

Acute and Critical Care Choices Guide to Advance Directives
(Am. Assn. of Critical Care Nurses) Excellent!
Copy and Google
(it downloads from Google much faster than linking from our blog)

Changing weekly: “Of Current Interest”(right sidebar). Links to timely information and research from top universities about cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, plus some free and some fun stuff–to help parents age well.