In our view, you need to do three things:
- Sit down and have a family meeting with your kids. Do it at a café or over a dinner, and talk about what you are going to do, why you have done things certain ways, and so on.
- Make a list of your assets and liabilities. We can send you a simple list, and that will save a lot of time and effort down the track.
- Very importantly, consider getting a Power of Attorney and an Appointment of Guardian. A Power of Attorney is a document that appoints somebody to manage your financial matters if you cannot do it, such as through illness like dementia or possibly through trauma like an accident. Similarly, an Appointment of Guardian a document that appoints somebody to manage your lifestyle choices, such as where you live, what health care you receive, and so on, if you suffer loss of mental capacity through illness or trauma. These are two essential documents that we need as we get older, and will save you and your family unnecessary stress in the future.
For further information, have a look at the following links on our website: