The Basics

What would your reaction be if someone you loved asked you to help them die? 

If someone was diagnosed with a terminal illness and the loved one was taking the necessary steps to acquire the medication necessary to end their life in their own timing, how would you feel? 

It is becoming more available for people to obtain the medication to make the decision of when to end their life.  Is this considered suicide?  Is it a drug overdose?  How would the cause of death be defined? 

This is a very difficult place to be.  You may see the daily agony of the loved one while dealing with their illness.  Or, perhaps the loved one is still feeling fairly well but wants to live life to the fullest in the time they have remaining.  Or, perhaps the loved one asks for you to stay with them until the end. 

There are many circumstances that must be factored into making such decisions in addition to how you would feel about being there.  Your personal circumstances – employment, availability, financial status will need to be considered.  The totality of what will be involved needs to be considered.  And, last but not least of the things to be considered would be your feelings.  You will need to be able to live the rest of your life with the decision you make. 

Also to be considered would be the possible consequences on you and your participation in helping the loved one to administer the medication when the time comes.  Have you thought about the possible criminal aspect?  There are only a limited number of states that have death with dignity laws.  If the state doesn’t have a death with dignity law, then your participation could well be viewed as a crime. 

A decision such as this is not to be considered lightly – for both the ailing loved one as well as yourself.  If you are faced with such a situation, you may want to take time to think about your participation for there are many facets in your decision – emotional, ethical, perhaps religious or spiritual as well as criminal.   Also, you may wish to contact legal counsel to determine what the state laws are currently. 

Hopefully, you will never be put into such a situation, but if you are, think about the whole of the situation and not just the final outcome for your loved one.

When was the last time you checked your credit report?  Have you ever checked your credit report?  Do you know how to check your credit report? 

With the pandemic, errors have doubled on credit reports.  Why?  Certain programs implemented during the pandemic, such as forbearance periods on federal student loans and federally backed mortgages, have ended up impacting credit reports as a result of complications of processing delays and suspended payments being marked incorrectly.  So, just when you think that you were doing what was necessary to protect your credit rating, it could have impacted you negatively.   These negative impacts could result in higher interest rates on loans or credit cards, being turned down for a job or an apartment lease.  Even if you aren’t applying for a loan, a job or an apartment lease, you should still take a look at your credit report. 

The pandemic has enabled everyone to get a free weekly credit report from each of the three nationwide credit reporting bureaus until April 20, 2022.  Historically, you could check each of the three bureaus once a year without impacting your score.   

AnnualCreditReport.com provides a form for you to complete to enable you to review your credit reports online.  If an error is found, you need to contact the credit reporting agency to dispute the error either online or via mail.  Within 30-45 days, the bureau is to have investigated the matter and responded with their results in writing.  If the information is found to be in error, then it will be corrected.  If you still dispute the results after an investigation, request that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and future reports.  You can also contact the creditor that reported the information and dispute it with them directly.  If the creditor finds the information to be incorrect, they must notify the three reporting bureaus for updating or deletion. 

If you have been a victim of identity theft, additional action may be needed by you to have a fraud alert or a security freeze placed on your credit report. 

While correcting an error can be time-consuming and emotionally draining, it is important that you do your part to make certain incorrect information is resolved as it can have an impact on you in more ways than you might realize.

Whether we admit it or not, we make resolutions when a new year rolls around.  You are going to do this, or you aren’t going to do that.  Whatever your intentions, they might be called a resolution – albeit a silent resolution.

With inflation at a high point, we are all looking to stop wasting money.  Here are some areas that might not have crossed your mind as being a money waster:

• Memberships that you aren’t using – gym memberships (oh, yes, that’s right; new year, you are going to start going to the gym!), a club membership, a membership for an area of interest – say Ancestry.com, apps on your electronics such as a meditation app, financial app, game app that continues to be charged to your method of payment even though the app on your electronic device hasn’t been opened or updated in eons.

• Subscriptions to media – newspapers, magazines, food deliveries, cosmetic boxes, etc. 

• Fees being paid on investments – such as mutual fund fees.  Could you find investments that have a lower cost and generate a good return? 

• Bank fees – when was the last time you took a look at your bank statements to determine if you could change the type of account to avoid certain fees (so many banks now charge for check images or for a hard copy of your statements) or even change the type of account to earn a higher rate of interest on your accounts.  Don’t be afraid to contact your bank to see if you can do better.

• Food deliveries – the pandemic opened the door for food delivery services, but do you realize what those fees can amount to?  It usually isn’t a dollar or two or three but much more.  If you want to order prepared food, you may want to consider curbside take out.

• What about good ole dining out?  Or stopping for the coffee in the morning?  You have probably noticed those prices rising. 

• What about your gas hog?  Prices at the pump have risen and you may be driving a gas guzzler.  Good luck in finding a new car – I hear they are in short supply.  In the meantime, check your tire pressure, use the recommended grade of motor oil and if you have an older car, an engine tune-up may help improve mileage.

• We love our pets and do our best to spoil them.  But, do they really need that $100 bed or that $10 toy? 

• You love to read books.  Have you visited your local library lately rather than buying a new book to read?

• The weather is cold outside, but rather than jacking up the thermostat, how about wearing one of those cozy sweaters or jackets you have?  It is said that sleeping in a cooler environment provides for better rest.

• What about a leaky faucet or toilet or a drafty window?  Attending to these can help save money.

• And finally, we know how much we depend on electricity.  But how much electricity do we waste?  Do we turn of lights and appliances that aren’t being used? 

One last thought; think about the impact on our environment by the waste we produce.  Do your part to help your budget as well as your environment. 

“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”—Dr. Albert Schweitzer

December is a month of celebration for many and for many it is a time of happiness; of gathering with family and friends, celebrating customs, the giving of gifts and, for some, just the preparation for the holidays brings happy feelings.  That is, if we don’t let ourselves be controlled by expectations!

Did you know that older people are reported to have a higher level of contentment and well-being than young adults and teenagers?  You may ask how this is possible, given that older adults have coped with the stressors of life, setbacks and losses throughout their lives.  But, as we age, we usually aren’t stressing over a job or career path. 

Admittedly, not all older adults are happy. Unhappiness can result from loss, changes, depression – all of which can impact health.   But then again, older adults are not the only ones who may be unhappy. 

During these past two calendar years, lives have changed significantly and it looks like we will be facing changes into the foreseeable future.  So, what might we consider for adding to our happiness?   What might we do to increase our happiness levels? 

Giving a gift of yourself to anyone is always welcome and it doesn’t have to be for an extended time.  A quick phone call, a text message or an email can be uplifting and let us not forget being old-fashioned with a card or a note sent by snail mail. 

Sometimes, asking someone for some help, as insignificant as it may seem, might give them a good feeling of being valued. 

Saying hello or engaging in a short conversation can brighten a stranger’s day. 

How about learning something new? Doing something you have never done before?

And, the payoff; YOU just might experience a heightened level of happiness.  And, you don’t have to wait to be “older” to experience the good feeling!  It works for any age.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, may you experience much happiness.  My best to you in 2022. 

Let’s face it – as we get older, we tend to forget things.  But, when we seem to notice it more and more, when do we need to get concerned?  While this blog is not meant to be medical advice, it may help you put some things into perspective for either yourself or a loved one. 

There are many levels of dementia.  The first is mild cognitive impairment where some memory problems are experienced, but the individual can live independently.  Some physicians do not consider this to be a “stage” of dementia at all as the symptoms are simply normal age-related cognitive decline.

The second level is mild dementia where the impaired memory and thinking skills render the individual to no longer be able to live completely independently and may require assistance with finances, grooming, dressing, meal planning and cooking.  Confusion may be experienced when in public.  Less interest in hobbies or activities may occur. There is an unwillingness to try new things; inability to adapt to change; a show of poor judgment; losing items and blaming others for the loss; becoming forgetful of recent events; being more irritable or upset if they fail at something. 

Moderate dementia – the third level – is when the memory impairment becomes more severe and difficulty in communicating occurs.  Independent living is not suitable and help is needed for basic activities.  Going out in public is done only with assistance.  There can be confusion regarding time and place, the forgetting of names of family or friends may occur, wandering to the point of becoming lost, behaving inappropriately, being repetitive, have noticeable mood unstableness or becoming neglectful of hygiene or eating. 

The fourth level is severe dementia where the person experiences severe problems with communication, incontinence and requires constant care.  Help with dressing and eating is needed and the individual is too impaired to go out in public.  There is the inability to remember things even for a few minutes. They fail to recognize everyday objects, may be disturbed at night, be restless, aggressive, have uncontrolled movements and even have difficulty walking. 

Lastly, the severest stage is profound dementia where the individual is usually bedridden. 

As dementia progresses, the individual does not necessarily lose their sense of touch and hearing or their ability to respond to emotion.  How often do we unconscientiously speak loudly to someone who is disabled, even if it is physical disability, thinking that the louder we speak the more likely they will be able to understand?

If an individual suffers from dementia, that does not necessarily mean that they are unable to complete estate planning. It is best to let an attorney determine if the individual is able to do so. 

When communicating with someone with diminished capacity, speak distinctly, speak slowly and pause before changing the topic.  Stay in the line of sight and make strong eye contact.  If trying to have more than a casual conversation, reduce the distraction in the surrounding area. 

Remember to be gentle with someone with diminished capacity.  It is not their fault and they are probably more frustrated than you with your interactions. 

We are using the digital world more and more with each passing day.  Not only do we use it for communicating and entertainment, but we also use it for storing and accessing our asset information.   You may know your logins and passwords, but what happens if you pass away or are not able to access the information due to any number of reasons – incapacity, illness, or simply because you forgot?

In more and more estate administrations, we are finding it more and more difficult to obtain information about assets and liabilities because rather than receiving paper statements, so many of us are going paperless and receiving information digitally. 

How can this affect the administration?  The decedent could own assets that if digital access is not available, they would not necessarily be located.  If there are liabilities, they may not become known until collection efforts are commenced and demands for payment start appearing among the decedent’s mail.  There could be penalties and interest for non-payment.  Further, once an internet service provider learns of a user’s death, the license for use expires and access to the account and all of the digital data is usually cut off.  This can happen even if the fiduciary knows the login and password. 

You may ask how this can happen – well, it is all in the “fine” print.  When you create an account, there are the Terms of Service Agreements that the majority of us do not read but merely click through the acceptance of them so that we can move on.  What we may not realize is that the right to access the digital content stored on the internet service provider servers are usually considered personal and are non-assignable to anyone else. 

So, what is the answer?  Check your internet service provider to see if there is the ability to add an individual as a party who can access your account for limited purposes. 

There are conflicting federal statutes and state statutes that govern the actions of fiduciaries.  This has led to the work on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA) to help alleviate the differences between federal and state statutes.  However, even with such an Act, there can still be challenges and you should check your estate planning documents to ensure that they contain language which grants your fiduciary (power of attorney or executor) access to your digital assets. 

You should not use a work-related email account for accessing your personal digital content as most employers will not allow a fiduciary to access a deceased or former employee’s email account. 

If you are fully digital, you might want to consider requesting that once a year you receive hard copy statements of your assets that will provide information if and when needed.  The prior year’s statements could be destroyed when the current statements are received, thereby reducing the amount of paper documentation you have on hand.

Chances are, if you purchased your home from a third party, you know exactly how your home is titled – meaning whose name is on the deed. 

But, what if your home has been in the family for generations and has passed among family members.  Is YOUR name on the deed?  Don’t know?  Well, here are some suggestions as to steps you can take to determine how the property is titled.

            First, if you have a deed, look at the deed.

            No deed? Take a look at the tax notices for the real estate taxes. 

            Still no luck? Then, you may need to consider having a title search completed.

So, why might this be an issue?  Well, sometimes when property is inherited through an estate, a new deed may not have been prepared and the title may still be in great grandma Susie’s name – even though family members may have lived in the property as their own in the intervening times.  It may be that because one person was the sole beneficiary of an estate, it was thought that no new deed was needed.  However, if you think and claim to be the owner, then make certain the title to the property is in your name. 

Why is this important?  There are several reasons.  You may want to get a home equity loan and if the title is not in your name, then the lender will raise a red flag.  You may be of an age that you can get a freeze on your real estate taxes or qualify for a real estate tax rebate.  If the property is not in your name, you may not be eligible for these benefits.  If the property is not in your name, you should not be taking a deduction on your income taxes for real estate taxes, even if you paid the same.  The list could go on and on. 

If you “own” your home, make sure you “own” your home by way of the deed.  If the home has been in the family for generations, you may want to consider a title search and even title insurance so that, should you decide to sell the home, you won’t face any surprises.  Should there be a title issue, it may not be easily corrected and it could deter you from selling your home.  Be proactive and know whose name is on the deed.  If you purchased the home from a third party, this blog most likely won’t pertain to you, but if it is a family homestead – BEWARE.