In preparation for a trip to the Holy Land in the Spring of 2017, Dale and his wife, Lynn decided it was time to update our Wills for our successfully blended family. Three of our five children had married and added seven wonderful grandchildren to our family. As we were going through the process, we both became shockingly aware that we each had some knowledge about are overall financial infrastructure, but neither of us knew everything! And the Will only tells WHAT you want to happen! Nowhere, does it tell you HOW to get it done or where to find all the critical information. Lynn began assembling her information, and Dale began his.

When we went to finalize the last draft of our Wills, and we took our binder to our Attorney. She was amazed! She said: “this would make my job so much easier! Nobody does this!”

We decided this is something every family needs as a companion to their Will/Trust! What we immediately began to think about is all the horror stories we have either heard, or have experienced after a loved one has passed away! Without knowing where to find critical information, intentions, and other unknowns can lead to additional expenses, delays in care, family arguments, fights, bad behavior and more!

There needs to be a better way! Have a plan and then tell your loved ones! So, there are no surprises, and clear expectations!

We will need to prepare for three distinct life stages. They are NOW, THEN, and AFTER. Everyone takes into consideration the NOW and the AFTER. But understanding that approximately one-third of us will be incapacitated and require someone else to care for us before we pass away, the stage of THEN needs to be addressed.