Keep Calm & Breathe
Everyone’s situation is different. Some of us have access to a lot of financial and legal resources. Many of us do not. A health challenge can really wreak havoc on your life plans – and this means being clear on – and taking charge of – your financial and legal plans. Especially if you don’t already have financial and legal teams in place. And don’t know where to start. We’ll start with getting some legal documents in place.
Legal Documents
We’ll start here. Help is readily available for getting basic legal documents in order. Not fun, but doable because in British Columbia there is an organization called ‘Nidus‘. They have tons of resources for British Columbians and information and links for other Canadian provinces. Here are the Coles Notes. FMI, I have linked to Nidus.
- * Estate Planning: Wills are usually what people think about first when we think about getting our legal affairs in order. A will is definitely an excellent and highly-recommended document to have, but it deals only with how your estate is handled after you die. Wills are best handled by a legal professional who is educated in the specifics of the province in which you live. See the Nidus summary page on making a will.
- * Personal Planning: This involves having documents that allow another person(s) to make decisions for you in the event you become incapable to make decisions. In BC these are called ‘Representation Agreements’ and ‘Enduring Powers of Attorney’ and cover healthcare and financial/property decisions respectively. They have other names in other provinces (find the links for all Canadian provinces HERE).
- * Personal Planning documents are available online through provincial health regions/authorities – and are FREE to fill out.
- * Nidus offers a paid document filing service. Our family uses a shared (free) Sync box (Canada’s version of DropBox) for storing scanned copies of these and other healthcare/personal care documents. It is important that the people who hold your legal powers of attorney have access to the documents.
Get These Documents DONE
- FIND THE LINKS for your provincial Personal Planning documents and download the booklet and forms.
- COMPLETE YOUR POWERS OF ATTORNEY and have them duly witnessed. This can be done without cost.
- SHARE them with your representatives and ensure that your doctors know who holds your healthcare Powers of Attorney. (Remember when I said we carried ours in our Patient Binders? They’re stowed in the back.)
Do you need help with these? Were you able to find and download your forms? Let me know what questions and help you need. You can book a consulting session with me if you’d like support in finding, completing, and deciding on how best to share these documents.
