~ Guest Post by Terry Ann Black

Watching a spot on The Today Show this morning about family conversations, I was again reminded of how important it is to document final wishes and personal records. As the New Year arrives, we all seem to make resolutions: get rid of those 10 pounds, get a new job, and spend more time with my family…on and on.

To me, as an author, mother, grandmother and wife, the most important resolution I can make is to be sure that I have addressed my most important life issues so that my family will be able to easily access my information in a crisis or when I die.

It is very hard to conceptualize all of the questions that might arise in an emergency. I know from experience, both as an RN and a daughter, that a great deal of information is needed when someone dies.

• When I found the safe deposit box key in my mother’s apartment after she died, I was unable to locate the box as she had told no one where it was.
• When I found her will, she had not updated it for 20 years: much had been given away already.
• Did she want a funeral or cremation?
• What about her cats?
• Passwords to her computer?
• Credit card numbers?

It is time to resolve to document your last wishes and personal records for those you love. That is why I wrote Caring Is Not Enough, My Last Wishes and Personal Records. Each family member should get a copy. It’s a great guidebook with 120 + questions to help you keep your New Years Resolution and have that most important family conversation.

Resources from AGIS.com:
AGIS’ Personal Information and Records Inventory
Estate Planning
Last Wishes for Procedures at Time of Death

Terry Ann Black, RN, has been a registered nurse for 42 years. She is a 1965 graduate of Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing, Montclair, New Jersey. She serves as an end of life nurse, consulting with families and helping them document their vital information using her book, Caring Is Not Enough, My Last Wishes and Personal Records.

A known public speaker on behalf of organizing and preparing for the end of life, Terry has designed her book, “Caring Is Not Enough, My Last Wishes and Personal Records”, as a simple place to document information. For more information about Terry please check out her website at www.caringisnotenough.net.

Filed under: Estate Planning