My mother is my sole surviving parent and her will names me
as executor. She lives in Florida and I
live in the Midwest. For years we've had
an ongoing discussion about where she keeps her important papers, what her
wishes are in the event she's incapacitated and where she keeps all of her
account information. She's pretty
tech-savvy for someone her age, pretty well organized and healthy, but still… We are both realistic.
I'm no spring chicken myself. I used to write down Mom's instructions and
where she says she keeps her original documents and hoped that when the time
came, I could remember where I put my notes.
Then, I'd hope I'd have Mom's instructions to guide me if I had to make
a quick decision about her in the midst of a very emotional time.
Recently we found a better way to deal with this
situation. Mom got a SafelyFiled
account. I actually got it for her. But it's hers and here's what she does with
it. She doesn't like using her scanner,
so she takes digital pictures of her documents, like her insurance policies,
her will, her healthcare power of attorney and bank account statements and
uploads them to her account. (It's
amazing what we can do now with all the new technology.) She even decided to upload her list of
medications and some recent reports on medical tests so if there's a medical
emergency, especially when she's away from her home and visiting me, we can
quickly give the emergency physicians critical information.
When she's online and in her account, she records the
location of the original documents using the "Location" field and writes a note to herself or
me, right on the screen where the document is displayed. The location and notes pop up whenever the
document is viewed. She can even schedule
an email reminder for some later date, like a reminder to upload a more recent
bank account statement, or to review her will and other documents. So now, all the critical information is in
one, secure location.
Mom made me a co-member on her account, so not only can I
see everything she's uploaded along with her notes, but I can also upload the
documents that I have access to and write my own notes. I no longer have to remember where I kept my
paper notes about mom's wishes or where her original documents are
located. All that information is in the
account where I can see it anytime and Mom (or I) can update it wherever she
wants.
I'm lucky. Mom is
still independent and we both want to keep it that way for as long as
possible. But if the time comes and she
can't manage her account and upload new documents, as her co-member I'll have
the ability to help her or even take over if that is necessary.
Mom and I both feel good about getting these matters taken
care of. And now, I'm doing the same thing with my daughter. Thank you Mom!
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