BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Sarah Blankenship got a call no daughter ever wants to get.
"I got a call from my stepfather and all he could say was - it's not good," she said.
Her mother collapsed on vacation in Florida. Doctors learned she had a brain aneurysm and needed a number surgeries. It was a very stressful time for Blankenship and her family.
"There were periods of time where they were pulling us into palliative care and saying you might need to start making some end of life decisions," she explained.
"My realization was we hadn't really talked about that as a family."
Thankfully her mother survived, but her life is very different now. Blankenship is now the one who makes decisions for her formally spunky, active mom. But getting to the point where she was able to do things for her mother wasn't easy. Because they had never had those conversations, Blankenship was forced to find her mom's financial information - and more.
"Literally digging through her personal belongings," she said. "Because I needed to find financial documents, legal documents, and she didn't know necessarily where they were."
Now Blankenship, who is a financial advisor with Wilcox Financial Group, uses her experience to teach others to be ready in case the unthinkable ever happens to them. She teaches a workshop with attorney Elizabeth Ingold to help you be prepared for anything.
Here are the things they say anyone over the age of 18 needs to have:
- A power of attorney
- A healthcare proxy
- Someone you trust who knows where your accounts are held and the passwords
Ingold says even if you're married to someone - these legal documents need to exist for your spouse to do a lot of things.
"I think a lot of times people think we're married we don't need this document in place - you really do," she explained.
Aside from those documents, here are some other things you want to locate/identify for someone:
- The title to your car
- Your Social Security card
- Information on your doctors/dentist
- A list of the medications you take
- Your pet's vet and medical information
You also want to make sure that you have beneficiaries filled out for any of your accounts - and that they've been updated. The women have seen cases where assets go to former spouses or the youngest child has been left off - simply because things had been done years ago and never updated.
Blankenship says she knows these are not easy conversations to have with family members and friends, but they're crucial ones.
"Once you have it in place, you can feel really good that you have planned for the worst, but you hope for the best every other day," she said.
Sarah created a binder she calls the "What If" binder to help you get everything you need in one place. If you're interested in buying one, you can check it out here.
