Of course we always recommend that people are proactive rather than reactive with respect to doing their estate planning and discussing it with other loved ones as appropriate. Generally speaking, those that are proactive as opposed to reactive will have better outcomes. However, as a practical matter, it's seldom easy to talk about with your children what you want to happen after you pass away, nor is it easy for an adult child to bring up the subject with their aging parents. Yet, circumstances beyond one's control don't take this into account when the unexpected happens. In other words, you don't get credit in your estate plan for good intentions! In the Second Half of Life Podcast episode 53, Long-Term Care Planner Kristin Daugherty and Specialized Care Planner Holly Reigh give some tips about having these types of difficult conversations with family members. Kristin also shares a story as an example of what could happen if you never even broach this difficult topic. Oftentimes, families, especially those with adult children that don't live in geographic proxmity to their aging parents, may only gather a few times a year for things such as holidays. With Easter on the horizon, one of those times, and with it an opportunity to have such a discussion, could be coming soon, making this an ideal time to check out this brief episode. 

All episodes of the Second Half of Life Podcast can be found on the Steinbacher, Goodall & Yurchak website, as well as on most podcast directories, which includes Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Podchaser, Deezer, Listen Notes, Bullhorn, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castro, Castbox, Podfriend, Player FM, Podcast Index and Pandora.