Happiness Project Month #6: Grown Up Adult Stuff

"I am old enough to see how little I have done in so much time, and how much I have to do in so little." ~Sheila Kaye-Smith

Fact: this blog is going to be boring. I understand if you want to stop reading right now. But you know, I seem to keep becoming more and more convinced that a lot of things about being an adult are boring, so bear with me.

For this month's Happiness Project goal, I wanted to focus on some adult grown up stuff that I have been trying to tackle for over a year. (See a list of all my goals here).

When I got started, I knew that there were a minimum of four documents that I wanted to create to accomplish my Happiness Project goals: (1) a will; (2) an advanced healthcare directive; (3) a power of attorney; and (4) a list of all important account information.

(Sidenote: Learning to edit my photos--took both of the ones you see here!)

I know this is not exciting, but I wanted to give you a quick summary of the documents that I drafted up just in case you might be interested in doing the same thing. Mind you--I am NOT giving any legal advice whatsoever--and laws vary by state, so be sure you consult an attorney in your state to be sure everything is done in accordance with the law. (My boss would be proud of me for remembering the disclaimer!)

Here we go--

(1) A will. Because I don't have any kids and I don't have that much money or property, having a will was probably not a necessity. States have what are called intestacy statutes that provide who gets a person's estate if she dies without a will. In my case, my parents would get everything, which would be fine. But....I wanted to do a will for two reasons. First, as an attorney, I feel like I SHOULD have one. Second, let's be real.....I sort of like the idea of being able to control a few things even after I've gone onto my reward (as Gran would say!) A will does not have to be complex--mine is pretty simple--it gives a few certain material things to certain people and directs some money to go to certain things, and that's about it. One important consideration is to decide who will be the executor of your estate---the person who will ensure that your wishes are carried out and who is responsible for a lot of the paperwork necessary when a person dies.

(2) An advanced heathcare directive. (Also called a healthcare power of attorney) I think you probably all remeber when this was thrust into the news back in the day with Terri Shivo. Well, an AHD just sets out your wishes with regard to medical treatment in the event that you are incapacitated. At least in my state, you can either make your wishes clear (i.e. I do/do not want life support) or you can have your agent decide for you. Some important considerations: (a) what do you want to make the decision?; (b) does your agent know what you want him/her to do?; (c) will your agent be able to make a difficult decision?; (d) do you want more than one person making the decision (this would be called co-agents)? It's not fun to think about, but it's important.

(3) A power of attorney. Again, all states are different, but here, you need a separate document to allow a person to care for your finances/property than the document providing for your medical decisions. The POA deals with the former. There are a few different kinds of POA's (some that are effective only upon your incapacitation, some that end at the time you become incapacitated) so it is important to understand what you are creating. POA's terminate once the person dies.

(4) A list of information. I'm crazy independent. This could be a problem one day. So I made a list of information that someone might need if I was hit by a bus. I listed out each account that I have, where it is located and the account number. Similarly I listed out any debts/credit cards with account numbers. After that, I listed out all of my insurance information (health, car, house) including the agent names and policy numbers. I also made a list of my monthly bills so that if someone had to try and keep my credit rating in tact, they could do so easily. This kind of list is also important in the event that a person dies because their executor will be responsible for certain things (like taxes) and, in order to complete his job, he will need to locate all of the person's accounts and assets. Along those same lines, I listed out any material assets (car, cows, sheep, etc) that I own.

Okay....boring lesson over! I know you are all bored and are wondering, "How did this make her happier when it made me want to poke my eyes out?" Well, I love to be able to cross things off of a list. Getting this done had been on a list for over a year, so I'm really glad to have it over with! Of all the HP themes I have done so far, I will admit, this was the least fun....but I am happy to know that all of this is in order and behind me! Stay tuned next month and I'll do my best to spice it up a little!