By: Susan M. Graham, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Senior Edge Legal, Boise, Idaho
It is easy. I have been stuffing “time in a bottle” for the last few weeks. How? I have been putting up fruits and vegetables by canning, freezing and drying. It takes time to prepare the food for storage. My favorite is to freeze four cups of prepared fruit to freeze. When I want to make a pie, I just thaw the fruit, add sugar, flour and spices, and put the filling in a pie shell to bake. It takes me about 15 minutes vs. an hour to start from the beginning. I just “bottled” 45 minutes of time to use later.
How does this apply to estate planning? If you have up-to-date financial and health powers of attorney, a living will, and a Last Will and Testament or funded revocable trust in place when someone needs to step in to help, you will have saved you and them huge blocks of time. Without these documents, it is time consuming and expensive to go to court in order for someone to have the authority to act on your behalf.
What a cute present. Give an empty bottle, with a label “time” to the people who will help if you become unable to communicate effectively or when you die. They will appreciate the humor and your planning ahead to make their job easier.
