When you take on the role of caring for another adult, there is a lot of planning. We have been dealing with this for several months in my family. That story isn’t really mine to tell right now, but it involves hospitals, rehabs, selling the house, insurance (of course), and one paper chase after another. It’s a well-known story to many of my followers.
If you are a caregiver or will be a caregiver, you can do it the hard way or the easy way. The simplest way is always the best. Here’s my advice for organizing paper for caregivers and organizing digital information, too.
Don’t overthink it. The first and best step if you are a new caregiver is to grab a notebook and write down everything, every agency you talk to, every doctor and nurse you meet, and every phone call you make.
Create each page of a new notebook in the upper right corner, so you have a record of who, what, when, where, and why you had the conversation. It may seem like you’re starting to add paper, but it’s the best way I know to keep the information straight and close at hand. A spiral notebook will cost you about a dollar, but as they say, keeping your sanity is priceless.
Add a pocket folder or binder with pocket dividers, and you have a foolproof way to keep all kinds of paper organized. These Avery splitters listed on the assemblers package are the best, IMHO.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t also try keeping your electronic records with a digital notebook like Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, or Apple Notes. Digital is a great way to go, but if it’s not your way to go, the problem may not be time to learn something new. Something about the camel’s back and the grass…don’t let that be you.
Organizing the insurance paperwork alone can drive you crazy. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do all that for you. But since it is not easy to track, pay, and fight with insurance companies, you must keep excellent records.
Putting bills and notes in a three-ring binder chronologically is still the best way to keep paper organized, no matter where it comes from. Add to your binder on time, when you open mail or return from a medical appointment. The better your records are, the more likely you will be able to win a payment dispute or medical challenge.
What are Vital Records?
The best time to get organized is before disaster strikes. It is important to know which documents are most important and where they are. My Important Records printables are available for free download here.
Whether you’re organizing your records or helping a family member, this one-page document will make quick work of figuring out what important documents are and where the originals are kept.
Gathering your important records listed on this sheet should take about an hour.
If you have the originals of your important records, make a copy and store them in a different location than the original important records.
Make a Will and POA, Just Do It!
Let me pass on what a client told me last week: Make a will. Just do it. Don’t wait.
She told me that the energy and money she wasted when her husband died unexpectedly was very painful. Like many people, her husband had written a will, but he had never signed it, so it was worthless!
Last year a dear client of mine passed away suddenly (on the day of our scheduled appointment!) and I was devastated to learn that she also left her family without a will. The folder we had prepared for his will was a cruel reminder of his useless good intentions.
If your loved one suddenly becomes ill, you need a Power of Attorney to represent them. Depending on what state you live in, this could be one or two books that will cover both financial and medical issues.
You can easily create a will and power of attorney OVERNIGHT by going to RocketLawyer.com, ChristianWill.org, Freewill.com, the oddly named JoinCake.com or any number of great online resources. It’s free. You may wonder if going online to find a will is enough. Of course, it will be much better than letting the state decide your final affairs.
You can meet with any estate planner and have your will replaced at a later date if you choose, but not having a will and POA can be a huge burden on your loved ones in the event of a crisis.
It is estimated that a typical estate can take over 400 hours for an executor to settle. That’s like working 10 weeks, full time, for free…while you’re miserable. And that’s if everything goes well. Don’t leave such a burden on your family.
What a Caregiver Can Do Begins in Difficulty
You can download this file Life Crisis Organizing Steps document for free. I developed this checklist after seeing several friends go through various seemingly life-altering events. We may not know what events lie ahead of us, but somehow they are foreseeable. Although we know that our parents are old, there may come a day when they can no longer take care of themselves. If you are asked to provide daily care, or what insurance companies call ADL, activities of daily living, such as bathing and toileting, you now have both their medical problem and your planning problem to deal with.
Of course, when most people are faced with a major life event, they want more than a worksheet. What they really want is information specific to their situation, or help that is personalized to you. We work with people all over the country through video conferencing. You can schedule a 15-minute planning discovery session here to see if planning support from HeartWork Organizing is right for what you need.
Carers Programs Papers
Many people manage some business online, but they are still filled with a lot of papers, often they don’t know what to keep or what is really important. Analyzing a parent’s closet full of decades-old statements for accounts that may or may not be open is not one’s idea of a good time.
If you are a newly appointed caregiver, you can start building your loved one’s file system from scratch, and rescue important documents from their existing files as you need them. I recommend the Freedom Filer program to get you up and running quickly.
I also like the NOK Box, another popular solution you’ve seen on your Instagram feed. (links are related to both) NOK stands for Next Of Kin, literally a box of important information that you plan to give someone when the time comes to pass on your stories.
I always encourage families to NOT release their old relative’s papers in the name of planning. It’s easy to miss or throw away important information this way. For example, you may not know that in order to qualify for Medicaid, you may need to prove your financial status going back five years before applying for Medicaid. Better safe than sorry, and keep mom or dad’s old papers while you apply for benefits.
Whether you share the burden with your siblings or take on all the care yourself, keeping good records is a must.
Organizing Digital Information for Caregivers
You may need to, as we did, set up a brand new email address for your relative (where you keep a password and set up access to your computer) so you can handle the complexities of contracts, insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. You can’t pass their gauntlets without internet access and a valid email address. There is so much happening online only now.
Always be on the lookout for scammers and scams. The internet has made things easier, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Finding a way to keep our loved ones and their belongings safe is no easy task, but it starts with organization. Staying on top of account balances and debts is important. To do that, you need passwords.
Passwords are the Achilles heel of many caring families. Although you’ve been told to never write down passwords, in many cases, that’s the only way to gain access to the accounts and services you need. I recommend keeping this in a secure online password manager OR written down and kept safely on a desk at home. To avoid leaving your loved one’s password list somewhere, don’t keep the list of passwords in a notebook or binder that you take with you.
Don’t forget that most, but not all, major Internet providers now have legacy network settings and legacy network settings. Create them before you need them. Recover contacts lets you help a relative who gets locked out of an account like Apple or Facebook. A legacy contact allows you to take over an account to leave a final message or collect precious photos.
This only scratches the surface of the caregivers’ planning sheet.
I really hope you never end up in a crisis, but we all do at some point.
If we can help organize digital or paper information for caregivers, please contact us here at HeartWork Organizing.