Prepare!!

You never know when something bad is going to happen to yourself or someone in your family. With our recent trip home due to my mother-in-laws accident I learned somethings that you should do in case something happens to you, and you can't tell people what your wishes are.

Always have a will, make up a legal will, do a living will as well, especially if you have children, younger children still in the home. Someone needs to know where to take those children should something happen to you. Make sure your closest relatives have copies of those wills, and keep one in your fire box. This way, everyone knows your wishes and their can be no arguments about any of it.

Have emergency numbers on your fridge for relatives in case an ambulance service has to come get you, they will know who to notify right away. Also in your cell phone put ICE (In Case of Emergency) next to the names EMT's would need to call should you be in an accident.

Put all of your passwords (ie: computer, phone, emails) on a piece of paper in you jewelry box, also in your fire box. Keep your firebox key or combo in your jewelry box or in an obvious place for a family member to find. Have copies of all your credit cards in there as well as all your banking information. If you are older, have one of your adult children on your back accounts, even younger have a parent or relative on your banking account for access. If something happens to you, the money will freeze and they will not have access to pay your bills or help take care of your children if need be. Also keep a list of all running bills on your desktop, in your firebox, wherever so that people know what you need to pay monthly in order to keep your house going if need be. Make sure you update it consistently, as they will need the most up to date information.

Make sure you have down your insurance companies and policy numbers, not just medical but your car, homeowners, whatever you have, so that your insurance can be contacted to cover the costs, or put your car on storage mode, or extra insurance on the house in case a pipe freezes and breaks.

Have a note about a paper delivery, something that my get dropped off to your house repeatedly and if not picked up someone will know you are not there. Have your outdoor lights and some indoor lights on timers, so if someone does approach the house it will have the illusion of occupancy. Make sure immediate neighbors know what is going on, and have a back up plan for your pets. Just because your family is taking care of you, does not always mean they can take your pets as well, so have a plan for your pets.

Let local law enforcement know the situation, they can put your loved ones house on their routes so that someone drives by to check on it consistently, there is a form you fill out letting them know what cars and persons will be there regularly so if they do come during a time you are there, they won't arrest you.

ANYTHING you may not want someone to find in your home, very personal items, keep in a tub in your closet marked DO NOT OPEN!! THROW AWAY!!! So if you have a porn collection, or "toys" or something of a very personal nature that you would be mortified that someone found, keep it in a tub so that if something does happen to you, they know they don't want to know what's in there.

It is important to understand that you may not be capable of letting everyone know all the information needed for long term care, or death. There is a lot of day-to-day things we do, that we would think someone would be able to just pick up and do, but really they can't know everything about you, nor do they know how you would do things. We get so lost in our own lives that we don't think about if something were to happen to us, all those little details that we do everyday that someone wouldn't even know where to begin if they had to walk into your life.

Most importantly, be prepared, you never know when something might happen, and it is important to protect yourself as well as your family in the event something might happen. Be safe, be prepared, and give you and your family piece of mind.