Robert Brokamp

Some of these documents that you need are legal documents.

Let's start with one that you consider one of the most important, and that is the durable power of attorney.

Why is it important and who should you be giving that power to?

So it's certainly a situation like you were in, right?

You were taking care of your mother, so you needed a durable power of attorney to act on her behalf.

So it's very important.

But what you found is actually it can also be very challenging because a lot of institutions are very picky about the form and how you do it.

Yeah, that's one of the lessons of your story.

I mean, persisting with this bank, you persisted with the facility that your mom was in to allow, so that she could stay there longer.

So you have to be prepared to fight for your rights, know your rights, and fight for your family.

So the durable power of attorney is important.

A couple of other things that you probably will be involved both for your own situation and maybe working with relative healthcare proxy, will, maybe a trust and the living will, right?

And sometimes people confuse the living will and the healthcare proxy.

So tell us a little bit about the differences between those and why they're important.

Especially when it comes to siblings too, right?

You want to know what your parents wanted to happen because you don't want to be fighting with your siblings about whether or not, you know, mom or dad should be kept alive by certain means or methods when they could have just laid it all out ahead of time.

So you start by getting your own affairs in order and then you talk to your relatives.

That can be a tricky conversation sometimes, right?

Some people are very private about their money.

They don't really want to think about the fact that they may become sick or may pass away or just have to give up control at some point.