Routine surgery results in unexpected loss

A week before his 60th birthday, Ryan’s dad went in for a routine back surgery.  Unfortunately, during the surgery recovery, he ran into complications and passed away a few days later.  Completely unexpected.

Ryan’s family was in total shock. They couldn’t believe what had just happened.  They had never thought about death before and what it would mean for the family and Ryan’s mom.

As they began to process the details of his dad’s life, they discovered that his dad had not thought or planned for death.  He did not have a Will, but luckily his mom was still living to take over the estate.

His dad had not shared many financial details with mom, so they spent weeks digging through boxes, old financial statements, and more to find where everything was.  It was a total mess.  They even had trouble accessing medical records because there were no health directives or power of attorney created ahead of time.

After 90 days, they were able to get access to all the important assets (the ones they could find), but that was a very stressful 90 days.  With some advanced planning, this process could have been much smoother and guaranteed that nothing fell through the cracks.

Since going through this experience, Ryan wasted no time getting his mom setup and prepared for death.  Within 30 days, they had a Will, Healthcare Directives, and a copy of everything was shared with Ryan.

Using Addio, Ryan and his family can easily organize all the important information and contacts in one place, then easily share with the entire family.  That way, in the event of an emergency, they don’t waste precious time digging through boxes and they can spend time with the family instead.

Here’s some advice Ryan has for those going through similar experiences:

Our family wasn’t prepared whatsoever and lived in a fog for a good year after. Fortunately, we were able to pay for burial expenses without needing access to his bank accounts. It’s a hard conversation to have but it has to be had. Not only having the conversation but knowing where all documentation is or even who are the “shamans” to help navigate everything. Having a central location for all life documents and all parties knowing where it is eliminates stress allows for grieving and may just let mom stay in her home.