by KT Leong
The Bougainvillea City Dementia Cafe (BCDC) held their monthly meeting for October last Tuesday at 1 Lasam and this time, they’ve addressed the elephant in the room.
While nobody wants to think about dying, it’s important to get all your affairs in order, while you are still of sound mind and so that not only will your family be taken care of, but they will enjoy harmony and avoid infighting over any inheritance.
This is even more important for people living with not just dementia but other forms of mental illnesses, such as alzheimer, as the time they have while their minds are sound, are cut short.
By getting their wills in order as soon as possible, they can live with peace of mind.
Peter Lee, a franchisee of Rockwills, donated his time to explain the processes of drawing up and executing a will, as well as answer any questions. In addition to explaining the law and processes, he also offered practical advice.
For example, in the case of people living with dementia and their caregivers, it’s important to have a secondary caregiver in case something happens to the primary caregiver. In addition, it can take several years for the inheritance to be given out, but since the caregiver may require funds right away in order to take care of the patient, joint accounts are advised, so that the caregiver will have funds to cover day to day expenses.
He also generally advised that assets such as stocks be liquidated and not worry about the best selling price, although that is a case by case issue as well.
The take away is that wills are important for taking care of one’s family but even moreso when the one leaving the will has a condition that may affect their decision making later on. So it’s better to settle everything early so that you can have peace of mind, as well as take practical steps to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.
Peter Lee also talked about the large amounts of unclaimed inheritances that are just sitting around. For more information regarding that, or to schedule a consultation, contact 012-5078825 or 05-2554853, or email plcpeterlee@gmail.com (co. sec. / liquidator), plcwillstrust@gmail.com (wills & trust) or visit www.peterleewills.com
