California Baby Boomers Should Accept That They Are Not Eternal

Go to a California gym, and you will see many middle-aged and senior people, retired or not, adamant that exercise and a healthy lifestyle will keep them going for decades. Although their mental and physical youth is worth praise, baby-boomers are not always reasonable when it comes to accept the fact that they, too, are mortal.

According to a recent poll among boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), 64 percent do not have a living will or a health care proxy.

Healthy food and regular exercise notwithstanding, the odds of dying accidentally, suddenly, or after an incurable illness increase year after year. From the ripe age of 50 to 55, it becomes increasingly necessary and urgent for a person to write a will and prepare for the day when that person will have left this world.

Baby boomers have not been immune to divorces and separations, and many have remarried with a spouse having children on their own, often creating awkward, conflicting, and emotionally charged situations for survivors who almost never talk to each other but will need to agree on the distribution of the decedent’s assets.

One often-overlooked aspect is the necessity of establishing a health care proxy or power of attorney. With this document, the aging person allows a trusted friend or relative to make decisions about medical care should he or she become incapacitated.

The proxy and the will need to follow certain legal requirements and be signed by witnesses. It is recommended you inform all members of the family that these documents have been created and where they have been stored.

Above all, people who have accumulated assets and have a family and are getting old (whether or not they are in good physical condition) need to think of the stress they might impose their survivors after their death. If their paperwork is not in order and has never been updated, their intentions have never been communicated formally, or there are latent conflicts between the potential heirs and family, the stress may overwhelm the survivors’ right to grieve the deceased in peace.