You see, this week alone, 3 people that I either knew personally or knew of passed away, unexpectedly.  Causes range from a sudden heart attack to a seizure.  The surprising thing is all the recent deceased were under 40.

When you hear of young people who suddenly die, it begs the question “What happened”? Hey, I’m sure if the dead could speak, the deceased might be wondering the exact same thing.  As younger people, we move in a sort of invincible way; a little like my little boy’s favorite superhero, “Bipperman” (Spiderman.) We take everyday for granted and we rarely think about tomorrow. We eat what we want,  we drink what we want, and we rarely make financial plans for the future, because hey, there’s always tomorrow.    Well tomorrow is not promised.  Today is the day to take better care of ourselves in every aspect of our lives.

Recently, I accidentally left my car lights on.  The next day I saw my neighbor, who told me he tried to reach me to tell me.  He then said “I hope you don’t mind my saying so, miss, but every time, I see you, you’re in a rush.” He then begged: “Please, slow down.” He’s right.  I’m practically always running from place to place to place and my mind is racing as fast as I am.

So, on Monday, I was exhausted and feeling slightly under the weather.  I decided life is too short.  So, I took the day off and laid on the couch all day. Best day I had in a long time.  So, my advice today to all, heed my neighbor’s advice and “Slow Down.”

Time and time again, I’ve heard single people say “I don’t have a large family or much property,  I don’t need an estate plan.”  I have to be honest, prior to the birth of my son, I thought the exact same way.  Admittedly, it took me a year after my son’s birth to complete my estate plan.  Upon completion, I packaged it up nicely and told my close relatives of its contents and explained where exactly to locate my most important documents.  Then, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Why in the world did it take me so long?

Top Reasons Not to Have an Estate Plan

Well, for all of you naysayers, relax. You wont need an estate plan if:

1. You have no problem being buried next to your father and grandmother.  After all, your mom HAD to use that extra plot she purchased.

2. You have children and you’d rather the Surrogate’s Court decide how to distribute your assets amongst them and who will ultimately be responsible for rearing them.  Your irresponsible brother seems to be a perfectly appropriate guardian.

3. You love the thought of your irresponsible brother, your closest relative, in proximity, making life-changing decisions for you, such as whether the doctor should end life support or keep you on a feeding tube, should you find yourself in a comatose state.

4. That place that you worked so hard to buy.. Yeah, you’d like the Surrogate Court to decide what to do with it;  place it for sale or better yet, let your irresponsible brother move in.

5. You won’t mind that your new cherry red Mercedes Benz (or 1999 Honda Civic) will be sold, in the event of your untimely death, and the proceeds will be distributed to your creditors.

Conclusion

So, if you happen to be fine or even excited about the scenarios mentioned above, by all means, DO NOTHING.  However, if you’re mortified at the thought of having a zero percent say in an unfortunate future, please feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to develop an estate plan for you.

If you managed to convince someone to watch your little ones, while you secure yourself some much needed adult time, first of all, Congrats!  Secondly, you should execute a temporary POA, which is effective for up to 6 months in New York.

What should you include

In the event of a medical emergency, specify all authorized forms of treatment, as well as treatments that are not authorized.  If your children are minors and school-aged, the POA will permit a temporary designee to make educational decisions.  Your temporary agent will need to present the POA to school officials or health care providers, upon request.

Single Parents

If a court of law has determined that both parents should equally share in the parental responsibilities including educational or health decisions, a temporary POA, in favor of another person will not be valid, unless both parents have consented to the temporary relationship.  NY GOL §5-1551.

Small Business Owners

You should execute a temporary POA to allow another person to make emergency financial decisions (i.e. bank account withdrawals) for your business,  during your absence.

Conclusion

Last piece of advice parents, RELAX! Your little darlings are probably doing whatever their little hearts desire.  That’s right folks, that includes jumping on furniture, eating loads of candy, staying up late… you get the picture. Regardless, it’s a small price to pay for a little piece of mind.  Ahhh, a girl can always dream.

Working women, particularly minority women, face unique challenges in the workplace, having to consider the needs of their families first, as well as the needs of their employer. Single parents, who are often not only primary care-giver providers but the sole providers, may feel even more pressure and fear of discrimination based on their family responsibilities.

I, for one, can definitely see how this could happen. I’ve been lucky as a single, working parent. I had great bosses who always allowed me the flexibility to put my son first. My son was a pretty sickly little child, so the number of doctor’s appointments I had to attend was WHEW, crazy, to put it mildly. I required a lot of sick and personal days for things like school closures or daycare trips or general sick days. It never seemed to end. Thanks to a flexible work schedule, I often worked from home when it was an absolute necessity. It was a privilege, but I was always uncomfortable about asking.

In 2007, the EEOC issued guidance surrounding discrimination against employees with care-giving responsibilities on the basis of sex, disability or other characteristics protected by federal employment discrimination laws. In May 2009, the EEOC issued a supplement to the guidelines on care-giving responsibilities, which gives management some guidance on how to proceed in order to avoid Family Responsibility Claims.

The guidelines include:

• Develop and disseminate and adhere to a strong Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Ensure that recruitment, hiring and promotion decisions are based on an applicant’s qualifications; Review employment policies and practices on a regular basis.
• Monitor employee compensation systems and encourage job flexibility and alternative work arrangements (i.e. job sharing, telecommuting, part-time schedules) whenever possible.

Single parents should take every opportunity to maintain open communication with their employers, regarding their personal responsibilities to their children. In turn, employers should ensure that all employment policies and practices are free of discrimination. Employers should offer as much flexibility as possible, without sacrificing the quality of the work. Additionally, employers should maintain an updated employment policy manual and disseminate it to their employees.