Die Smart: How to Keep Your Money When You Die

Die$mart - 11 Common Mistakes that Cost Your Family Money When You Die...And How to Avoid Them -- addresses death and dying as you've never imagined. Authors, Kathy Lane and Christine Hughes, wrote this invaluable guide to planning your estate after dealing with the deaths of parents and taking care of aging grandparents. .

In doing their job, they were amazed by the myriad of laws and documents they needed to know about.. Some they had never heard of. Going through the death of an aging parent or a spouse is traumatic enough without having to deal with the financial aspects of death and dying- but if you "die dumb," without knowing what your options are, you'll be leaving your loved ones with that legacy.

In the book, Die$mart, the authors explain 11 of the most common mistakes people make when planning their estates, including: You thought living trusts were just for the rich. You had never heard of living probate. You didn't know why a will doesn't avoid probate. Discover the married couple estate tax trap--and the importance of advance directives and many other aspects that should be addressed before you die or can't make choices on your own.

Think about it - who do you want to be in charge of medical decisions if you can't make them for yourself and who will manage your financial affairs if you're no longer able to? Die$mart will answer all your questions, and then some - and prepare you for what we all know is inevitable - death.

You may have the attitude that "once I'm gone, let others worry about my estate." Many people do - they may have set up a will or trust and believe that their wishes will be carried out as they planned, and that's all they need to do. Wrong! Even if you have a will or a trust, you need to know the laws concerning your estate. In her new book, Die$mart - 11 Common Mistakes that Cost Your Family Money When You Die...And How to Avoid Them, Kathy Lane provides crystal-clear instructions about what you need to do before you die.

Die$mart covers the information that everyone should know about death, dying, probate, power of attorney, living trusts - and more. It's the first book written that combines the printed word with the power and vast knowledge available on the internet to address pre death planning and the paperwork involved after a death that can include laws and terms you don't understand.

By integrating her book with the internet, Kathy Lane answers the question, "Who owns your digital assets when you die?", and even customizes the process by using 'ibuttons' to access the rules and regulations for a specific state. When Kathy and her husband went through the task of settling their parents' estate, she asked the question, "Why doesn't a will avoid probate?" Die$mart includes flow charts to answer this question and more about the importance of title, power of attorney and the type of paperwork you'll be faced with when someone dies.

Die$mart - 11 Common Mistakes That Cost Your Family Money When You Die: Probate, Living Trusts, Power of Attorney, Digital Assets (And more.) is my first book. The book documents my experience serving as a caregiver, and then as an executor of my parent's and grandmother's estate. I thought I was an educated person about money and finances. I have a degree in business and managed businesses. I learned I knew little about what really happens when you need to take care of an aging parent....and manage their financial affairs after they die. Even though we had created a living trust, I concluded no one teaches anyone how to die smart in school. I learned that "dying dumb" can cost you and your family 4 to 8 percent of your net worth, and more, if long term care is involved.

Before starting diesmart.com, I spent my career in the computer industry, beginning as an assembly language programmer on an IBM 1401. I opened the 50th personal computer store in 1976. I worked at Dataquest, a market research firm, from 1983-1988 as Vice President, Personal Computer Software Division. . From 1988-1993, I served as President of Softview, the makers of MacIntax, and as President of the TurboTax professional product group. Die $mart is my 11th startup.

Kathy Lane decided to share what she learned in Die $mart...and hopes the information can help you keep your money when you die.

Kathy is now the managing member of "nFormed, d.b.a DieSmart."

Elderly people sometimes want a DNR if they suffer from chronic illnesses and are concerned that their quality of life will suffer if they require resuscitation. A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order is another kind of advance directive. A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. Unless paramedics or other emergency staff is given other instructions, they will try to resuscitate any patient whose heart has stopped or who has stopped breathing. The exact rules for obtaining a DNR and for proving its validity vary widely from state to state.

If you have a heart attack or other medical condition that would appear to compromise your mental abilities, how would you tell someone you don't want to be resuscitated? Once your mental capacity has been substantially compromised, it is possible for a physician to determine that you lack sufficient mental capacity to provide informed medical consent. If the physician considers that your mental capacity is diminished, it will be too late for you to instruct the medical staff not to resuscitate you. These orders must be made when you are healthy.

The directions in your living will are only followed when your doctor believes you are in a terminal state and will not recover from your illness or injury. The directions in your DNR are effective the moment you sign them and do not require any type of medical condition to be present for the DNR to be effective. If the paramedics or other medical personnel cannot locate your DNR, they will make an effort to save your life. You can help the paramedics make the right treatment choices in several ways:

- Participate in the Vial of Life program. It's a nationwide effort to assist emergency personnel to administer proper medical treatment for you when you can't speak for yourself.

- A Vial of Life sticker is placed on your door. This sticker tells a paramedic to look for your DNR and other medical information in a vial or plastic bag placed in your refrigerator or freezer. . Paramedics are trained to look there for DNR documents.

- Some states authorize the use of identification bracelets or tags as a way for you to notify medical personnel that you have signed a DNR. Although all states authorize the use of a DNR, some states require special paper to be used when printing as a means of authentication.

Once you complete a DNR, make sure your physician and others are aware of your wishes. Give a copy of your DNR to your primary physician and request the information be added as part of your medical records. If you are in a hospital, make sure a copy of your DNR is included with your medical chart. Keep a copy of the original in your estate planning files.

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For more information on how to die smart and keep your money for your family, visit diesmart.com. Get the knowledge you need to have an intelligent conversation with parents, children, lawyers and financial planners. Find resources and how to guides for dealing with end of life choices.