Do you have aging parents? If so then you need to pay special attention. As your parents age there are a number of important things you need to do.

I learned these things the hard way and am hoping to help you in advance.

The topic of death is seldom pleasant, but it's a fact we all must face. Every family needs at least one person willing to take the lead with preparing for the eventual death of a parent. Once they are gone it can be very difficult to find important information you are sure to need. Sometimes the surviving spouse doesn't even know the answers and that is exactly what happened in my life recently.

My wife's parents were married for 62 years. Suddenly, without warning my Mother-in-law had a stroke that eventually took her life. She managed all aspects of her household and my Father-in-law knew very little about important items we would soon need to know. We could no longer ask Mom so we had to figure everything out the hard way. I have no doubt that things have been missed.

Before you are faced with a similar scenario with your aging parents I urge you to take steps to help yourself deal with the inevitable. The following suggestions are many of the important lessons I learned over a three month period.

1. Make a list of all medicines and supplements being taken, including frequency and dosage.
2. Document the names, phone numbers and addresses for all doctors - especially the primary care physician.
3. Make copies of their medical cards, prescription cards and social security cards - At the very least get the numbers from these important documents.
4. If they have a Living Will make sure you have a copy. The last thing you want to do is put them on life support when it is against their wishes. Once it's connected it can be almost impossible to get them back off. If your aging parents don't have a Living Will then encourage them to get one. It's very important.
5. Learn about what is owned and what is owed. Do they own a home? Is it paid for? What about investment properties? Stocks? Life Insurance? You get the idea. The more you know now the better prepared you will be if they can't answer questions later.
6. Have your aging parents name an Executor of Estate. Each state has slightly different rules for this so contact a good lawyer. Having an Executor of Estate will be very helpful once your parents have passed.
7. Get Durable Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney. There is very little you can do without these documents and if your aging parents become incapacitated you will not be able to help them much without them.
8. Get named on their bank accounts. If you have Durable Power of Attorney you can get by without this step but it just makes things easier for you in the long run.
9. Make a list of all important accounts, including user name and passwords. This can be anything from their online bill paying service to their frequent flyer account. There are many bills and miscellaneous online accounts that you may not know about that could become important in the future.
10. Start asking lots of questions and take some notes. As your aging parents grow older their memories are sure to begin to fail. If you haven't taken time to document details about their lives then begin today. Their memories, experiences and thoughts will be precious to you and your children in the future so collect them while you can. If you wait too long you may not get the chance and that would be a shame.

Obviously there are many other items that could be added to this list. If you at least do these things you will find that you will be able to handle most issues that surface.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that your aging parents will continue to age for as long as they live. The longer you wait to take these steps the more at risk you are of having some very difficult and frustrating times ahead. This all comes from difficult personal experience that I would like you to avoid.