In 2012, as our parents entered their late 80s, my two brothers and I and our wives became very concerned about Mom and Dad’s ability to manage their financial and personal affairs. We had witnessed potential problems, including missed bill payments, lost checks, missed appointments, susceptibility to scams, and a general decline in our parents’ financial acumen and ability to follow through. At the same time, as none of us lived in Santa Barbara, and each of us had a full time career, even though we all visited frequently, we knew that none of us could devote the time necessary to keep Mom and Dad “on track.”
Mom and Dad had a tax accountant and an estate planning attorney, but no one available to help them with day-to-day issues. Knowing that Mom and Dad wished to maintain their independence and just needed assistance in executing their own objectives, we were very fortunate to be referred to Lindsay Leonard, and her company, Santa Barbara Fiduciary. At our request, Lindsay and her staff agreed to work directly with our parents to handle bookkeeping, bill paying, record maintenance, and scheduling. They were invaluable in assisting Mom and Dad in managing their affairs, protecting them from fraud, and helping them maintain their medical appointment and social schedules. They became vital intermediaries between Mom and Dad and the retirement community they lived in, and at the same time assisted with timely and important communication among the entire family.
When Mom died in 2014, Santa Barbara Fiduciary’s services were critical in allowing Dad to continue to live independently until his death in late 2016. And my brothers and I, as trustees of our parents’ estate, have been very grateful to have the benefit of Santa Barbara Fiduciary’s management and record-keeping expertise.
The honesty, integrity and discretion that were central to Santa Barbara Fiduciary’s service to our parents as they aged meant that events that could otherwise have turned into crises were instead well managed stages in life’s normal processes. And of greatest importance is that having Lindsay and her staff’s help managing the “business end” in our parents’ final years gave each of us a better opportunity to maintain our close and loving family relationship with each of our parents, right up to the ends of their lives.
