managing life

There are a lot of complexities we have to deal with these days--what do people do when they can't manage? A friend was worrying about that, concerned about what she will do when her aging father can't help her with the things that she can't manage for herself after treatment for brain tumors and lung cancer. The latest is a large erroneous charge on her cell phone bill.

John said his 96 year old aunt isn't going to work on adding me as a backup for her power of attorney right away because she is struggling with her quarterly taxes. What happens when she can't manage her taxes any more? John and I pay someone to do our taxes, but there is a lot of work that has to be done to ready the material for the tax preparer. I'm getting close to taking over the last of the billpaying from John, because it bothers me he hasn't gotten doctors bills paid. I can handle his and my financial life, but I can't imagine dealing with his aunt's as well. He certainly can't manage hers. My mother has a secretary who comes once a week to deal with bills and accounts, but not many people hire someone.