Matters of Life -- Trust Matters: Katherine Learner's Story

Trust Matters

Katherine’s Story

Katherine Learner had been a very active person for most of her life. After losing her husband to cancer at a young age, she continued working until well into her 60s. A few years after she retired, her own health began to deteriorate. She was living alone for years and managing just fine on her own, but soon found she needed help from family and friends.

Her son Michael stopped by to check on her three or four times a week and take her to frequent doctors’ appointments. Her long-time neighbor Denise, who had been one of Michael’s high school classmates, also looked in on Katherine regularly.

Katherine had always been a very independent person and did not like asking for help, but had little choice. She had saved her money all of her life so that she would not “be a burden in my old age” as she put it.

When Michael learned that his company was transferring him to St. Louis, he talked with Katherine about finding some live-in help or possibly selling the family home. His mother said she would feel uncomfortable having strangers in the house and absolutely refused to leave her home of 40 years. She also felt uncomfortable being an imposition on Denise, who had offered to help.

Michael remembered a conversation he and his mother had with their local funeral director when they pre planned her funeral. He called the funeral home and asked if they could revisit the discussion about Trust Matters.

Their Matters of Life™ provider suggested that Katherine could compensate Denise for her time and services through a simple mechanism called a Personal Service Contract. Through this contract, Katherine would lay out what services Denise would provide and the payment schedule. Trust Matters would hold the money in an interest-bearing, FDIC–insured account, which would be used to pay Denise every month.

When he started his new job in St. Louis, Michael had peace of mind knowing his mother would not be alone. Denise began providing all of Katherine’s care, and received a monthly check from Trust Matters. Michael monitored the Trust Matters account balance online and kept in frequent contact with Denise by phone and e-mail. Denise never had to remind her aging neighbor about payments and knew she could rely on Trust Matters providers to offer guidance if Katherine’s needs changed.