Yesterday, my teenage son and I talked for four hours! We reminisced about his childhood, impending driver’s test, and what he wants to do after high school. We shared our memories about our 2014 family vacation in Steam Springs, CO, which was not one of our best memories.

My mom said she was not feeling well after a family hike. We took her to the hospital where she went into cardiogenic shock. Several hours later she was life-flighted to a hospital in Fort Collins.

My mom previously worked at my law firm a few days a week. One of her tasks was to scan executed documents. This allows clients to share them with their family members who would then have access to virtual copies 24/7. Mom, however, never scanned her own documents. So there we were in Colorado without any access to her Healthcare Power of Attorney, HIPAA Authorization, or Living Will.

Thankfully our associate attorney drove to the office at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night to scan and email these documents to us. Yet another story for our seminar circuit!

If you have already taken the important step to create your estate plan, here are three simple next steps to make sure your family truly is protected.

1. Tell your family that you have created a plan, where you keep the originals, and how to access the originals. (For example: the key to the fireproof box is on a blue key chain in the "junk" drawer.)

2. Send an electronic copy of your Healthcare and Mental Healthcare Powers of Attorney, HIPAA Authorization, and Living Will to your successor agents. These are the people who will make medical decisions for you in an emergency.

3. Carry an emergency card in your wallet or purse listing who to contact in case of emergency.

Include all your successor healthcare agents and their contact phone numbers. If you have pets, consider adding who to call to care for your pets and make sure those individuals have a key or access to your home.

Your planning documents should not be your best kept secret. Learn from my mom's mistake! Make sure your agents have access to your documents when they need them the most. Trust me, they will be thankful you did.