Back in the mid 2000’s I found myself requiring emergency spinal surgery for a broken neck. I was at Jackson Memorial Hospital Neurological Surgery Department. Dr. Steven Vanni, DO, DC was telling me that I need surgery immediately or I could be paralyzed. He went on to say that he was scheduling me for tomorrow morning and to get my affairs in order. As they were taking me for the blood work to clear me for surgery, I realized that I didn’t even have a will. I was a single guy in my mid 40’s in great health. I haven’t even had a cold or flu since I was a kid. I never imagined that I’d need estate documents prepared, signed, witnessed and notarized in less then 24 hours. I was calling lawyers and getting voice mail. I was looking online and getting confused with general so called fill in the blank legal forms. Even the online legal document websites needed a day or to for the review by a lawyer prosses. I was desperate, scared and so confused. I wasn’t sure what to do and now I’m downloading documents that are asking me about appointing a health care surrogate. How do you ask someone to stop what they are doing now and to help you with surgery tomorrow? Then a document goes on to ask about acceptance or refusal of a mechanical ventilator and other life-sustaining treatments. The stress was so overwhelming that I couldn’t think.
Fortunately, my girlfriend Susan said she was going to help me. I was so relieved but she had no idea about how to get estate documents in place. Needless to say, I ended up going into a 12-hour surgery without even a will or power of attorney notarized. Now looking back, I realize that the POA I wanted notarized wasn’t even the correct POA. It was limited and not valid after death.
After the first twelve hour surgery my doctor informs me that I’m going to need a second surgery in about two weeks. This gave me enough time to have a lawyer prepare the proper documents. Now that I had the documents ready to sign, I couldn’t get out of bed and go to a notary public let alone find two witnesses.
I was so week from the two surgeries. They started my rehab immediately and to walk again was a pleasure! I was so frail they started tying bags of rice to my legs to get my strength up to walk. It took me over a year and a lot of work to recovery. The process was hard both physically and emotionally but very rewarding. I found myself during that time and learned to be happy in the now. I had finally made it far enough down the road to recovery that I realized I was going to be ok. It was time for me to go back to work. It was towards the end of 2008 and I was a mortgage broker / real estate investor. The real estate market was plummeting and I couldn’t work as a mortgage broker due to my licensing expiring while I was in the hospital. That was when the federal government also started requiring additional licensing. I didn’t have the money to even pay for continuing education. It was expensive being sick. This made me think about not being able to have estate documents or even a simple POA notarized immediately.
I Googled Florida Notary Public and I found the Troy Fain website. It was less then $100 to get started and that was for a four-year term. I answered some questions, filled in my bond information and pick out a notary stamp.
After I completed the application, I realized that it was going to take about a month or so for the background report and the Notary Public Appointment by the governor of Florida.
While I was waiting for my licensing approval and notary public stamp my girlfriend Susan was telling me that I was crazy and to go get a job. She said that she had stuck with me through everything but it’s time to get to work.
I started searching the web looking for information about marketing my new notary business. This was back when Google started with the mobile website push. It was right before Google was launching GoMo event in Mobile, Alabama. With no internet marketing or website experience and nothing better to do I started a mobile campaign. I was up day and night learning and building. I was probably successfully because back then it was all new.
Useful Links
What Are Estate Documents and How Can Notary Services Help?
Power Of Attorney, Signed, Witnessed, and Notarized Before It’s Too Late