"Dependency in old age would be the worst": Munich TV star provides for traumatic loss

Created: 07/12/2022 17:07

By: Andreas Thieme

Actress Michaela May turns 70. © Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

Michaela May turned 70 this year, but still feels young "because I love life so much".

The actress is now promoting brochures with the Ministry of Justice that are intended to provide assistance with preventive care.

Our editorial team explains how the Munich woman imagines old age.

Munich - your smile radiates into the room.

"Even at 70, I still feel young because I love life so much," says Michaela May. But the Munich actress has also suffered losses in her life: three siblings died when she was young - then her beloved mother in 2019 Anneliese at the age of 97.

"For me, that was the reason to regulate my pension," says May.

"You always think I'm still young - too young for these things.

But prevention is very important.

Not just financially, but also for health and old age," says May. So far, she only has a living will that regulates measures in the event of illness.

It deals with questions like: Who decides on my medical therapy if I am no longer able to do it myself?

"I sorted that out for myself, appointed my husband as a confidante and my children to represent me."

Life support is sometimes a point of contention.

"I noticed that from a friend who suffers from the nervous disease ALS," says May. The case involved artificial feeding through a stomach tube: "Fortunately, she was able to decide for herself."

Munich: Actress Michaela May lost her mother (97) – now she is taking care of it

But many people leave these personal regulations open - a risk not only for themselves but also for relatives, as Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (52, CSU) emphasizes.

"Whether after an accident, a serious illness or in the case of dementia: each of us can find ourselves in a situation where we are no longer able to make important decisions ourselves," says Eisenreich.

The topic is often ignored for a long time.

“But it is important to think about it in good time and to take precautions just in case.

With our brochures, we make it easier for citizens to make their own pension provision.”

Georg Eisenreich (CSU), Bavarian Minister of Justice.

© Tobias Hase/dpa/archive image

The brochures on prevention and care not only provide general information.

Specific pension forms can also be filled out and printed free of charge.

"Forms like this used to be so complicated that you had to ask a doctor," remembers Michaela May. "Without professional advice, you would hardly understand what certain formulations mean.

It's a lot easier now, fortunately."

Important: The personal regulations for powers of attorney, living wills or living wills can be changed at any time or revoked at a later date.

The adjustment often makes sense in the case of prolonged illness.

"Basically, you don't need a lawyer or a notary," says Eisenreich.

Certification by a notary is only required if the power of attorney also includes property transactions.

Actress Michaela May says: "Dependency in old age would be the worst"

There is no obligation to deposit your pension documents.

"But of course it makes sense," says Eisenreich.

In particular, the family or a caregiver should know.

You can also store your documents in the central preventive care register - the court or doctor will then find out about it if necessary.

When it comes to preventive care, Michaela May also thinks about age: "I can imagine living to be 100 years old," she says, "if my health is right." What she doesn't want: being a burden to others.

"Dependency in old age would be the worst."

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As a teenager, May's parents were in their fifties.

"I thought, 'They're old.

I fell in love all over again when I was 53.

My daughter, then 21, said: 'Mom, at that age!'

But I said: why not?”

Aging begins "when things don't work the way they used to," says May. "I tend to look: What else can I do?" Go to the mountains, for example, or do yoga.

“In my job I am fortunate to work with many young colleagues.

That keeps you young.

I used to be the youngest on set and now I'm usually the oldest."

Curiosity is also a fountain of youth.

interest in other people.

And focus on what's coming.

Not what was.

"I got that from my mother," says May.