The UE, source eNodeB, and/or target eNodeB use one or more existing Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages already available during handover to exchange at least one status report comprising UE assistance information, such as power preference indicators (PPI). The UE and the target eNodeB are thus able to obtain the same up-to-date UE status without any additional signaling. In one embodiment, the UE exchanges a handover preparation status report with the target eNodeB using a first RRC reconfiguration message transmitted from the source eNodeB to the UE, where the handover preparation status report is generated during handover preparation by the target eNodeB. In another embodiment, the UE exchanges a handover execution status report with the target eNodeB during handover execution using a second RRC reconfiguration message transmitted from the UE to the target eNodeB, where the handover execution status report is generated during handover execution. In another embodiment, the UE exchanges multiple status reports with the target eNodeB using multiple RRC reconfiguration messages, where the status reports are generated during handover preparation and handover execution. The handover preparation status report is transmitted from the target eNodeB to the UE and includes the status report as perceived by the target node at the time of handover preparation. The handover execution status report is transmitted from the UE to the target eNodeB and includes the status report as stored in the UE memory at the time of handover execution. The first RRC reconfiguration message is a RRC connection reconfiguration message and the second RRC reconfiguration message is a RRC connection reconfiguration complete message.