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Tag: Health Care Power of Attorney

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Planning After You Retire

Happy-old-coupleAfter you retire, you should continue to make plans so that you will be ready in case anything happens.

Everyone knows that it takes a lot of planning to retire properly. You must make sure that all of your finances are in order. You also should make sure that you have completed everything you need to receive Social Security benefits, when you want to start them and to enroll for Medicare.

It might be tempting to stop planning after retirement.  However, there is still some planning left to do, as the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog explained in "Post-Retirement Planning: A Checklist for Seniors."

Retirees need to plan for emergencies and the possibility of no longer being able to handle their own affairs. They need a general durable power of attorney, a health care power of attorney and a living will.

Fortunately, those documents are easy to get from elder law attorneys. However, just getting those documents is not quite enough.

If something happens to a retired person, the people designated to help immediately need to be able to step into their roles. That means all the information necessary for them needs to be gathered into one place.  This information includes a list of financial, investment and digital accounts. It also means that the legal documents need to be stored in the same place. Finally, a trusted friend or family member should be told where to find everything, if needed.

Talk to an elder law attorney, if you have questions about what you need to do to plan after you retire.

Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (March 20, 2018) "Post-Retirement Planning: A Checklist for Seniors."

 

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Disability Planning

MP900442437[1]The number of Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease is expected to double in upcoming decades. It is important to make plans for what should happen, if you are one of the victims.

Alzheimer’s is a scary disease to contemplate. Those who suffer from it slowly lose their cognitive abilities. They no longer recognize their loved ones and are increasingly unable to take care of even their most basic affairs.

Unfortunately, experts do not think a cure for this disease is likely in the near future.  They expect that the number of people who suffer from it in American will double by the year 2060.

That is a scary proposition for many and it is something everyone should make plans for as the Times Herald-Record discusses in “Disability planning is vital in case of cognitive impairment.”

Fortunately, planning for Alzheimer’s disease is not very difficult.

An estate planning attorney or elder law attorney can assist you in getting your legal paperwork in order. You will need a health care power of attorney, so someone of your choosing can make your medical decisions for you. You will need a general durable power of attorney, so someone of your choosing can handle your day to day financial affairs. You will also need a living will so that doctors will know what to do and not to do, when you are terminally ill with no chance of recovery.

There is no reason to delay getting these documents. They are easy to get. Everyone should have them, just in case something happens.

Reference: Times Herald-Record (Jan. 18, 2018) “Disability planning is vital in case of cognitive impairment.”

 

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Incapacity Planning

MP900442500[1]It is important that you make plans for what will happen to your family and your possessions after you pass away. It is also important to plan for what will happen to them, if you are incapacitated.

You might be aware that you need a will or a trust, so you can make sure your family is taken care of after you pass away. Getting a will or trust also lets you determine what happens to your property after you pass away.

If you have not done so, you really should see an estate planning attorney to get a will or trust as soon as possible, just in case.

While you are at the attorney’s office, you should also get plans for what might happen if you become incapacitated, as the Times Herald-Record discusses in “Make plans in case you are incapacitated.”

The issue is that if you are incapacitated, someone else needs the legal authority to act on your behalf.

Someone will need to be able to handle your bills and to make medical decisions for you, should it be necessary.

If you do not plan ahead, it can be a difficult process for someone else to get the legal authority.

Someone will have to hire an attorney and go to court to get a judge’s permission to act as your guardian.

Fortunately, planning for what will happen if you become incapacitated is not difficult.

You just need a general durable power of attorney and a health care power of attorney.

The estate planning attorney can prepare both of them for you.

Reference: Times Herald-Record (Dec. 12, 2017) “Make plans in case you are incapacitated.”

 

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What Aging Parents Need

Bigstock-Elder-Couple-With-Bills-3557267_previewPlanning for retirement can be challenging.

People usually need to save a lot of money before they consider retiring. When that is done, they need to apply for Social Security and Medicare.

At the same time, these same people need to make arrangements for where they want to live during retirement, if they do not want to stay in the same place.

Many people seek their children’s assistance for some of these decisions. They assume that if anything else is needed when they retire, then their children will be able to help them.

However, planning for retirement is not quite done until an estate planning attorney is consulted.

Some fundamental legal documents need to be drafted as Gambit points out in “The legal needs of
aging parents.”

Parents need to think about the legal ability of their children to take over for them, when necessary.

For example, the children need to be able to handle the parents’ finances and make medical decisions
for the parents, if necessary.

Preparing for that goes beyond just making sure a child has the knowledge to do those things. The child
also needs the legal authority.

That is where a visit to an estate planning attorney comes in.

The attorney can draw up a general durable power of attorney to give a child the legal authority to
handle the finances, when necessary. The attorney can also draw up a health care power of attorney to
give a child the legal authority to make medical decisions, when necessary.

Reference: Gambit (Oct. 30, 2017) “The legal needs of aging parents.”

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Family Squabbles Can Hurt Elderly Parents

Bigstock-Senior-Couple-8161132[1]When an elderly parent is approaching the end of life, the ability of the family to come together and agree on treatment and care is vital to ease the parent's suffering.

The last thing that most end of life patients want to deal with, is a family feud over the patient’s medical treatment and care. However, these family feuds are a common occurrence, especially when family members have other, pre-existing disagreements.

This was the subject of a recent article in the Washington Post titled "A united family can make all the difference when someone is dying."

Doctors have a name for one of the common problems that can arise. They call it the "Daughter from California syndrome." This can happen when family members compete with each other over who cares for the elderly patient the most. Often, someone who lives far away goes too far and is the source of disruptions.

Another source of problems for families is when the person who the patient put in charge of things goes too far and refuses to cooperate with others. For example, someone given authority in a health care power of attorney may refuse to listen to the opinions of other family members. This can create unnecessary tension, especially when decisions have to be made that are outside the scope of any advanced directives.

The best thing that a family can do to help an elderly patient at the end of life is to work together, communicate freely and come to consensus decisions concerning treatment and care. The patient can help this greatly, if he or she has previously executed detailed advanced directives that designate appropriate people to be in charge.

Reference: Washington Post (Nov. 20, 2016) "A united family can make all the difference when someone is dying."