Provided by Ted Baker
Two certainties in life are death and taxes. For the former, the concept of mortality tends to creep closer with age. As much as people don’t want to talk about it, they likely should do so prior to advanced age.
Waiting too long to make decisions for the future can have serious negative consequences. That is just one reason why advanced estate planning is so vital. No one wants to leave their children with various burdens when they pass away.
Finding an attorney specializing in elder law is a good place to start. Their legal expertise and guidance will help people understand the importance of creating advanced documents like advanced directives and estate documents.
“Elder law covers all aspects of planning, recommending, educating and supporting clients,” says Muncie attorney Leslie Mathewson. “It involves planning for aging, illness and incapacity. If no plan is in place, the legal system can determine what happens to you, your loved ones and your guardians when deciding legal, financial and health issues.”
Elder care law is broken into several different areas:
1. Estate Planning: This involves preparing for what happens to a person’s assets when they pass on or enter into an assisted-living arrangement. Estate planning is something everyone should do to control their legacy, and it is not just for wealthy people. It’s for everyone. This can include asset protection, financial representation and planning, and lifetime planning. It can also extend to your belongings – maybe your grandchildren don’t want an antique hutch. Maybe they do. Estate planning can cover all of those decisions.
2. Health and Personal Care Planning: This includes powers of attorney, living wills, will and trust planning, and planning for a “well spouse” when the other spouse requires long-term care or assistance. Creating a will and a trust can be one of the most important parts of elderly care. A will allows a person to provide instructions on how to pass on the assets of an estate, and who should receive them. “Every adult should have a will, especially married adults with children,” Mathewson says. “Life and finances can get complicated, and forming a will allows your wishes and desires for your assets to be correctly distributed after death.”
3. Advanced Directives and Powers of Attorney: Incapacity can happen to people at any age. It occurs when a physical or mental illness or injury prevents a person from managing their affairs. A variety of elder law rules apply to incapacity planning as well. Some laws allow a person to give another person durable power of attorney to control assets, or health care power of attorney so that person can make the appropriate health care decisions if needed. A living will also falls into this category, specifying what medical treatments will be accepted or declined. This is extremely important because no one wants to put family members in an impossible situation to make tough choices about medical treatment, or leave life-and-death issues to chance.
4. Health Insurance Issues – Medicare and Medicaid Planning: Mathewson says this is vital. “An elder care attorney can assist your options to get the needed coverage,” she says. “Medicare and Medicaid are important for those 65 and older. While much is written and advertised about these plans, dealing with each can be complicated, especially when dealing with elderly family members and where services will be needed.”
Mathewson says these steps can alleviate stress on family members when the time comes. “By properly planning and preparing, the focus can be on the loved one and not on all the issues during this time,” she explains. “This subject is not just for the old, but for the young too, and not just for the rich, but for all economic situations. Everyone should be a participant.”
Elder law attorneys and professionals are available to assist with whatever needs may arise. It can be one of the best investments a person can make.
