Alzheimer’s Disease: After the Diagnosis

 If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, it is critical to start planning immediately. There are several essential legal documents that must be prepared, reviewed, and signed by the ill person, while they still have the mental clarity to make their preferences known, and have the ability to review and sign the documents. A person with dementia may still make planning decisions, as long as there are periods of lucidity. However, once declared incapacitated, or when the dementia makes planning and understanding impossible, then documents may not be signed.
Here are some essential documents for a person diagnosed with dementia:
A Detailed and Comprehensive Durable Power of Attorney. This important legal document allows you to appoint another person to make decisions on your behalf. Without this document, your family will be unable to pay your bills or manage your household without going to court and getting an expensive conservatorship.
Advance Health Care Directive. This legal document allows you to appoint someone to act as your agent for medical decisions. The document should also clearly state your preferences, and act as guidance for your agent when the decisions get tough.
Trusts and Estate Planning Documents. Make sure your estate plan is current. Your Living Trust directs who will manage your assets if you are unable to, and who will receive your property when you die – typically without court intervention. Laws change, as well as circumstances, so having the existing documents reviewed while changes can still be made is critically important. Once a person is deemed incapacitated, the law prohibits that person from signing or changing legal documents.
Long Term Care Plan. In addition to creating or updating important legal documents, it is also important to create a plan for long-term care. Long-term care is expensive, often exceeding $8,100 per month in California, and can easily bankrupt a family. Developing a plan now will help your family later. Your attorney should be well-versed in elderlaw, VA benefits for long-term care, Medi-Cal issues, and other resources. The McNamara Law Firm, P.C., has been assisting families faced with these challenges for many years. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a life-changing illness, our Law Firm is ready to help guide you through this very complex area.
For more information, please visit www.themcnamaralawfirm.com, or call 661-287-3260.