Each year thousands of people avoid hiring estate attorneys and create their own wills, powers of attorney and other estate planning documents with prearranged online tools and how-to manuals. This do-it-yourself strategy can really hurt you in the future, when overlooked mistakes create ambiguity that makes your final wishes after your passing impossible to implement. An estate attorney helps ensure nothing is overlooked.
How to Inventory Assets For An Estate Plan
When making a will, taking an inventory of your assets should be your first step. Grouping assets together is the easiest approach. This allows you to organize the assets such as bank accounts, money markets and certificates of deposit together, rather than lumping it with real estate, automobiles and jewelry, which makes it much harder to prepare their distribution later.
Residents in a nursing home have the same rights as any other citizen. In addition, many states have regulations and laws specifically for Nursing Home residents. They have a right to privacy and dignity; and to participate in their healthcare plan. Living in an institution often makes an individual more dependent on others for their care, and they are particularly vulnerable if they’re disabled. Knowing the nursing home resident’s rights helps preserve personal dignity and protects against negligence or abuse.
Senior care planning when you are divorced and without children is becoming a common concern in the United States as more people choose not to have families. According to 2010 census data nearly 20 percent of women age 40 to 44 had not had children compared to 10 percent in 1980. Children are commonly called upon to assist their aging parents but people without children have to explore other options regarding their senior care.
What Is Senior Care Planning?
A living trust might be a great idea for estate planning and is a popular alternative to a traditional will; however, weigh the pros and cons with an elder law attorney and avoid living trust kits you can purchase online. In many situations, a living trust may not achieve the right result for you.
Under normal circumstances, the client-lawyer relationship is based on the assumption that the client can make decisions about important matters. However, maintaining the normal client-lawyer relationship becomes difficult when the client is incapacitated due to illness, advanced age, or disability. This is a common problem in the administration of elder law, and can raise concerns about whether or not the client, and her estate, is represented fairly. Thus, the ethical administration of elder law is the highest priority.
Attorney-Client Privilege
If an elderly person is released from a hospital and has a terminal illness, which option does he choose: Hospice care or a skilled nursing home?
According to a study from the University of California, San Francisco, records show that a third of the time people who need end-of-life care choose skilled nursing facility benefits provided by Medicare, rather than enter hospice. Certainly 24/7 nursing care that monitors vitals and manages fluids can help the patient, but a skilled hospice team should provide treatment for end-of-life symptoms, such as shallow breathing and pain.
Elder law covers a group of legal specialties focused on the legal needs of older Americans. Needs, of course, vary; therefore, elder law decisions often involve participation by the client’s children, parents, financial advisors, government agencies, healthcare personnel, as well as an elder law attorney.
