Diminished capacity, long term care and basic planning documents are important factors in effective Life Care Planning.
Life care planning is a unique method of elder law where attorneys work together with other professionals, perhaps a nurse or a social worker, to help our clients find, get and pay for the care that they need. So while the attorney is focusing on the legal documents and maybe reviewing contracts and applying for benefits, the elder care coordinator is helping the senior and their families find the care that they need and oversee that care provider, not to supervise them, but to coordinate that care to make sure that everything fits together for that person to get the care that they need.
While it is never too early to plan for the future, certain external events should definitely serve as triggers to move Life Care Planning higher on our to-do list.
BASIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS
While every adult should have designated who can make medical and financial decisions on their behalf when they are not able to do so, fewer than half of us have valid Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives in place. Family gatherings over the holidays provide the perfect opportunity to raise this subject. If adult children are not comfortable asking their parents whether they have these documents in place, the children can start the conversation by talking about how they are in the process of identifying the people they will be naming as agents in their own planning documents.
If you know that your parents have prepared these documents, it is a good idea to suggest that they take a look at them again to make sure they would still accomplish their original objectives. For example, are all of the agents named in the documents still living, healthy and willing to serve? If your parents’ wishes regarding end-of-life care have changed, does the healthcare agent know what they would want? You can assure your parents or other family members that they don’t need to answer these questions to you, as long as they are thinking about them and making the necessary changes as a result.
DIMINISHED CAPACITY
Seeing loved ones over the holidays whom we have not seen in a while provides a good opportunity to assess their capacity. While a person who seems a little more forgetful, or has received a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment, is not immediately incapable of expressing an informed opinion about their own care, it is a warning sign that they and their family should put plans in place to provide the care that the person will likely need as the disease progresses.
PLANNING FOR INCAPACITY
Our plan includes the tools necessary to ensure that, if you no longer can or wish to make your own financial or healthcare decisions, the transition to a fiduciary of your choosing will be as smooth as possible.
LONG TERM CARE
The realization that a loved one requires long-term care, either because of a catastrophic event such as a fall or a stroke or the progressive decline resulting from a condition like Alzheimer’s disease, is the situation that most often causes a family to begin Life Care Planning.
If we know the person is no longer safe at home, we may consider whether assistance with dangerous activities, such as showering and driving, and assuring that the person takes their medications and receives proper nutrition will be enough, or whether that person needs to move to an environment that provides more support.
It is not possible to think about the necessary level of care without also considering how to pay for it. Does the person have a long-term care insurance policy, against which it is now time to make a claim? Do they have their own assets, which ones should be restructured to maximize cash-flow and liquidity? Might they be eligible for veterans’ benefits that can offset some of the cost of care? And if the family needs to consider Medicaid, now or in the future, what is the impact of other financial decisions that we might make?
While all of these discussions can be difficult, we know that the sooner the plans are put into place, the greater the variety of options are available to help our parents find, get and pay for the care that best meets their needs.