Elder Care Planning

Article submitted by Todd R. Zellen, Esquire, Delray Beach, Florida.
He can be reached at 561-272-9300 or todd@zellenlaw.com.

Elder Care Planning - Don't wait until it's too late!

Long term care planning for an aged parent or loved one is a difficult and overwhelming task for many families. Personal lives are often halted when a parent or spouse becomes sick and quick decisions must be made for the best long term care solutions based upon care needs and budgets. Long term care, whether within the home, or at an assisted living facility or a nursing home can often costs tens of thousands of dollars per year. Money buys care. If long term nursing care costs quickly deplete a lifetime of savings, additional funds to purchase services such as an aide or therapy may not be available for a senior's life needs.

With proper planning, incapacity does not have to be emotionally and financially catastrophic. Prior to any incapacity, an aged person and their trusted family members should sit down with an elder law attorney and review documents: health care advance directives, durable powers-of-attorney, as well as wills or trusts. Updating legal documents to be "elder care friendly" is often recommended to provide trusted family members with the necessary tools to make care decisions and protect and preserve assets so that care dollars will last longer.

What to look for in a health care document such as a living will or health care surrogate:
A well drafted Health Care Advance Directive is the most important tool when incapacity occurs. It allows for dignified health care decision making, and it should, but often does not, contain the following four key elements:

• A detailed living will expressing end of life decisions and wishes in the event of accident, illness or disease;
• a health care surrogate designation that names (if available) at least two trusted family members and/or friends to make health care decisions in the event of incapacity;
• designation of personal representative(s) for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 commonly known as "HIPAA" which allows access to medical records;
• the designation of health care powers-of-attorney who are given detailed and specific powers within the document to decide upon pertinent health care such as consent or refusal of treatment, the ability to engage or disengage physicians, and apply for insurance or public benefits, including Medicare or Medicaid, etc.

What to look for in a durable power-of-attorney:
If incapacity takes over the life of a loved one, the durable power-of-attorney is often the only tool available, outside of a court appointed guardian, to allow trusted family or friends to make proper financial decisions. An elder law based durable power-of-attorney versus a generic document can make the difference in being able to save and protect tens - if not hundreds - of thousands of dollars through Family Asset Protection Planning. This planning is an elder law based service that permits families to preserve assets to obtain government benefits to help pay for care costs. The money saved can be used to buy extra care to help seniors who have worked hard all their lives and who have managed to save and save ...and save, to receive greater care in order to live more dignified and healthful lives.