Dennis TomanDennis Toman founded The Elderlaw Firm with a mission of helping families better prepare for elder care and other legal issues for the second half of life. Contact him at 336-396-8988.
Truly, we’re living in historic times. History long will remember when the businesses closed, the roads cleared, health care workers became heroes, and parents gained new appreciation for teachers. We will all remember this time when grandparents could not hug their grandchildren, and the rising toll of COVID-19.
Through it all, we’ve been inundated with news about how the virus has continued to spread and the steps needed to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Many people have experienced tragic loss and our heart goes out to them.
Naturally, we’ve been hearing from people concerned about what to do if they, or a loved one, can’t make their own decisions due to illness and how they could pay for extended care.
When you consider your own preparations, how do feel about your estate planning? Many people are re-considering their estate and elder law planning after seeing how quickly things changed. Did you know that even your young adult children (18 and older) need powers of attorney?
Now more than ever, many are beginning to recognize that estate planning is not just for what happens if someone dies. Estate planning is also important when someone becomes ill and cannot make their own decisions or needs to pay for long-term care.
At a minimum, you should have in place Powers of Attorney for your legal, financial and medical decision-making. The alternative is a court proceeding called a Guardianship, which involves extra costs, headaches, more red tape, and rarely has desirable outcomes.
You don’t want to be like some families I meet, whose parent or spouse never got around to, or never knew they needed, the right powers of attorney.
Before, during and after COVID-19, people who get the right advice and take action will be better prepared. Perhaps these words will be an incentive for many to work with an experienced estate planning and elder care attorney to provide the right advice and the right plan to protect you, your assets, and your loved ones.
Stay well. Stay strong.