Four Steps to Take Right After an Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to start planning immediately. There are several essential documents to help you once you become incapacitated, but if you don’t already have them in place, you need to act quickly after a diagnosis.

Having dementia does not mean an individual is not mentally competent to make planning decisions. The person signing documents must have “testamentary capacity,” which means he or she must understand the implications of what is being signed. Simply having a form of mental illness or disease does not mean that you automatically lack the required mental capacity. As long as you have periods of lucidity, you may still be competent to sign planning documents.

The following are some essential documents for someone diagnosed with dementia:

Power of Attorney. A power of attorney is the most important estate planning document for someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia. A power of attorney allows you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf once you become incapacitated. Without a power of attorney, your family would be unable to pay your bills or manage your household without going to court and getting a guardianship, which can be a time-consuming and expensive process.
Health Care Proxy. A health care proxy, like a power of attorney, allows you to appoint someone else to act as your agent for medical decisions. It will ensure that your medical treatment instructions are carried out. In general, a health care proxy takes effect only when you require medical treatment and a physician determines that you are unable to communicate your wishes concerning treatment.
Advanced Directive for Health Care or Living Will. Advanced directives and living wills explain what type of care you would like if you are unable to direct your own care. An advance directive can include a health care proxy or it can be a separate document. It may contain directions to refuse or remove life support in the event you are in a coma or a vegetative state or it may provide instructions to use all efforts to keep you alive, no matter what the circumstances.
Will and Other Estate Planning Documents. In addition to making sure you have people to act for you and your wishes are clear, you should make sure your estate plan is up to date, or if you don’t have an estate plan, you should draw one up. Your estate plan directs who will receive your property when you die. Once you are deemed incapacitated, you will no longer be able to create an estate plan. An estate plan usually consists of a will, and often a trust as well. Your will is your legally binding statement on who will receive your property when you die, while a trust is a mechanism for passing on your property outside of probate.

In addition to executing these documents, it is also important to create a plan for long-term care. Long-term care is expensive and draining for family members. Developing a plan now for what type of care you would like and how to pay for it will help your family later on. Your attorney can assist you in developing that plan and drafting any necessary documents.

If you would like more information feel free to contact our office today.

Funding Your Living Trust

Hopefully by now you’ve heard about the benefits of having a living trust as part of your estate plan. The most notable benefit is the ability to keep your assets from having to go through probate. You can retain control of assets during your life, and exercise control over how they are managed and used after your death. A trust can reduce, and in many cases eliminate income, estate, and capital gains taxes on assets.

Meeting with a skilled estate planning attorney and creating the best type of trust for your particular needs is a big step. Creating the trust, however, isn’t all you need to do. Consider how silly it’d look if you bought a safe deposit box or opened a bank account, but never put anything in it. They can only protect your assets if they’re inside. If you die or become incapacitated and your trust is not funded, it is mostly useless, no matter how well-drafted it might have been.

How to Fund a Living Trust

So how exactly do you go about funding a living trust? That depends on the nature of the assets intended to be placed in the trust. Many types of assets can be used to fund a trust by re-titling them in the name of the trust.

For instance, if your name is John Doe and you currently have a bank account or cars in your sole name, you could change the name on the bank account or vehicles to that of the trust, with yourself listed as trustee of the trust. Also, if you are married, you and your spouse can both be listed on an account as co-trustees.

Other assets that can be re-titled in order to fund a trust are real estate, stocks, and other investment accounts. Legal requirements for funding a trust with real estate are somewhat complicated, and it is best to have an attorney’s assistance to make sure you use the right type of deed and that it is properly prepared. More likely than not, you will deed the property directly to the trust.

Certain types of assets may be used to fund a trust by designating the trust as the beneficiary of those assets. Many of our clients choose to make their trust the primary beneficiary of their life insurance policies. This allows the client to have lots of control on how the policy proceeds are disposed of at the death of the policyholder. Annuities or retirement accounts, including 401(k), 403(b), and IRAs can also fund a living trust after death through beneficiary designations.

Having retirement account assets payable to certain trusts can significantly reduce the tax deferral period for your taxes. On the other hand, other trusts can enhance the likelihood of attaining the maximum stretch-out period for your heirs. At the Law Office of Rodney Davis, LLC, we can assist you in re-titling your accounts to avoid a bad outcome.

Getting the Help You Need to Fund Your Living Trust

If you have not yet had your attorney draft your trust, prepare a list of the assets that you want to place in the trust. Understanding how you plan to fund your trust will help your attorney guide you in doing so efficiently. If you have created your trust, but have not yet funded it, don’t delay, act now! Call our office today to learn how you can fund your living trust.

Integrating Long Term Care Into Your Estate Plan

What Is Long Term Care?

When most people think of estate planning they focus on how their assets will be disposed of when they are deceased. A well drafted estate plan, however, can and should take into consideration the need for long term care.

Long-term care provides a range of services and support for you individuals who are unable to care for themselves due to a chronic illness or disability. Most long-term care isn’t medical care, but rather help with basic personal tasks of everyday life, sometimes called activities of daily living. All too often, individuals and families wait until a medical crisis actually happens before considering long term care, which usually leads to throwing together a hasty estate plan in the face of mounting medical costs.

Why Consider Long Term Care?

Long term care costs can easily drain one’s finances in a relatively short time. According to the Harvard University Study in Compensation & Benefits Review, 72% of Americans become impoverished after just one year of nursing home care. Long term care isn’t typically covered by private medical insurance and major medical insurance plans. Medicare only pays for skilled and rehabilitative care after a three-day hospital stay; this excludes custodial care, the assistance someone needs for daily living. Medicaid only covers nursing home bills after a loved one is bereft of assets.

Whether the care you need takes place in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or with an in-home provider, the costs can mount with alarming speed. According to the Genworth 2016 Annual Cost of Care Study, the cost of receiving long term care continues to rise sharply year over year, especially for services in the home, where the vast majority of Americans receive long term care and for a longer period of time than facilities. The median monthly costs for the services of a homemaker or an in-home health aide for 44 hours a week are $3,813 and $3,861, respectively. The average monthly cost of a private nursing home room is $7,698, up 1.24 percent from 2015. The cost of a semi-private room is up 2.27 percent to $6,844 per month. Assisted living communities saw a slight increase in costs of .8 percent to $3,628 per month.

Long Term Care Planning in Your Estate Plan

As with all major life situations, careful planning will ensure the financial resources are available when they are needed. If your estate plan does not consider long term care, chances are you haven’t taken a realistic look at your assets and how the potential need for long term care may affect them. Talk to an estate planning attorney about the following factors to get on the right track:

Set Reasonable Expectations for Long Term Care

While we can’t predict what will happen to us and when it will happen, we can take an educated guess. For example, are there any major diseases that run in your family? Are you involved in any kind of activity that could affect your body long term? While considering these things may feel uncomfortable, it is far better to consider them early on and plan accordingly, rather than face the reality of long term care with no plan at all.

Consider a Long Term Care Insurance Policy

Since it is highly likely that Medicare or medical insurance will not cover long term care costs, a long term care insurance policy can ensure that your financial assets are not drained due to long term care costs. Most people assume that long term care will be covered by Medicaid and face the rude awakening of having their financial assets drained after learning that it doesn’t.

Consider and discuss long term care insurance policies with affordable premiums that won’t rise drastically over time. Begin this process as early as possible, as the younger you are when you apply, the lower the long term care insurance premiums are.

Benefits of Long Term Care Insurance Policies Include:

– Preserve savings and assets for family and friends;

– Help maintain one’s financial independence from family and friends, often eliminating the need to borrow money for long-term care costs;

– Relieve family and friends of caregiving tasks, as paying for professional care becomes an affordable option;

– Allow a loved one to choose where he receives care. If Medicaid pays for care, a nursing home is the only option. People can design their policy depending on where they want to receive care: in a nursing home, in the community, at home, or in an assisted living facility; and

– Expand the range of services a loved one receives, including: care from visiting nurses, home health aides and friendly visitors programs; home-delivered meals and chore services; and time in adult daycare centers and respite services for caregivers.

Have Your Advanced Medical Directive, Power of Attorney, and Trust(s) Drafted

In the event that you are unable to make medical decisions for yourself, the last thing you want is for your family and/or friends to fight over them. Have an estate planning attorney draft you an Advanced Medical Directive outlining the treatment you want to be given if you are unable to do so. Otherwise, you run the risk of a lengthy court process in which a court will appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf.

Revocable or irrevocable trusts, such as a life insurance trusts have proven to be effective long term care planning tools for individuals of all ages, as they provide tax benefits and allow the donor to direct how the life insurance proceeds will be disposed of at the donor’s death.

While planning for long term care may seem like a daunting task, those who do plan are able to live with the peace of mind of knowing that they are covered if a need for long term care ever arises. Contact our office today to learn how we can help you create an estate plan that includes long term care.