It’s no surprise that many seniors would much prefer living in their own homes as opposed to facility care. Family members who fully understand the benefits associated with aging in place—a sense of independence, better health outcomes, and the comfort home can provide—may consider an in-home caregiver for their elderly loved one. Check out our recent infographic and see some tips on how to choose the right caregiver for your loved one. [Read more…]
Choosing the Right In-Home Caregiver For You
According to an AARP survey, about 90 percent of American seniors want to live in their own homes as long as possible. Known as “aging in place,” it’s no surprise that most seniors would much prefer living in their own homes as opposed to facility care. Unfortunately, physical or cognitive issues can often make this a difficult option.
Family members who fully understand the benefits associated with aging in place—a sense of independence, better health outcomes, and the comfort that only “home” can provide—may consider an in-home caregiver for their elderly loved one.
Your loved one might benefit from an in-home caregiver for medical needs as well as with assistance in light housekeeping, routine errands, and other daily living activities. Once you have made the decision to hire a caregiver, it is important that you understand how to choose the best in-home caregiver for your elderly loved one. [Read more…]
Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes You Can Make During Covid-19: And How You Can Avoid Them – Part 1
We’ve been talking a lot recently about the mistakes we see in estate planning because now, more than ever, we are finding that people feel uncertain, and they want to know their loved ones are secure. Despite the best of intentions, sometimes estate plans just don’t work because they were not set up or maintained properly (or you never had one to begin with). While we all want to feel good about our planning, we also want to make sure it is not a false sense of security. The next few blogs will address the mistakes we often see, and how you can make sure that you don’t fall prey to them!
Mistake #1: Procrastination
One of the biggest and most common mistakes that we see in estate planning is procrastination. For many, creating an estate plan (or updating the one they did 15 years ago) is something they are always meaning to get to but never actually do. The biggest mistake you can make is not having an estate plan, because the probate court has one for you. And for those who do have a plan, their biggest mistake may be not having looked at it in years. Changes in the law, changes in what you own, family changes, job changes, changing your residence, and changing your wishes can all keep an old plan from being effective if it is not updated. In our experience, most estate plans fail because they do not reflect what you want to have happen now.
The solution to this mistake is simple: create an estate plan or update your existing estate plan. Even if you are not quite sure who you want involved or the exact details you want to be included in your plan, someone who specializes in estate or elder law planning will be able to help you with that. Additionally, if you work with a firm that has an ongoing care program, you can always update your plan if you change your mind or if your situation changes. [Read more…]
Massachusetts End of Life Resources
A few months ago, we wrote a blog discussing the various resources you can access on the Mass Gov site for elders and caregivers. Yet, as mentioned in a recent blog post, Palliative Care and Making Life More Wonderful, palliative care and end of life planning are an under discussed topic. So, today we wanted to share with you more government resources that you might find useful regarding health care proxies, hospice and palliative care.
Incapacity Strikes a Stubborn Personality: A Dangerous Combination
Advance planning for incapacity is an unpleasant topic. However, not planning for it can lead to a serious situation for the entire family. This is particularly true, when one parent is in charge of financial matters and refuses to recognize that their decision-making skills have deteriorated.
Forbes’ recent article asks, “What Can You Do When A Stubborn Aging Parent Refuses To Give Up Control?” The article explains what it took one family to get an aging parent out of the position as trustee and to permit the successor, the adult daughter, to take over.
The family saw signs of dementia and a family member’s financial abuse.
The trust provided that the parent could be removed as trustee, if two physicians declared him to be incapacitated for handling his own finances. In that case, a judge’s decision wasn’t required. The doctors verified that the elderly parent was incapacitated to safely handle his money. However, all this takes time and there is no guarantee that the doctors will find someone “legally incapacitated”.
Boomers, You Need a Plan for Long-Term Care
With more than 10,000 people celebrating their 65thbirthday every day in America, and the startling statistic that 70% of us will need long-term care at some point during our lifetimes, it would make sense that more of us would be planning for long-term care. And yet…boomers seem to be more comfortable making plans for a memorial service than they do for a nursing home visit. The cost of long-term care is big, and it’s not covered by Medicare. Surprised? So are families when the bill comes.
The Motley Fool’s recent article, “Baby Boomers Are More Prepared for Death Than Life,” says most baby boomers are either unprepared or haven’t planned for a long-term care expense, according to a Bankers Life survey of 1,500 middle-income Americans aged 54 to 72. The results show that baby boomers were more likely to plan for their own death than to have a long-term care plan. About 81% made some kind of funeral arrangements for when they pass away, but just 32% have a plan for how they’ll get care in retirement. The lack of long-term care planning is a significant issue, especially when compounded with the harm that such a huge unexpected expense has on a person’s retirement savings, particularly in cases where a nest egg is small to begin with.
End of Life Measures Get Complicated with Shared Legal Powers
Simple things get complicated in blended families. It’s often the nature of the beast. The idea that stepchildren and a spouse will work together to make health care decisions when their parent is ill, seems reasonable. However, what happens when the spouse and stepchildren differ on what is best?
A recent article from the Grand Forks Herald, “Joint power of attorney complicated this couple’s wishes,”shares the story of what happened to one woman when her elderly husband was injured and then contracted pneumonia in the nursing home. His wife alerted her adult stepchildren, who rarely visit, and they immediately arrived to help out.
While she initially hoped that their arrival would be a comfort, the children had their own idea about what was best for their father. They basically took control of the situation and negated their father’s health care documents. They had him sent back to the hospital, thinking that would be best for his overall health.
Arriving at the hospital, the woman reported that her husband was weaker from the transfer and confused about why he was back in the hospital.
Are You or Will You Become a “Solo Ager”?
Did you know that a study from the Pew Research Center says about 20% of the 75 million baby boomers don’t have children—a figure that’s double what it was in the 1970s and one that’s expected to keep rising.
We mention this because these people need someone to count on to always be there if they need help making decisions and managing their affairs as they get older.
NH Magazine’s recent article entitled “The Difficulties That Come with Solo Aging” says that, for those without children or parents who are estranged from them, it’s frequently a tough question to answer. [Read more…]
Can Someone Become My Guardian Without My Knowing It?
The concept of guardianship for a senior is a difficult thing to consider. Maintaining your independence and remaining in charge of your own life would be at risk if someone wanted to become your legal guardian, says nj.com, “Worried someone may want to be your guardian? Here’s what you need to know.”
Let’s start by understanding what guardianship is, and how it works.
Need Something Else to Worry About? Try Long-Term Care
A recent article from Think Advisor paints a dismal picture of Americans who are just not preparing themselves for the inevitable facts of aging. The article, “Now You Can Add Long-Term Care to Death and Taxes,” says this may be one of the biggest disconnects in the USA: the gap between how many Americans will need long-term care versus what people actually think they’ll need.
Just 46% think they’ll need it, according to a new studythat surveyed 2,000 people to see how prepared Americans were for the realities of long-term care.
Another misconception is the out-of-pocket cost of long-term care. The study found that the actual out-of-pocket cost of long-term care is more than $47,000. However, many Americans think it’s about half that, $25,350.
In addition, $47,000 is the low end of the scale for the yearly cost per stay. While some assisted living costs may be $45,000, semi-private nursing homes are closer to $85,000. Private nursing home care is $97,455, according to the study, which was conducted by Digital Third Coast. The study was made up of 57.7% males and 42.3% females, while 56% were age 35 and younger, 33% were 36 to 55 years old and 11% were 56 and older.