If you or someone you love has Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, it is important to put legal and financial plans in place as soon as possible.
Fraser Trebilcock Elder Law attorney Melisa Mysliwiec says that proper planning helps to ensure that the person with the diagnosis is able to contribute to important decisions about health care and long-term care, finances and property, and deciding who will make decisions on his or her behalf if he or she becomes unable to do so.
“If plans are not made early,” she says, “it may leave the family of the Alzheimer’s patient to guess as to what their loved one would have wanted or worse, it may ultimately be up to the courts to decide.”
Melisa spoke recently to a group of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers during a presentation at MSU Federal Credit Union. As an attorney who also volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association, Melisa emphasized that early planning is key.
Some of the areas where our elder law attorneys can help you include:
- Preparing Durable Power of Attorney for financial matters.
- Exploring ways to defray long term care costs.
- Assistance with Medicaid Planning and the Medicaid Application process for long term care benefits.
- Protecting against elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.
- Handling various nursing home issues (payment, admissions, transfers, discharge, resident’s rights, and quality care).
- Preparing Designations of Patient Advocate for health care matters.
- Preserving assets to avoid spousal impoverishment when one spouse must enter a nursing home.
- Guardianships, Conservatorships, and Protective Orders.
- Exploring options for housing and living arrangements.
- Estate planning through use of wills, trusts and other documents.
When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, these decisions must be made early in the progression of the disease because, in later stages, the person with dementia may lack the legal capacity to make decisions. An elder care attorney can best assist you through the process.
Additional Resources:
- Elder Care Law
- Long-Term Care Insurance
- New Rules Make Preventative Care for Alzheimer’s, Diabetes More Accessible for Medicare Patients
- Why Your Caretaker Agreement Should Be Medicaid-Compliant, Even If You’re Not on Medicaid
- Alzheimer’s Association
If you would like to talk with an attorney about putting legal plans in place, contact attorney Melisa M. W. Mysliwiec. Melisa focuses her work in the areas of Elder Law and Medicaid planning, estate planning, and trust and estate administration. She can be reached at mmysliwiec@fraserlawfirm.com or 616-301-0800.