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Posts Tagged ‘durable power of attorney’

Health Care Directives-What’s the Difference?

Sarah Savasky
November 21, 2014

An Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD) is always part of the estate plans I create for clients, regardless of the individual’s age or health status. An AHCD lets you name another person (a health care agent) to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make them for yourself. It also allows you to give specific instructions regarding your health care and end of life decisions, specify organ donation wishes and provide burial instructions.

A Living Will (not to be confused with a regular will or a living trust, which serve completely different purposes) is a type of health care directive. It is a legal document that allows you to indicate which treatments you do or do not want in the event that you are suffering from a terminal illness or are in a permanent vegetative state. This type of health care directive does not include naming an agent to make health care decisions for you.

Five Wishes is a health care directive that addresses your personal, emotional and spiritual needs as well as your medical wishes. It includes the following sections:

1. The person I want to make care decisions when I can’t
2. The kind of medical treatment I want or don’t want
3. How comfortable I want to be
4. How I want people to treat me
5. What I want my loved ones to know

Next week I’ll discuss Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatments (POLST) and Do Not Resuscitate Orders (DNR).

When to Step Up Care for a Parent

Ann Robbeloth
September 25, 2014

There are many signs that a parent needs help. Financial indicators include overdue utility bills or disruption in utility services. Bounced checks or undeposited income checks laying around the house also show a lack of financial engagement that may indicate financial danger. Engagement in scams or lack of awareness around charitable giving can both show a decline in capacity and may mean your parent has already becomes a target of financial elder abuse.

Personal care indicators are most significantly marked by falls or other critical health events, but there are often earlier, more subtle signs that help with personal care i needed. A lack of unexpired, edible food in the refrigerator and cabinets will prevent proper nutrition, which leads to physical decline. While elders often eat less as they age, excuses such as I’m not hungry, I really only want canned food, etc. often indicate that food preparation is an issue. Hygiene changes may indicate unaddressed incontinence or difficulty bathing, laundering clothes and toileting.

DIY Estate Planning

Sarah Savasky
September 4, 2014

I’m all for a good do it yourself project. I recently refinished a coffee table and attempted to make a slipcover for the chair my cat destroyed. But I wouldn’t recommend doing your estate plan yourself.

I might be a tad biased considering I am an estate planning attorney, but the chances of making a mistake are high and the consequences of those mistakes could be huge. Most DIY estate planning resources are one-size-fits-all, and you may recall me saying, estate plans are not.

When it comes to estate planning, details matter. If you make a drafting error or if your will is not witnessed properly, your documents could be invalid. If you have drafted a trust but the trust has not been funded, it will not work the way it was designed to work.

Add to that, common complications associated with a second marriage or a child with special needs, and the possibilities for error increase. The decisions you make in an estate plan can have unforeseen and unintended consequences. An experienced estate planning attorney can help avoid those pitfalls and achieve your goals in thoughtful manner.

Why Does Someone Need a Conservatorship Attorney?

Rachael Phillips
August 21, 2014

Conservatorships involve a number of steps that can be difficult to manage without experience.  There are many different forms that must be completed and filed with the Court to request appointment of a conservator, as well as deadlines that must be met and procedural steps to follow.  There are state laws that apply in conservatorship proceedings, contained in the California Probate Code, and there are also local rules which vary from county to county.  Many local rules dictate the procedural steps and timeline that must be followed.  A conservatorship attorney will be able to help you navigate the process and people involved, such as the Court Investigations Unit, Probate Examiner and ultimately the Superior Court Judge who hears your case. It is his or her job to make sure that you do everything in the correct manner to achieve the best possible outcome.

If you are seeking to have yourself appointed as the conservator, the conservatorship attorney will also help you understand the responsibilities that you will have as a conservator and the rules that you will be required to follow once appointed.  Conservators have ongoing requirements to provide information to the Court and to certain individuals.  A conservatorship attorney is in the best position to help you keep track of and fulfill these requirements.

The conservatorship attorney can also help you address any concerns of family members, friends or others who might disagree with your decisions or actions.  Sometimes the role of conservator can feel like it has a public relations aspect.  When communication is planned thoughtfully with the help of your attorney, it can go a long way to keeping all family members, case coordinators, Court Investigators and other interested parties happy with your efforts.

Aging Gracefully (asking for help as we age)

Ann Robbeloth
June 30, 2014

Our estate plans do so much more than handle inheritance these days.  The wonders of modern medicine cure or safely monitor our illnesses, and we often live many decades beyond our own expectations. An estate plan allows us to delegate tasks for a very specific purpose, or over long periods of time.

Together, a trust, power of attorney and health directive allow us to turn to our support system when we need help. A financial durable power of attorney can be used by a spouse, relative or friend, to pay bills, transfer money, file an extension on a tax return that is due, and generally keep our financial lives from disaster when we’re busy recovering from a car accident or receiving a course of treatment for a few months. A trust can be used to manage real estate and investments in the same way.

In my work, I see so many happy people late in life. They often tell me that they’ve lived longer than they ever imagined. The happiest people are those who know the strengths and weaknesses of their social network, and plan accordingly. They feel entitled to give responsibilities to others, knowing that they have contributed in many complex and wonderful ways to the lives of those to whom they turn when sick or in need of support.

When it Comes to Estate Plans, Size Doesn’t Matter

Sarah Savasky
June 11, 2014

There is a common misconception that only wealthy people need estate plans. The reality is that most people need an estate plan, but not everyone needs the same estate plan or benefits from one in the same way.

Although an estate plan typically includes four documents; a Revocable Living Trust, a Will, A Durable Power of Attorney for Management of Property and Personal Affairs (DPA) and an Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD), estate plans are as unique as the people who create them. They are definitely not one size fits all.

For a family with modest assets a good estate plan is especially important because it can help them pass more of their assets to their loved ones by avoiding the expense and time associated with probate proceedings.

The most important part of an estate plan is not the estate, it’s the plan.