There are certain realities that come along with aging, and if you want to make sure that you are prepared for any and all circumstances that may come your way you need to plan comprehensively. Of course making sure that your assets get to your loved ones in an efficient manner after you pass away is a big part of what estate planning is all about, but you must consider the period of time that will precede your death as well. People are living longer than ever, with the oldest old being the fastest-growing age demographic subset. So when you are making projections for the future you have to recognize the fact that you may well live into your mid to late 80s and beyond.

With this added longevity comes the distinct possibility of mental incapacity due to dementia. Though everyone has heard of Alzheimer’s disease, many of us are not aware of just how ubiquitous it has become. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease strikes one out of every eight people who reach the age of 65. Alzheimer’s is more common among women, impacting 16% of females aged 71 and over. No less than 43% of individuals aged 85 and up are Alzheimer’s sufferers. Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia, and dementia can strip its victims of the ability to make sound medical and financial decisions.

This is why incapacity planning is so important. If you were to become unable to make decisions for yourself without having made any plans in advance, the court could appoint a guardian to handle your affairs and you would subsequently become a ward of the state. To avoid this you could simply execute a durable medical power of attorney and empower someone to make medical decisions in your behalf in the event of your incapacitation. Along with this you would also want to execute a durable financial power of attorney and name a representative who you would like to see handling your financial affairs should you become unable to do so for yourself.

Mental incapacity is not something that anyone is going to welcome, but it happens and it is something that must be addressed when you are formulating a comprehensive estate plan.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Considering the rising costs of nursing homes and assisted living communities, prudent long term planning is necessary to make sure that you are prepared financially for all of the eventualities that you will face as you enter your twilight years. It is likely that you or your aging parents will need long term care at some point in time, and this is something to address both as an individual and as a family.

The current national average cost for a year in a nursing home is over $83,000, and assisted living facility charges are near $40,000; in New Jersey these numbers are considerably higher. Depending on your means, you may be able to use existing resources to comfortably cover these expenses. Others may have to consider using their savings, and this can impact your legacy planning significantly.

Long term care insurance is certainly an option, and if you choose to go this route the sooner you take out the policy the less expensive the premiums will be. Due to the high cost of this insurance some people choose to take out a reverse mortgage to pay the premiums. This is a type of loan that allows you to use your home as a source of income, essentially selling equity that you have back to a mortgage lender.

Medicaid also pays for nursing home care for eligible recipients. If you meet the qualifications you may be able to get the financial assistance that you need in this manner. However, Medicaid laws could be described as somewhat complex and it is difficult for the layman to negotiate those waters without professional assistance.

Because long term care is such an uncomfortable topic to discuss, the temptation exists to sweep the matter under the rug and never prepare to address the costs intelligently. But the fact is that most people need to make advance plans to have the resources that they need to pay for long term care, and this is best accomplished with the assistance of an experienced elder law attorney.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Most estate planning attorneys consider themselves to be experts in the larger specialty of elder law, and it is indeed a rapidly burgeoning legal niche. Many people are surprised when they hear that senior citizens are the fastest-growing segment of the society in the United States. But they are even more stunned when they hear just how fast the senior population is growing. It is estimated that the number of seniors in America will double by 2030. Some 10,000 Americans are applying for Social Security for the first time each and every day.

If you look a bit closer the numbers get more surprising. Elders who have reached the age of 85 and older are the most rapidly growing segment of senior citizens. Among other things, this means that it is becoming increasingly likely that you will live into your mid to late 80s and beyond.

The Alzheimer’s Association recently released a study that put the disease and its impact on American society under a microscope. Dementia is a condition that prevents people from being able to handle their routine day-to-day responsibilities due to a reduction in memory and cognitive abilities. Alzheimer’s is the cause of between 60%-80% of the dementia cases in the United States.

The study, which was released in 2010, states that there are 5.3 million Alzheimer’s sufferers in America. 5.1 million of these people are senior citizens. The highest concentration is among seniors who are at least 85 years old; 40% of these people have Alzheimer’s disease.

When you combine these factors, two things become clear: People are living longer, and the longer you live the more likely it is that you will contract Alzheimer’s disease.

This dynamic makes incapacity planning essential for anyone who is preparing for the eventualities of aging. If you have not discussed such a plan with your elder law attorney, now is the time. Alzheimer’s disease is a very real possibility that is something that everyone should take into consideration when they are making preparations for their twilight years.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you look at the statistics, the rapid increase in the numbers of people who are 85 years of age and older is really eye catching. The fact is that you may well live into your mid to late eighties and beyond, and this makes incapacity planning a vital component to any comprehensive preparatory strategy.

If you are a widow or a widower and you were to become incapacitated, your various family members may have different ideas about the the way that you would choose to proceed if you were capable of making your medical decisions known. This is a very important matter because first and foremost, your own preferences should be honored throughout your life. And secondly, the last things you would want to see is bickering among your loved ones with regard to your care at such a stressful and emotional time.

You can make sure that your wishes are known through the execution of a durable medical power of attorney and a living will. With a living will you expressly state which medical procedures you are willing to accept in the event of your incapacity and those that you would prefer to deny. This puts to rest any debates about whether or not you would want to be kept alive through artificial means if you were in a terminal condition.

So you are covered in cases that you did not think to address in the living will you can also include a durable medical power of attorney. With this document you empower an individual to make medical decisions in your behalf in the event of your incapacitation.

When you have these advance health care directives in place you take control of your own medical decisions come what may for your own reasons. And in addition, you spare your loves ones from having to debate these agonizing decisions among themselves.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

To plan your estate properly and comprehensively you need to take a mature and pragmatic approach and be unafraid to confront somewhat unpleasant possibilities. For your family, the only thing worse than having to address a difficult matter is having to do so completely unprepared, and this is something that you would do well to consider when you are planning your estate.

With this is in mind we would like to take a frank look at the topic of incapacity. A significant percentage of senior citizens become unable to make sound personal and financial decisions at some point due to physical or mental incapacitation, and this is just one of the stark realities of aging. Someone may have to make decisions for you at some point in the future, and you can decide on two different courses of action with that in mind. You can seize control and name the people who you would like to empower to make medical and financial decisions in your behalf in the event of your incapacity, or do nothing and let the court decide.

If you haven’t stated your wishes and selected decision makers, interested parties who feel as though you need protection can petition the court to appoint a guardian and conservator. The guardian is the individual who will make personal decisions for you. This decision making power includes medical decisions. The conservator will take control of the financial aspects of your estate, managing assets, making investments, and distributing the funds that are needed for your ongoing care and general well being.

To avoid the above scenario, you simply include a health care proxy and durable financial power of attorney in your estate plan. In the former document you name your preferred medical decision maker and in the latter you name your financial decision maker. In this manner you have stated your wishes should you become incapacitated at some point in the future and you are not subject to the appointment of a guardian and conservator.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

More and more people are becoming aware of the need to prepare for the end of their lives through advance directives, and this is a positive development. Many of us are reluctant to talk about the subject of death, especially when we are having a conversation with family members who have reached their twilight years. Ironically, the fact is that this is exactly when frank and open discussions about the wishes of our elders is necessary and appropriate. If they don’t make their wishes known a lot of decisions are going to be made for them, and these decisions may not be consistent with that they really want.

A good way to approach end of life planning is with the advance directive known as Five Wishes. This concept was first used as a Florida-specific document back in 1996, but now it is recognized in 42 states and New Jersey is indeed one of them. This document involves stating your wishes concerning five different matters that are relevant to end of life planning. If you simply ask yourself these five questions, you are covering all of your bases and letting your wishes be known:

1.) Who do I want to empower to make medical decisions in my behalf?

2.) What types of medical treatment will I allow?

3.) What are my comfort care preferences?

4.) How would I like people to interact with me?

5.) What final messages do I have for my loved ones?

When you answer these questions in a thoughtful, thorough, and comprehensive manner you leave nothing to chance. You are essentially selecting a health care proxy, making out a living will, and addressing all of the other details that go along with intelligent and comprehensive end of life planning. Using Five Wishes is a good way to organize the myriad details of incapacity planning into a manageable form.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Planning your estate is intertwined with the plans that you must make for the end of your life, and to do this with due diligence you have to ask yourself how long you can realistically expect to live. When you look at the current statistics regarding longevity in the United States you see a remarkable trend. People are living longer, with the “oldest old, ” those 85 years of age and older being the single fastest growing segment of our society. So if you have no specific health problems you may well join this growing group, living on well into your eighties and beyond.

When you take this increasing longevity into account, it becomes all the more likely that you may require nursing home care at some juncture. With this in mind it is important to recognize the fact that the costs associated with a stay in a nursing home are significant, and they are rising.

MetLife does a good job of providing annual statistics on the subject, and their study reveals that the cost of a private room in a nursing home in the United States in 2010, on average, went up 4.6% over ’09 rates. In 2009 the average annual rate for a private room was $79,935, and in 2010 it was $83,585. Choosing to stay in a semi-private room isn’t going to save you a whole lot of money. The 2009 cost for a semi-private room was $72,270 a year, and in 2010 that went up by 3.5% to $74,825.

In the same way that they say everything is big in Texas, everything is more expensive in New Jersey. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home in the Garden State is over $112,000 per year, and a semi-private room will run you about $101,000 per annum.

Being able to cover a six-figure per year nursing home expense at the end of your life requires preparation. The prudent course of action is to discuss the matter with an estate planning professional who will help you devise a strategy to prepare for this possible eventuality.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Every U.S. state enacts guardianship or conservatorship laws to handle instances when citizens become physically or mentally incapacitated. For instance, many are familiar with Britney Spears’ case; her family used California’s conservatorship laws to involuntarily admit her to a mental institution. During that time, her father was designated as her conservator in order to look after her and take care of her finances.

Many individuals often forget to plan for disability in later life and avoid guardianship or conservatorship when making their estate plan. Disability planning involves the following two major considerations:

• Deciding who will look after you well being, and
• Deciding who will manage your finances

Let’s take a moment to review the concept of guardianship or conservatorship:

Guardianship, or conservatorship as it is called in some states, is a legal process designed to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated individual, called the “ward”, and that person’s finances. The process is imposed and supervised by a state court which appoints a family member as the “guardian” or “conservator” to take care of some or all legal rights of the ward.

What happens when you do not have a disability plan in place?

In the absence of a disability plan, a guardianship or conservatorship will be put in place. A guardianship is designed to provide for your personal well-being and to manage your finances according to state law. This can lead to family disharmony, since the judge determining guardianship will typically appoint someone from the family as the guardian or conservator of the disabled person. In some cases no family member may be willing to take on the guardianship role; in other cases jealousy or hard feelings may occur.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When an estate goes through the process of probate there are many details that need to be addressed, and just how complex the matter is depends on the specifics of the estate in question. The probate or surrogate court proceeding requires the filing of a great deal of standard paperwork, and making sure that this is done and done correctly is the first step.

There can also be matters of guardianship or conservatorship involving fiduciaries that need to be addressed. Any outstanding debt must be satisfied, and property may have to be appraised and possibly liquidated. Taxes must be paid, and should any aspect of the estate be challenged another layer of complexity is introduced.

There are instances when the deceased will name an executor or administrator of the estate in his or her will, often times a family member or trusted friend. This person is empowered to act in behalf of the estate, but he or she is going to need the guidance of a probate attorney due to the legal intricacies involved. In fact, probate lawyers sometimes take on the dual responsibility of attorney/executor for clients who would prefer to place the entire matter into the hands of an expert.

Probate attorneys often enter the picture early on as advisers that help people plan their estates, aiding in the drawing up of wills, the implementation of asset protections measures, and the execution of advance health care directives. These days people are living longer and in fact, senior citizens are the fastest growing segment of our society. As a response many probate lawyers are expanding their offerings to include wider ranging elder law services including Medicaid law advice, disability planning, and even long term financial planning to address future nursing home expenses.

It is important to be prepared for the realities that we all face as time marches on, and these include elder care issues as well as end-of-life planning. The best way to do so is with the help on an experienced probate attorney.

The Augulis Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.