It’s hard to watch the decline of a loved one’s health. This can be especially true if you have a parent who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This condition can negatively impact your loved one’s cognitive functioning and reduce their memory, and they might also experience mood swings, disorientation and language issues.
As a result, you might find yourself worried about your parent’s future. This includes not just their mental well-being and their physical care but also their financial affairs. These worries are legitimate, which is why you might want to find ways to help your loved one create an effective estate plan.
What can you do to help your loved one plan?
Fortunately, there’s a lot of support that you can provide here. This includes the following:
- Helping your parent create an inventory of their assets and liabilities.
- Assisting your parent in deciding whether a power of attorney and a health care directive are needed to ensure that appropriate decisions can be made on their behalf if their condition worsens to the point that they can’t make those decisions for themselves.
- Aiding your parent in considering their trust options to ensure that appropriate control is retained over their assets while maximizing their benefits through the estate planning process.
- Helping your parent engage in long-term care planning, which may include analyzing everything from long-term care insurance to Medicaid eligibility.
Be careful when helping your loved one with their estate plan
Assisting a parent with their estate plan can be a delicate matter. It’s usually a good idea to tell other family members of your intentions so that you’re not accused of exercising undue influence, and you’ll have to ensure that your parent demonstrates appropriate mental capacity when executing key legal documents.
That’s why it’s often a good idea to avoid addressing these matters on your own. Therefore, as you prepare to navigate the intricacies of the process, please consider what you can do to find the support that you need.