In This Issue

	Talk to your parents about their finances and care plans
	If you answer yes to any of these questions, Hurley Elder Care Law can help
	Life Care Planning Goals
	The 2007 Hurley Elder Care Law Handbook of Resources

Talk to your parents about their finances and care plans

	The Christmas and New Year season has just passed and many of us saw our aging parents over the holidays. Hopefully, the season was happy and everyone was in good health, but this is also a time to assess the needs of Mom and Dad as they continue to age. Is their house in order? Have they saved enough to deal with the possible contingencies? Do they have an estate plan in place? What if one or both are diagnosed with dementia? The best way to achieve peace of mind regarding these issues is to make sure that there is a plan in place.
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If you answer yes to any of these questions, Hurley Elder Care Law can help.

		Has the elder been diagnosed with a mentally or physically debilitating disorder such as Alzheimer’ s, Parkinson’s, ALS, stroke or a decline in functional capacity?
		Is the elder isolated due to the recent death of a spouse, or have family that either lives too far away or is too busy to provide adequate care?
		Is the elder soon to be discharged into a care facility or currently receiving in-home care?
		Does the elder have a variety of healthcare providers and need coordination and advocacy for quality care?
		Does the elder seem unusually concerned about costs of medication and services, indicating he or she may be having financial troubles?
		Does the elder have assets that fall between $50,000 and $400,000 – enough to finance a short stay in a care facility but not enough for an extended stay?
		Does the elder have a spouse whose financial needs must be considered in light of the elder’s medical condition?

Life Care Planning Goals

1. Meeting the elders’ immediate health care and long-term care needs.
2. Making sure the elder/family is making good health care and long-term care decisions.
3. Helping the elder/family sort through the maze of their long-term care options including residential options.
4. Identifying and accessing public benefits and resources to pay for care should the elder meet the qualifying criteria.
5. Help with asset management, including the burden of home ownership and personal property.
6. Providing the entire family the peace of mind that comes from knowing their loved one is monitored by a team that combines legal and financial expertise with specialized knowledge of the elders’ physical, mental and emotional health.
7. Ensuring the highest level of independence the elder can achieve, while ensuring safety.

Talk to your parents about their finances and care plans

There are many financial needs for our parents, these range from determining which Medicare plan to choose to managing retirement accounts to planning for long term care needs to estate planning. Depending on the relationship that you have with your parents, these subjects can be difficult to discuss. Try to set aside some time when there are no other issues to consider and open a dialog with your parents. It is important to make sure the everyone’s expectations are known so that all of the matters are properly addressed. These are important matters and the entire family will be greatful if there is a plan in place when a parent’s health begins to fail. Lets take a look at some of the issues that should be considered: Take a look at the overall financial picture. Do your parents have sufficient assets or insurance to pay for long term care? With the costs of nursing homes running at better than $60,000 per year, assisted living facilities costs being all over the board, based on services and the cost of home care workers averaging between $15 and $20 per hour, you definitely need to have a plan. There are very few sources available to pay for long term care and Medicare has a very limited role in the process. What this means is that the situation needs to be addressed as a part of the entire picture. Be prepared for bumps in the road. This means have a comprehensive estate plan in place that can handle not only the issues associated with death, but also disability or incompetence. Must have documents include a General Durable Power of Attorney, a Health Care Power of Attorney and a Will and/or a Trust. An experienced attorney can help you to complete the “road map” for your particular situation. If your parents already have wills and other estate-related documents, make sure they are reviewed every year to two years or if there have been any major life changes. Make sure you know where all of the records and documents are. It can be quite difficult to keep up with your own records, much less trying to understand where your parents’ records may be, especially if a crisis occurs. Ask your parents to provide a list of their investment, bank, and insurance accounts, along with contact information and account numbers. It is a good idea to keep a notebook or binder containing copies of all planning documents, together with a listing of assets and a list of advisors, with the appropriate account and phone numbers. Additionally, if the are accounts that have a user name and password required for access, make sure that those are included on a list as well. Finally, if your parents have a safe deposit box, make sure that someone else has access to the box. Most if not all banks will require a court order or probate papers for someone who was not preapproved to attain access to safe deposit boxes. Check on the insurance. Insurance needs differ from person to person, but it’s worth a moment to check whether your parents have the policies they need. For parents 65 and older, review the Medicare Part B, Part D, Supplement or Advantage Plan that they have to make sure that it is the most cost effective plan for their needs. Consider long-term care insurance. Once again, this needs to be a cost benefit analysis based on potential need and other avenues available to pay for long-term care. Take a look at the homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance policies to make sure that everything is covered. It may also be wise depending on the situation to consider an umbrella policy that offers extra liability insurance in case of auto accidents or lawsuits. Finally, look at any life insurance policies. If your parents no longer need their policies, they should either give them to their children or sell them to a third party, as those options are most likely better from a dollars and cents standpoint than simply surrendering the policy and cashing it in. Look at names. There are many instances in which accounts have beneficiary designations. The person(s) named in those designations will take the assets regardless of what is stated in the other planning documents. Such a review is particularly important for parents who have divorced or remarried. If a widow forgets to update beneficiary designations, then her previously deceased spouse’s estate might inherit the retirement account, creating hassles and expenses. While looking at the beneficiary designations, you should review the retirement accounts. Parents over age 70½ years need to be taking required minimum distributions from IRAs and pension plans. Also ask your parents to take steps that will allow the assets held in retirement plans to be “stretched” for as long as possible. That means that those accounts can continue to grow tax deferred for as long as possible. Most financial planners recommend keeping a cash account containing at least three months of living expenses. Depending on the economic environment, it might take too long to sell off real estate or other assets, so ready cash can be used to help pay debts, taxes, or deal with any other unexpected costs. Talking with parents about important financial matters can be easy to put off, but get over your discomfort and sit down with them before a true life changing event occurs. You will all feel relieved to have these issues in the open and to have a plan in place should the much feared loss of good health occur.