An essential component of most Life Care Plans includes the preparation of wills, trusts, health care powers of attorney and advanced medical directives, durable financial powers of attorney. The goal here is to ensure your voice is heard when you are unable to speak for yourself, which would likely result from the fact that you have become mentally incapacitated or… you’re dead, if I may be so blunt. Rather than focusing on restructuring assets (an “asset-focused” elder law practice), our elder-centered law practice works to customize a legal plan that serves as a road map to help the client meet the inevitable challenges of caring for an aging family member. The approach may continue for the duration of the client’s life. The elder-centered law practice team consists of attorneys, geriatric care managers, elder care coordinators, qualified mental health professionals, daily money managers, and support staff. Our Geriatric Care Manager (GCM) provides care coordination services.

This includes:

All available resources for help, both financial and otherwise, are evaluated and explored. We provide monitoring and assessments and assist with moves from one residential setting to another. When necessary, we use our authority and influence as legal counsel for the client to advocate and intervene for the client’s right to access care and to ensure the client’s right to quality care. Triggering events such as the ones listed below signal that a person’s condition is deteriorating, even though the need for long term care outside the home may be years away:

The sooner attention is given to these indicators, and solutions put into place, the better the chances that someone can age at home, preserving dignity and independence. Timing is everything. Ideally, a pre-crisis plan allows for control, security, and peace of mind. By pre-planning, we plan for certainty, and not for destiny.