Elder Law Attorney for Dementia & Alzheimer's patients | Glendale Pasadena Ca
Dementia patients and families grieve the loss of health when a diagnosis is made. There are a number of legal tools and documents that can help ease the stress and the loss which families face. Our Glendale elder law attorneys can help create predictability as soon as you are ready.
What you need to know:
1. Support exists. More than 5 millions Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimers or dementia. There are lots of resources which can help families with dementia or Alzheimers. Each local community has a chapter of the American Alzheimer's Association (Alz.org) which can provide lots of good information, with whose members you can exchange thoughts.
2. Use the Right Legal Documents: When the disease is at its early stages, creating an Advanced Health Care Directive, and a Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management, can work as preventative legal care to avoid a conservatorship in court. The Advanced Health Care Directive is free here to download.
3. What about Wills or Trusts? Dementia does not prevent a person from executing a will or trust, or amending those documents. If there is any doubt about capacity, a declaration from a doctor can help determine whether it is appropriate to create the will or trust now, or to do it with a court order.
4. Beneficiary Designations: To eliminate lengthy conservatorship proceedings, update your beneficiary designations. If capacity is a question, a court order designating the spouse or children as beneficiaries can be gotten, even without a conservatorship.
5. Take Pictures, and make videos on your cell phone: Documenting family histories and stories can be very valuable. Videos can work as great tools to tell your loved ones what is important to you, in the event you cannot communicate at a later stage. Youtube.com and cell phones can help in creating a living history and directions from you.
6. Make a review appointment with your lawyer and financial advisor twice a year: Review your assets, inventory them, and your documents with a professional twice a year. This helps keep things fresh, and in check, in case you have forgotten an asset which needs to be handled.
Why us? We have solutions.
Mina Sirkin, is a nationally recognized elder law, dementia and probate attorney and has served as a media expert to CNN, MSNBC, Inside Edition, NPR and KTLA regarding probate and estate matters. She is Certified as a Specialist by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, in Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law. Mina Sirkin is rated 10/10 on Avvo. Sirkin Law Group's Glendale office can assist you and your loved ones. Call: 818.340.4479. Our Glendale Office is located at 450 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 600, Glendale, CA 91203. Glendale Elder Law and Dementia Counsel.
