In such cases, conservatorship and guardianship are legal tools that can be used to help protect an adult or child’s wellbeing. Both involve court proceedings in which a judge gives an appointed conservator or guardian the responsibility for making various decisions on an incapacitated person’s behalf. Such decisions may be of a legal, medical, financial or personal nature.

In California, guardianship refers only to the court appointment of an individual with the legal authority to represent and manage the affairs of a minor child. Conservatorships are for protecting incapacitated adults and typically involve matters related to health care and estate. Many states use the term “guardianship” instead of “conservatorship” when referring to the same duties for adults. In these states “conservator” refers to someone appointed to only handle finances.

California courts typically establish guardianships if both parents are unable to provide a child with a safe and secure home due to death, mental disability or other circumstances. Such arrangements allow a guardian to make decisions for the child until they are of legal age to care for themselves.

The need for conservatorship may arise if an adult individual experiences an injury, accident or other health event that causes them to become incapacitated. They may also require assistance in various areas of life after becoming mentally incapacitated due to disability or old age.

The process of issuing a conservatorship or guardianship is often difficult, costly and time-consuming. Conservatorship should be viewed as a last resort when a Durable Power of Attorney or Advance Health Care Directive has not been signed. Otherwise, it can impose significant limitations on a person’s ability to maintain their independence and freedom.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
To contact an estate planning lawyer visit http://www.gilfix.com/ or call 800.244.9424.

And to be well-thought-out means that it doesn’t just happen. You have to take steps to create the plan. The plan has to be specific to your estate and your situation, so when you meet with a financial planner or certified elder-law attorney to discuss the plan, you should have our estate pretty much laid out.

Once you do that, you then have to make sure you have all the documents you could possibly need to secure every bit of that estate without the need for a probate judge.

Here is a basic estate planning checklist for doing your estate plan:

• First, take inventory. This involves looking over everything you have that is valued at $100 or more. Look through your house and mark down everything of value – power tools, jewelry, televisions, vehicles, the house itself. Next, look through your various money accounts – savings, checking, CDs, IRAs and the like. Next, make notes of all your insurance policies – medical, home, auto, life, etc. Make note of any and all beneficiaries of these policies and accounts, as well as any death benefits and premiums.

• Find a professional. This work can’t be done by yourself, unless you are a professional planner – and even then, your emotional or sentimental side may cloud your judgement. It’s always a good idea to find a quality financial planner or a certified elder-law attorney (CELA designation) to take your inventory and work with you to develop all the legal documents you need.

• The will. This is probably the most important instrument in your estate plan, and it sets the tone for everything else. Be as specific as you can in terms of who gets your assets upon your death, and who would be the guardian for your children if they are under age 18. Know that this can and should always be updated every few years or as needed when something in your life changes (spouse dies, you get divorced, a child dies, you have a falling out with a family member, etc.).

• A living trust. If done correctly, a living trust can be a great way for your assets to be transferred to family without the hassle of probate.

• Advance Health Care Directive. This is actually two documents, a living will and a power of attorney for health care. These help you with medical decisions if you are unable to make them for yourself due to physical or mental incapacity. You can designate a person to make these decisions for you; and it’s a good idea to let this person know what you want before you make the document.

• Financial power of attorney. Similar to the healthcare directive, a financial power of attorney allows you to designate a person to handle your financial affairs should you become physically or mentally unable to make those decisions yourself.

• If you don’t have beneficiaries named on any accounts, or if you need to change them, this is a good time to do that. It’s a good idea to have your beneficiary forms match with your will, because in the case of confusion, the beneficiary form will prevail in most cases.

• Your children’s property. If your children are under 18, name a person to manage any inheritances or money from your estate. The person you designate as guardian in your will could be this person if you want. You can always change this once all your children reach adulthood.

• Life Insurance? Not everyone needs it, but it could be good if you may have substantial debt r if you own a home or have young children.

• Estate taxes. As long as your estate is not more than $5 million, you won’t have to pay estate taxes. Your estate planner can help you determine your taxable worth and help you with strategies to ensure you don’t get hit with the death tax.

• Pay for the funeral. You could set up an account that is payable on death, which has enough money to cover expenses regarding funeral, burial, memorial services and the like.

• Final wishes. Let your loved ones know if you are willing to donate organs and if you want a burial or cremation. Not securing these details will cause headaches and will delay the mourning.

• Business moves. If you own your own business, have a succession plan in place. If you are part of a partnership, have a buyout plan or some other arrangement once a partner passes.

• Safe storage. Once you have all your documents, make copies. Have a copy in a safe deposit box or safe place in your home where spouses or children can access it when needed. Also have a copy to your executor and any legal guardians; and of course, to your estate planner. Keep a copy for yourself as well, so you can remember he forms and when it is time to update them.

The post 14-point Estate Planning Checklist to Secure Your Estate appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.

For 30 years, we have been advising our clients to have their children sign some vital documents when they become 18 years of age.

The fact is that anything can happen to anybody at any time. By no means are 18 year-olds an exception to the rule. Some would say that their behavior proves the rule every day!

Parents who have been consistently in the loop for their child’s medical care don’t always realize that once a child becomes 18, they may suddenly be considered no more than strangers to medical professionals involved in that now-adult child’s emergency care. They need to consider the possible implications of that milestone birthday.

Parents can find it particularly stressful when a college student child is, for example, in an accident. Health care providers may cite HIPAA (federal legislation protecting privacy) as a reason not to allow parents access to information about an ill or unconscious child. In fact, sometimes parents aren’t even informed that the child is hurt or ill because the child is legally an adult. Parents and their young-adult children need to think about the unthinkable in advance. Three forms—HIPAA authorization, Advance Health Care Directive, and a Durable Power of Attorney—will help facilitate the involvement of a parent or other trusted adult in a medical emergency.

A Durable Power of Attorney enables someone to act on behalf of the person signing the document if he becomes incapacitated. It enables a parent or other designated agent to take care of business on the student’s behalf. If the student were to become incapacitated or if the student were studying abroad, the person named as agent in a Durable Power of Attorney would be able, for example, to sign tax returns, access bank accounts, and pay bills.

The Advance Directive gives authority to a chosen agent to communicate with doctors and other medical professionals and to make health care decisions when necessary.

A signed HIPAA Authorization will make it crystal clear that a parent (or other trusted person) can be kept in the information loop. It is like a permission slip. It permits health-care providers to disclose the child’s health information to anyone specified. A stand-alone HIPAA authorization (not incorporated into another legal document) does not have to be notarized or witnessed. This document alone, signed in advance by your child, will suffice to allow you to get information from the doctors and nurses at a far-away hospital. Young people who want parents to be involved in a medical emergency, but don’t want sensitive information disclosed, should not be deterred because the HIPAA authorization does not have to be all-encompassing They can specify not to disclose information about sex, drugs, mental health, or other details they want kept private.

We hope that you will take this very seriously and allow us to take these protective steps on behalf of your children.

To do so, we will have to communicate with your children. We will need to know whom they want to be named in these documents. Who knows, it may be you.

Once the forms are completed, scan and save them so that they are readily available on a smart phone or home computer.

We at Gilfix & La Poll Associates believe that estate planning includes planning with regard to what will happen to us – not just to our property and other assets – when we’re at the end of our lives. We make it part of our service to you to enter into a discussion about what you want and don’t want to happen when the end of life is near. This is only the first conversation; we encourage you to share your feelings, values and wishes with your loved ones and medical practitioners. We practice what we preach. If we don’t engage in this planning, we’re vulnerable to what can transpire by default – spending our last few days in an ICU, even if that’s at odds with our needs and preferences.

“Dying well” is quite personal. Your conversation(s) with the people you’re closest to lets them know how you want to die and how they, surviving friends and family members, can help carry out your wishes without uncertainty and guilt. People who’d prefer to die at home can do so, and benefit from pain management and comfort over costly and “heroic” measures. Having this conversation before a crisis – or being open to such conversations – gives everyone time to digest, reflect and integrate the information.

We want you to be clear about end of life treatment so that family members and medical providers have the guidance they need to respect your preferences. Loved ones need to talk to one another when circumstances aren’t so charged. Better that these conversations occur around a dining table than around a hospital bed.

Most of you have already signed an Advance Health Care Directive. That is a huge benefit to you and to your loved ones. But be sure to keep the conversations going. The person you appointed to make decisions on your behalf when you are unable to speak for yourself needs to feel comfortable with your wishes and to understand your values. Having the rest of your family “on board” is also important.

Wednesday, April 16, is Health Care Decisions Day. Let this be a reminder to communicate with those you care about so that your life can reflect your values and wishes – even at its end. Then go out and celebrate life!

Myra Gerson Gilfix was the founding Chair of Healthcare Decision-making Special Interest Group (SIG) for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. This SIG dealt with multiple issues regarding health care, including health care advance directives, durable powers of attorney, DNR orders, biomedical ethics, issues relating to pain relief, dying at home, palliative care, and informed consent.

Ethical Wills have long been used for just this purpose. The concept has been around for centuries. The concept is firmly imbedded in the Old Testament.

The goal is to pass along the wisdom and maturity of your lifetime. The goal is to pass along the values that you have developed over the decades. While this is primarily achieved by the life you lead and the nature of your relationships, a written legacy can be even more enduring.

What might an Ethical Will address?

It might identify the more formative experiences of your lifetime or the critical lessons that you learned. It might identify the issues or causes that are most important to you – and why. For some, biblical or other such references are appropriate. For others, it may be poetry or chosen words of a favored philosopher.

An Ethical Will is very personal. In addition to global or enduring truths, it might address the very nature of your relationship with your loved ones.

You must prepare your revocable living trust, your Durable Power of Attorney, and your Advance Health Care Directive. You must also think about passing along your values in a meaningful, written way. An Ethical Will – and the thoughtful process of developing the will – is perhaps the best planning tool that you can use.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
To contact an estate planning lawyer visit http://www.gilfix.com/ or call 800.244.9424.