Key Estate Planning Considerations for Older Adults

Older adults in Georgia need to ensure that their estate plans have particular components to give them protections and peace of mind. While the estate planning process itself is something that adults in Georgia of all ages should be undertaking, elderly Gwinnett County residents who do not yet have an estate plan, or who have not revisited their estate plan in a long time, need to think about particular issues and needs to address with an estate planning and asset protection lawyer. Our firm often hears from adult children who are concerned about an elderly parent who does not yet have an estate plan, and we can provide assistance. The following are some key considerations for older adults when it comes to estate planning, and relevant estate planning tools to consider.

How Will You Pay for Long-Term Care, and Who Will Provide That Care?

One of the major and key issues that older adults need to consider is how they will pay for long-term care. Part of that consideration usually involves thinking about who will provide that care, too. More older adults than you might think require the level of care that can only be provided by a nursing home (as opposed to an assisted-living facility, for example), and nursing home care is extremely expensive. Rather than spending down a lifetime of savings to cover the costs of nursing home care, most older adults should be working with an estate planning lawyer on asset protection strategies.

Those strategies may include the creation of a Medicaid asset protection trust (yes, Medicaid, and not Medicare — this is how a majority of older adults pay for nursing home care), as well as other options.

Who Will Make Health Care Decisions for You in the Event of Incapacity?

Older adults should know who they trust to make health care decisions on their behalf in the event of incapacity. While a person can become incapacitated at any age, the likelihood is higher for elderly individuals. You can name a health care agent in your Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care.

Do You Have Specific Health Care Wishes You Need to Make Clear?

You should also be thinking about end-of-life care and your wishes concerning life-sustaining treatment (whether you want it or not, and what forms) if you have a terminal illness. You can clarify your wishes, which will be followed, by putting them in a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care.

Who Will Make Financial Decisions for You in the Event of Incapacity?

Older adults should also know who they trust to make financial decisions on their behalf in the event of incapacity. That person, along with one or more alternates, can be named as an agent in a durable power of attorney.

Who Will Inherit Your Assets, and How? 

Finally, who do you want to inherit your property, and how? You have several options for leaving assets to family members, such as a will, a revocable living trust, other types of specialized irrevocable trusts, payable-on-death designations, and more.

Contact a Norcross Estate Planning Attorney for Help with Your Own or an Elderly Loved One’s Estate Plan 

If you have an elderly parent who has not yet created an estate plan and considered asset protection strategies, or if you are now at retirement age and have not created an estate plan, it is time to do so. An experienced Norcross estate planning lawyer at Bowman Law Firm can speak with you today about estate planning considerations for older adults and what documents and tools will best serve you or your elderly parent. Contact our firm to learn more about the estate planning services we provide to clients in Georgia.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-53/