Coping with Alzheimer’s

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s changes life not only for the patient who has been diagnosed but also for family members who could become caregivers and who will have to cope with a loved one’s decline.  It is important to respond right away when Alzheimer’s is diagnosed so you can make the right plans to give the patient the highest possible quality of life and so family resources can be protected.

Amato Law, PLLC offers you the comprehensive legal help that you need to make plans for a future with Alzheimer’s affecting you or your family. Our firm will work with you to determine the issues that must be addressed in your planning process and will help you to make the most effective use of legal tools to address your family’s situation. Give us a call to get personalized help and answers to questions you have about responding to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis including:

• Why is it important to get Alzheimer’s planning help?
• What should be part of your Alzheimer’s planning process?
• How can an Alzheimer’s planning lawyer in New York help you?

Why is It Important to Get Alzheimer’s Planning Help?

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis means you have a limited amount of time left when you will still be able to be in total control of your life without help. When you have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as long as you are still considered to be of sound mind under the law, it is time to begin making plans for what will happen when you can no longer make and communicate your own choices.

This means you need to work with an experienced attorney to make an incapacity plan so you are the one to decide on medical care and to decide on who will make your life choices after you can’t. If you don’t make a plan, court proceedings to appoint a guardian may become necessary, and the guardian the court chooses to make decisions on your behalf may not be your preferred person.

You may also want to get all of your affairs in order to make a plan for your legacy and to prepare in case you must go into a nursing home. Most Alzheimer’s patients eventually require care in an institutional environment, like a nursing home that caters to people with dementia. The costs associated with nursing home care are far too high for many families to cover and can result in a life savings being lost. Plans can often be made to protect at least some assets, but the process needs to begin as soon as possible before you need care.

What Should be Part of Your Alzheimer’s Planning Process?

The components of your Alzheimer’s plan will vary depending upon what your family situation is, what your concerns are about the future, and what steps you want to take to try to protect your autonomy and your family.

Amato Law, PLLC will work closely with you to discuss the specific legal tools and components that should be a part of your plan and will help you with the process of effectively using those legal tools.  Your plan could include:

• Advanced directives so you can specify what kinds of care you will, and won’t, want to receive under particular circumstances.
• A power of attorney to name a person who can act on your behalf once you aren’t able to make and act upon autonomous decisions any more.
• A last Will and testament, Trusts, and other estate planning tools that you can use to determine who should inherit assets, and that you can use to protect your assets and facilitate the timely transfer of those assets to new owners.

Our firm will also help with any specific issues that you have, such as planning for the succession of a business you own to new owners once your Alzheimer’s progresses or making plans to ensure that a disabled child you are responsible for can be cared for. You should talk with an attorney as soon as you can, because if you wait too long after a diagnosis, your Alzheimer’s may progress and you may become unable to make these plans.

How Can an Alzheimer’s Planning Lawyer Help You?

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it’s important to get to work on making your plans for taking advantage of benefits, protecting family assets, and taking control over your future.  To find out more about how our firm helps clients in New York with the Alzheimer’s planning process, give us a call today.