The early stages of dementia are often recognized by family members first.

Most patients and their families are not entirely surprised when a diagnosis of dementia is made by a physician. The patient and the family have probably been noticing subtle changes for some time. However, when these suspicions are confirmed by a diagnosis, all the decision makers for the family need to carefully assess their situation and confirm that appropriate planning is done to get the best care without creating a financial crisis. When the diagnosis of dementia is made early in the disease process, the patient can take part in the planning process.

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Most people prefer to receive care in their own homes, particularly in the early stages of dementia.

Typically family members are the initial caregivers for their loved ones. As care needs increase, family members can quickly become overwhelmed. Initially the family may decide to hire caregivers to help with the care in the home setting.

Families need to understand the differences between nurse registries and home health agencies when contracting for care.

When hiring a home health agency, the contract is between the agency and the client and the home health aides and nurses are employees of the agency. Nurse registries act to match a patient with an independent home health aide or nurse. Once the match is made, the contract is between the client and the aide or nurse individually. It is critical that the client understand who will be responsible in the event of theft or negligence or if the worker becomes injured on the property. Families need to understand the amount of supervision of the worker that the company provides. If the company does not supervise the worker and the patient has dementia, the family must closely watch the situation to ensure that services are properly provided. Different companies have different contractual provisions and protocols for services. Elder law attorneys are familiar with the contract types and should be able to advise families about the choices available.

Some people prefer to avoid the company altogether by hiring unlicensed individuals as caregivers.

In addition to risks inherent in hiring someone who has not met the background checks of an agency or registry, families need to understand their legal obligations concerning payroll and unemployment taxes in these situations. It is too easy to be caught in the trap of not reporting payments.

Some families are surprised to learn that when a person needs 24 hour care, home care is the most expensive option for obtaining that care. Generally, it will cost in excess of $200,000 per year to have around-the-clock home care. So families need to consider what funding sources they have to pay such costs. If the patient has a long term care insurance policy, it should be carefully reviewed to determine what will trigger the policy, and what are the daily and lifetime policy limitations. For patients who are veterans or their spouses, veterans’ benefits should be analyzed.

When in the early stages of dementia the patient will have an opportunity to consider changes to the estate planning documents in place.

If a patient can pay the cost of care from income indefinitely, then the typical revocable living trust planning is appropriate. However, if a family cannot pay for care from income without impoverishing the spouse, the documents need to be revised in order to allow maximum flexibility for planning to utilize government benefits such as Veterans’ benefits or Medicaid. Many families wait until a person with dementia is too impaired to make changes. Then, whatever documents are in place must stay in place. If the documents do not specifically allow for planning for government benefits, such planning cannot be done legally.

If you or a loved one get a diagnosis of the early stages of dementia, consult an Elder Law attorney right away to get a plan in place.