Long term care needs require planning.
Our practice model involves having a relationship with our clients as they go through the aging process. We use a multidisciplinary approach and try to address not only structuring legal documents optimally in order to set up a plan that either starts immediate protections if done early enough, or sets up flexibility to make appropriate changes in a crisis situation. These legal steps set our clients up to avoid future problems regarding their long term care needs. But legal documents are only a small piece of the puzzle. Looking toward the future and considering the likely events that happen as a person ages is critical. Making good decisions about care as needs develop is crucial. In order to make good decisions, elders and their fiduciaries need to know what options are available and what the costs of the various options are. Elders and their fiduciaries should also be aware of what possible benefits are available and when and how they could be utilized.
Whether the benefit is Long Term Care Insurance, VA benefits or Medicaid,
the elder and the fiduciary needs to know the criteria and when and how the benefits are triggered.
Most importantly, elders and their families need
independent assessment of needs, not provided by a company whose interest is recommending their own services. Getting the right care at the right time not only ensures quality of life but also preservation of assets.
All too often, the sole focus of legal planning is obtaining legal documents to avoid probate. Avoiding probate is a very small problem when it comes to what is really important in planning for long term care needs.