Alzheimer's Information Center - Advance Directives

How to be sure your preferences are
honored and your wishes are carried out…

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  • The insidious nature of Alzheimer’s disease makes it a certainty that sufferers will eventually be unable to make rational decisions about their money, assets, or medical care. Legally, this is referred to as loss of mental capacity.

    Critical decisions will still have to be made though, and that means someone else will have to make them. Fortunately, Elder Law offers a wide variety of effective methods for assuring that the choices you would have made, are the ones that are actually carried out.

    Advance Directives are the primary legal tools for accomplishing this objective. These are special documents your lawyer will draft that appoint one or more trusted individuals to make decisions for you, once you lose mental capacity. You select the people, usually family members, who are familiar with your philosophy regarding financial, medical and healthcare matters.

    Two important documents are the foundation of your Advance Directives strategy:

    1. Your Durable Power of Attorney: Many clients think that the Power of Attorney documents they currently have in force are all they need. In the vast majority of instances, this is a misconception. Elder Law planning requires a Power of Attorney that is different and broader in scope to facilitate the legal procedures required to protect your money, income and assets.

      These approaches can include transfers of funds and property, setting up trusts, selling assets, or many other things. They all require special language that authorizes your chosen agent to take the necessary steps on your behalf. A standard Power of Attorney may be inadequate for these purposes.

      Additionally, in 2009 and 2010, New York State enacted strict legislation governing the Durable Power of Attorney, to protect the interests of the elderly, ill and disabled. If you do not have a Durable Power of Attorney in force, or the one you have hasn’t been recently reviewed and updated, it would be to your advantage to have a consultation with Lamson & Cutner immediately.

      Only an experienced New York Elder Law firm will be able to give you the right advice on structuring the Durable Power of Attorney document to cover all contingencies in a Medicaid-compliant manner.
    1. Your Health Care Proxy: Just as in managing other serious illnesses, with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia there are invariably many medical and healthcare decision that have to be made as they progress. Since lack of mental capacity is predominant in these afflictions, loved ones or others you appoint have to make choices for you.

      With a health Care Proxy, you select a person who is intimately familiar with your feelings, ideas and preferences concerning your medical and health care. That way, when you can’t decide for yourself any longer, someone who knows what you would have wanted can act for you, in accord with your wishes. This includes your preferences concerning end-of-life decisions.

    Without Advance Directives in place, your family will be subject to expensive and time-consuming guardianship proceedings. That means a judge will have to make decisions about your critical life issues, and may even end up appointing an outside third party to administer your affairs.

    What the Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy do is to give you as much control over your future as it is possible to have under the circumstances. They also take a great deal of pressure off your loved ones, because you took the time to put an effective plan in place that removes doubt and uncertainty.

To learn more about the advantages Elder Law planning can provide for you and your family, download Lamson & Cutner’s FREE, informative Special Reports now:

The Top Ten Elder Law Strategies for Alzheimer’s Patients and Their Families

25 Strategies to Prevent Financial Ruin for Long-Term Health Care Costs

Call Lamson & Cutner to learn more about Advance Directives for your particular needs. You can reach a New York Elder Law attorney at the firm toll-free at 1 (212) 447-8690.