estate planning law

Elder law and estate planning attorney Andrea Lee joins Suzanne to provide some tips for unpaid family caregivers caring for a loved one about the legal documents they need to have in place, and also some practical tips to keep in mind. Andrea Lee serves as an attorney for Legacy Estate Planning in Belleville, Washington.

Andrea says, "I'm going to share my own experiences, my own tips that I have, working as an elder law attorney for 15 years and then my own experiences as a caregiver to my mom, who has dementia, and is still at home with my dad.

"The basic legal tools that they need are so important to have in place. They're the financial power of attorney because that's the document that says, hey, if my parent is incapacitated, my parent is not able to make competent decisions on their own, can I make sure I have access to managing their finances? Can I make sure their bills are being paid? If my dad starts accidentally giving money away because he got an email from the Prince of Uganda trying to get money, do I have a way to help him out and support him, advocate for him financially, and legally? ... Second is that healthcare power of attorney... Oftentimes it falls to one child to be the primary caregiver. And if you are a parent, and you have a child who is helping you, then you should take a moment to thank them, because they are kind of the unsung heroes of care. But sometimes families fail to recognize the challenges that those caregivers might face, and the children who are not caregivers are sometimes so critical of the care that their brother or sister is giving their mom and dad, they might be harassing them about decisions that they're making, trying to tell them what to do. So that healthcare power of attorney, where you name that primary caregiver as the person that you trust to make these important medical decisions for you, are essential."

Andrea adds, "Maybe they have three daughters, and they love all three of their daughters, and all three of their daughters are responsible adults, and they trust all of them. And they're asking me, well, how do we pick which daughter? And I actually say, 'all things being equal, pick the best communicator. Pick the one who plans the birthday parties, pick the one who's reaching out to his or her siblings, and who's a good communicator.'

Learn more:
* Andrea Lee: https://www.waltar.com/andrealee/
* Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/

Hear more:
* Legacy Estate Planning podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/legacy-estate-planning/
* Power of attorney podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/power-of-attorney/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elder law and estate planning attorney Andrea Lee joins Suzanne to talk about essential legal documents to have in place no matter your age, keeping them up to date, and describing oft overlooked documents such as the HIPAA release and POLST form, Physicians Order of Life Sustaining Treatment form. Andrea Lee serves as an attorney for Legacy Estate Planning in Belleville, Washington. 

Andrea says, "Earlier, I said estate planning is a little bit like a pyramid. In the very bottom of that pyramid are documents every single person should have. And two of those documents are the financial and health care power of attorney. But in addition to that, there are a few other documents that every adult should have. When my daughter became an adult, I drafted them for her because they're the documents that allow your loved ones to take care of you when you're alive, but unable to care for yourself. And we hate to think about that time, if that ever happens.

"Do not do it online. If you are over the age of 65, then I would encourage you to work with an elder law attorney. Estate planning attorneys... can do that when you're young. It's totally different goals, because if you're younger, it's about finding heirs and making sure that you're building your empire... The planning looks different, the objectives look different, and sometimes the documents look different... Now, it's extremely important... that those documents be properly done and be kept up to date... We ask our clients to come back every five years. We oftentimes don't have to make a change in five years, sometimes we do. But that's the opportunity for me to sit down with my clients and ask what's changed in your life. It's also an opportunity for us to review any law changes that might have happened."

"Frequently overlooked is a HIPAA release. Due to the privacy laws at hospitals, they're not necessarily supposed to share confidential medical information with individuals who are not the person seeking or receiving treatment, right? A HIPAA release is extremely important. That's because an individual might, say, name their spouse as their healthcare power of attorney, and that individual is charged with making all the medical decisions for them, but they might also want to make sure that their children — who may or may not be the children of that spouse — be able to visit them at the hospital anytime, learn information about their care, find out the status of mom or dad. And without that HIPAA release, the hospital is only required to provide medical information to the one agent named in that healthcare power of attorney. And there have been instances where individuals have been isolated from their loved ones, because their one healthcare power of attorney has told hospitals or medical institutions or adult family homes not to share information with these individuals. 'I'm the healthcare agent, I'm the one who gets to make decisions on behalf of the incapacity person, and legally I don't want information shared with their children or their siblings.' And maybe if that person who was incapacitated was competent, there's no way they would want their children kept away from them. So people sometimes don't realize how important that HIPAA release is in making sure your family members can get medical information and care information should you be incapacitated.

"I am going to talk about a POLST form. But there's also a form that I provide to my clients, that estate planning and elder law attorneys do provide, called a living will. And people sometimes confuse the two documents, a living will versus a POLST form. A POLST form is the physician's orders for life sustaining treatment. It is an order signed by your doctor. So an attorney cannot give you a POLST form. Your medical doctor can. They're usually lime green.... 

"I had a neighbor, Ruth who was a fabulous neighbor, and she was diagnosed with terminal cancer... She actually came to me and said, my doctor wants me to sign this thing called a POLST form, what do you think? I said, 'If you had a heart attack, would you want them to bring you back, so that you could die slowly of cancer?' And she was like, 'no, if I had a heart attack right now, I don't want any treatment, because I know that I'm dying of cancer.'... However, for many individuals, even if they're 75 or 80, maybe they don't need a POLST form. But what they do need is a living will, and hopefully you have a living will.

"I have a living will that says, hey, if I'm in a car accident, if I have a stroke, if I have a heart attack, please do everything possible to treat me... But once the medical team has done everything possible, if two physicians determine that there is no hope I'm going to improve... and I can't express my wishes... do I want to be let go? Do I want to be kept comfortable but have them remove life-sustaining means like hydration, nutrition, ventilation? And that's a very different scenario. So, living wills are documents that every single person should have."

Learn more:
* Andrea Lee: https://www.waltar.com/andrealee/
* Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/

Hear more:
* Legacy Estate Planning podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/legacy-estate-planning/
* Power of attorney podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/power-of-attorney/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elder law and estate planning attorney Andrea Lee joins Suzanne to talk about the healthcare power of attorney document. Andrea Lee serves as an attorney for Legacy Estate Planning in Belleville, Washington. This document is often overlooked by families. Who can make medical decisions for you when you're not able to make your own choices?

Andrea says, "There is so much that goes into making someone's medical decisions. When I've had family members in the hospital, I've been awoken at 1 a.m. to authorize a blood transfusion. Or I've been hit with a question of, hey, there are different treatment options, you need to decide which one is going to be best. And those are very difficult decisions for family members to make. But what that health care power of attorney does is, number one, it gives them the legal ability to actually make those decisions. For many people that is especially essential, because you might have more than one child, you might have a new spouse and children from a previous marriage. And then the question comes down to, if an individual is hospitalized or incapacitated, who do they want to be making those decisions on their behalf? If someone doesn't sign that health care power attorney, you're really just opening the door for conflict in your family, because you're not designating which of your five wonderful children you want to make those decisions, and that's just going to create chaos amongst those children.

"One of the most important decisions people will make is: who are the people they're going to name as their agents, who is the person who will manage your finances, who is the person who will make those medical decisions. Well-drafted health care powers of attorneys don't give that much direction. They give a lot of powers. And that's because as an attorney who's been practicing in this area of the law for as long as I have, you learn that there are just too many possible scenarios that cannot be addressed within a power of attorney document. You can't anticipate what someone's illness might look like, or what the end of their life might look like. So it's important that the document give the agent all the powers to make those decisions.

"It is a sign to them that you have faith in them, you have trust in their decision-making abilities, and that they are the individual you want charged with that hard situation. It is so important in families that have multiple potential decision-makers to choose the person. I tell my clients frequently, you know what? You can have two children who love you, who have your best interests at heart, who want to do everything to help you and support you. But they can still disagree. And it's possible that neither one of them are wrong. They could both be right, but it's just a matter of opinion. So it's so important to choose that one person that you think best supports your personal view."

Learn more:
* Andrea Lee: https://www.waltar.com/andrealee/
* Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/

Hear more:
* Legacy Estate Planning podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/legacy-estate-planning/
* Power of attorney podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/power-of-attorney/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elder law and estate planning attorney Andrea Lee joins Suzanne to share advice and tips for legal planning to help you age gracefully in a situation that you like. Andrea Lee serves as an attorney for Legacy Estate Planning in Belleville, Washington. The power of attorney document is a critical tool to let your family help take care of you when you're in a crisis situation.

Andrea says, "There are a lot of misconceptions regarding power of attorney documents, having the ability to manage an individual's state or affairs, and what each person should have in place. Now, typically when I talk about estate planning, I equate it to a pyramid, where there are certain tools every single adult should have in place. Every single person over the age of 18 should have very basic estate planning documents. But as people age, it becomes more important to have those basic documents in place. I would say weekly, I get a phone call or a message that says I need to get power of attorney over my mom.  And the reality is, you don't get power of attorney over someone, an individual has to give that power... We each have the ability as adults to make decisions on our own. But it's, it's really difficult to think that a time [may] come... to empower our children or our cousins or whomever loves you and wants to take care of you, to help you navigate aging or potential incapacity. Of all the estate planning documents I prepare for my clients, financial power of attorney is one of the most important documents.

"Can I take a moment and tell you about my own powers of attorney? I've been an estate planning and elder law attorney for about 18 years now. And I actually take care of my own mother, who has pretty advanced dementia, along with my dad and my siblings. But we had our own challenge with powers of attorneys a few years ago. My brother Christian was sick... In a very short period of time, he went to the hospital and he went into a coma... it was a horrible time for my family. He was 44 years old at the time, he had been in perfect health... And our family was beside itself because we're a very close family and we love each other and support each other. And when my brother Christian was first hospitalized, the hospital would not even share medical information with us. 

"Even though I'm an estate planning attorney and I had offered to draft documents to him over and over again, he was a 44 year old healthy man, and he's like, 'I don't need that. Why do I need that?' But when he became ill, they would not tell us medically what was going on because we did not have the health care power attorney. We did not have a HIPAA release... We wanted to do the most basic things to help him, to cancel his credit card bills, talk to his insurance company, pay his rent, but our hands were tied. So my family felt just completely lost because we wanted to help him and he would have wanted us to help him, but we didn't have those tools right now.

"That was one of the most painful and difficult times for my family, and as an estate planning attorney, that is where I don't want my clients to be. And that's why having properly drafted estate power of attorney documents are essential... That's the tool that lets your loved ones take care of you when you're not able to manage your own thing."

Learn more:
* Andrea Lee: https://www.waltar.com/andrealee/
* Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/

Hear more:
* Legacy Estate Planning podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/legacy-estate-planning/
* Power of attorney podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/tag/power-of-attorney/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn about current Medicaid trust cases from Lisa M. Neeley of Mirick, O'Connell, DeMallie & Lougee LLP in Worcester in this podcast, excerpted from MCLE’s 12/7/2021 live webcast, Drafting Successful Medicaid Trusts. Watch the full webcast on demand or as an MP3 here. Get 24/7 instant access to hundreds of related eLectures like this one—and more—with a subscription to the MCLE OnlinePass. Learn more at www.mcle.org/onlinepass.

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