Nursing Home Care

I was having lunch today with new acquaintances. When they found out I was an estate planning attorney, one mentioned that she soon would be needing my services. Of course the title of my new book came to mind and I said Stop! What are you Waiting for? the time for estate planning is now. This concept is easy enough to grasp but what followed was a specific example to make it more relevant. The other person in our luncheon party mentioned that his mother was just released from the hospital to a nursing home. She was a bit disoriented and needed to address some financial matters. He realized then the importance of having a Power of Attorney to handle these affairs during her hospitalization. She is now at a nursing home and a decision will have to be made whether she will have the capacity to return to her home or have to stay with nursing home care. With both her healthcare power of attorney and general power of attorney for financial matters, he can begin to make decisions to help his mother. At any given time, I have found many examples where planning ahead made all the difference in whether a person gets what they need when they need it. I encourage everyone to plan, now.