If your family is impacted by a dementia diagnosis you are not alone. Dementia is the designated term for a variety of cognitive disorders which can range from Alzheimer’s, to sundowners, to Parkinson’s and Lewy Body Syndrome. The disease affects millions of Americans and is projected to significantly increase in the coming decades. Currently 7 million Americans living with dementia. That is one in ten people age 65 over and its expected to grow to 13 million in the next 25 years. Best to be aware and prepared.
Legal Must-Dos Before It’s Too Late
Let’s start with what I always tell families first: when it comes to dementia, timing is everything. Dementia gradually robs a person of their mental capacity — their ability to understand decisions and consequences. Once capacity is lost, your options shrink dramatically. That’s why early planning is essential.
Here are the top legal protections you should put in place as soon as possible:
- First, a Durable Power of Attorney. This document lets your loved one appoint someone they trust to handle finances — paying bills, managing bank accounts, even selling a home if needed. Without it, you might find yourself stuck in court seeking guardianship just to do simple tasks.
- Second, a Health Care Power of Attorney or Medical Proxy. This gives someone authority to make medical decisions when your loved one can’t. It’s different from a financial power of attorney — you really need both.
- Third, a Living Will. This lets your loved one state their wishes for end-of-life care, like whether they want life support or feeding tubes. It can spare families so much heartache and conflict.
- Fourth, a HIPAA Release. This is simple but crucial: it allows doctors to share medical information with you. Without it, privacy laws can block you from getting updates.
And if you’re listening right now and thinking, “Oh no, we didn’t get these done…” — please don’t wait. Talk to your loved one now while they can still sign documents and understand what they’re signing.
If capacity is already gone, you may have to petition the court for guardianship or conservatorship. This is much more time-consuming, expensive, and public than having power of attorney done ahead of time — but sometimes it’s the only option left.
To help you out, I’ve made a free Dementia Planning Checklist you can download now. It outlines these documents and more.
About Burnout and Caregiving
Sometimes the biggest challenge is providing for the caregiver who provides care and support to a loved one with dementia. The number of individuals providing care to a loved one with dementia may surprise you: an estimated 11 million adults in US are providing this type of unpaid care and support to a loved one.
About 25 percent of those providing that care are “sandwich generation” caregivers which means your providing care to an aging parent AND you have at least one child under age 18 – sandwiched in the middle of that care spectrum. A lot of facts there of course, concern for your loved one, navigating the disease and providing support through that experience, keeping the loved one at home as long as you possibly can, trying to find help that may be available and simply paying for care that may be needed. So a care plan is needed, but also it’s important to learn how to ask for help. You don’t have to go this road alone.
What do you think? What other questions do you have? I’d love to hear from you. If you like the podcast, share it with a friend, and follow us on Facebook and YouTube. If you need help with estate planning or administration, reach out for a strategy session.
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Disclaimer: The information provided on this website and on the podcast is not intended to be considered as legal advice or constitute an attorney/client relationship as provided under the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct.
