Notification of the Death of a Loved One

New Jersey recently passed a new law that requires senior citizen housing developments to notify the next of kin in the event that a resident passes away in the development.  See http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/christie_signs_next-of-kin_notification_law_to_pre.html#incart_river_home

You would think that most organizations would have procedures in place for sort of thing, but it is actually a fairly common occurrence that families are not notified immediately when a loved one dies, goes to the hospital or is injured.  Accordingly, it is best for each family to make sure that if you are moving a loved one into a facility of any kind that you determine what policies and procedures the facility has in place to notify emergency contacts.

The facility should be able to recognize that when health emergencies take place, it is often important to notify a different one set of people and that if there is a death or other type of emergency, a different set of people should be notified.  Ideally, whatever facility or organization you work with can build a custom plan and contact tree that meets your needs.  

Caring for a Loved One - Guardianship, Powers of Attorney and Medical Directives

Holiday gatherings are often a time for us to gather with relatives and friends. The bustle of activity can highlight the impact that aging has had on our loved ones in the passing year. Observing decline in the people we care about can be unsettling and may generate many questions about how to best care for their needs. 

Creating a plan for dealing with problems before they develop, and putting a financial power of attorney and a healthcare power of attorney in place while your loved one is still competent can prevent a lot of misunderstanding, heartache and expense. If a loved one is already at a point where he or she is unable to care for and make good decisions for themselves, and if they are no longer competent to prepare financial and health care powers of attorney, Guardianship is the legal process that you must go through to be able to make decisions for them. 

Without guardianship or comprehensive powers of attorney, you will generally not be able to legally: 

1.  Authorize their admission or discharge from a hospital or nursing home;
2.  Hire and fire their doctors or authorize medical treatment; or 
3.  Use their assets to pay for their expenses and care 

There are two different types of guardianship in New Jersey, the Guardianship of the Person and the Guardianship of the Estate, both of which require court appointment. The same person may serve as both types of guardian and are frequently referred to as Guardianship of the Person and Property. 

Guardianship of the Person allows you to make decisions about where an incapacitated person will live, which doctors will attend to their health, and how their medical conditions will be treated. Guardianship of the Estate allows you to manage the assets and financial affairs of the incapacitated person. In many cases, this means that the primary responsibility of the Guardian of the Estate is to figure out how to best use their loved one’s financial assets to provide care for them for as long as they are in need of it. 

To be appointed as a guardian, you must be able to prove to the court that a person is incapacitated, or unable to govern themselves or manage their affairs. In practice, this means that a person must be unable to make generally rational decisions about their medical care, personal care or finances. The incapacity may be caused by physical illness, mental disability, or chronic use of drugs or alcohol. For example, many of the individuals who seek guardianship are the parents of special needs children who have recently turned eighteen. 

If a person is able to perform some but not all of the tasks necessary to care for himself the guardianship may be limited to the areas where help is most clearly needed. As guardianship is such a powerful appointment, a court will not order it unless it is necessary. A critical part of the procedure to assess the need for a guardian is to require affidavits from two professionals (routinely physicians or psychiatrists) confirming the person’s mental and physical condition. 

You must also provide detailed information about your request to the incapacitated person and their next of kin (frequently their spouse and children, but this could also include their parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews or grandchildren depending on the situation). These individuals will then also have a chance to participate in the court process and present evidence that may either support or detract from your case. 

The allegedly incapacitated person will also have a person (usually an attorney) appointed on their behalf to help ensure that their voice is heard during the court proceedings and to assist them with resisting the guardianship if that is their desire. If guardianship is awarded, a person seeking guardianship must agree to be a fiduciary of the incapacitated person, which means that they must do what is in the best interests of their ward, even if it conflicts with their own personal interests. 

To help confirm that guardians are honoring that commitment, they must submit an annual report to the Court providing details about how the incapacitated person is doing and how their money has been spent.

Guardianship carries with it a lot of responsibility. Speaking with an estate planning attorney who routinely practices in this area of the law can help you determine if guardianship is worth pursuing and how to accomplish it in a way that will be minimally disruptive for you and your loved one.

Written by: Jessica J. Sauer, Esq. and Kevin A. Pollock, Esq., LL.M.

 “To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.”-Tia Walker

Checking in with Your Relatives

I was talking to an elder care coach that I know by the name of Thomas P. Callahan, of A.F.I. Coaching and Consulting, and we started talking about our holiday plans. One interesting item that came up was how busy he tends to get right after the holidays. During this time of year, children return home to visit their elderly parents and become fully aware of how their parents have deteriorated over the course of the year.

If you are visiting home for the first time in a while, here are some warning signs that you should look out for if you are concerned about a loved one:

1. If they are hoarding items (Such as numerous cereal boxes or sugar packets);
   
2. If they have many unpaid bills;
   
3. If they are becoming paranoid;
   
4. If they having memory issues (do they repeat stories or fail to notice items right in front of them);
   
5. If they have substantial weight loss or weight gain;
   
6. If they are eating out a lot;
   
7. If they are relying on untrustworthy companions (are they isolated from their normal friends and neighbors);
   
8. If their car starts to have more dings and dents;
   
9. If the laundry is not being cleaned;
   
10. If they are sleeping on the couch or recliner instead of the bed; or
    
11. If they are watching much more television than they used to.

According to Tom, these traits often go unnoticed because people view their parents as always capable…after all, they are your parents. They are the people you turned to as a child if you fell down.

It is important not to get frustrated when these things start to happen. That leads to unnecessary arguments. If you are seeing your parents exhibiting these traits, you must understand that your parents may not understand what is happening to them.

There are many creative ways to help, but letting things go on as they are is NOT a resolution. As a starting point, you will want to speak with an elder care coach. You will also want to make sure that you know where your parents Wills, Powers of Attorney and Advanced Health Care Directives are located. If they do not have any, you will want to encourage them to meet with an estate planning attorney before they are no longer have the ability to prepare such documents.

Special Needs Planning in NJ - Part 3 of 4

ESTATE PLANNING FOR A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD

In Part III of this Series, I want to discuss estate planning issues for parents of a special needs child.

A typical estate plan for parents without a special needs child includes:

1. Will;
2. Financial Power Of Attorney;
3. Health Care Power of Attorney;
4. Advanced Health Care Directive; and
5. Naming Beneficiaries of Retirement Plans.

The parent of a special needs child must also do everything possible to avoid giving money outright to the Special Needs Child. This includes arranging for care and financial resources for the Special Needs Child.

In order to do everything possible to avoid giving money outright to the Special Needs Child, there are certain steps that can be taken:

1) Setting up a special trust for the Special Needs Child that will not be counted against the child's income for purposes of eligibility for government programs;
2) Redoing beneficiary designation notices on life insurance contracts and retirement plans; and
3) Telling family members to either leave money to a special needs trust for the child or specifically exclude the Special Needs Child from their Wills.

There are also specific arrangements that need to be made to ensure that your special needs child is cared for after your passing. This includes:

1) Arranging for a guardian to be named for the Special Needs Child;
2) Arranging for government services (SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, etc.); and
3) Arranging for living arrangements for the child.

Parents of special needs children always have a lot to deal with, but much of this planning should be done shortly after you find out that you have a child with special needs. Most importantly, life insurance planning should be done as soon as possible. If you wait too long, you may no longer qualify for insurance - and special needs parents, more than most, need to guarantee that money will be there after they pass.