Carlsbad CA Estate Planning

The Benefit of Writing a Living Will

For most people thinking about the end of their own lives is psychologically difficult. This has stopped many from getting living wills and other advanced directives, such as powers of attorney. People do not like to think about the possibility that at some point in the future they may not be able to make their own decisions and that they might even be ill enough that they do not want doctors to take steps to extend their lives.

That is understandable.

However, as Psychology Today points out in "Putting It in Writing," it is important to think about and get a living will (aka Advance Health Care Directive).

The biggest benefit to making the effort to get a living will is you cannot do it later. You cannot put off getting a living will until you need it. By definition, when you actually need the document you are not legally able to get it.

Thus, if you want to have a say in what measures doctors will take to prolong your life when you are unable to tell them your wishes, then you need to do that ahead of time. There is also a benefit in that having the document can give you peace of mind that you have taken the appropriate steps to ensure your wishes will be carried out.

If you do not have a living will or other advanced medical directives, schedule an appointment with an estate planning attorney and get it done while you can.

Reference: Psychology Today (April 7, 2016) "Putting It in Writing"

Hospice Owner Accused of Ordering Overdoses

Hospices are supposed to offer humane end-of-life care for their patients. They are not supposed to hasten the deaths of those patients. However, the system might unintentionally encourage a hospice to hasten the death of patients in some cases as illustrated by a case in Texas. Hospice owner Brad Harris is alleged to have ordered nurses to intentionally overdose patients in four cases. He is also alleged to have asked that patients be found who would be expected to die within 24 hours. Fox News reported on this story in "Texas hospice owner ordered nurses to overdose patients, FBI says."

The motivation for this alleged behavior may have been the way in which hospices are reimbursed by Medicaid and Medicare for patient care. The longer that a patient is in the hospice the less that the hospice gets paid. If the patient stay is too long, the hospice might even have to reimburse the government. Payments are designed this way as a safeguard against hospices taking patients who do not yet need their services. However, that payment system might unintentionally create incentives for bad behavior when hospice patients live longer than expected.

Elder law advocates will undoubtedly monitor this case closely to see if changes need to be made to the system to protect the elderly from abuse.

Reference: Fox News (March 31, 2016) "Texas hospice owner ordered nurses to overdose patients, FBI says."

Iowa Has No Duty to Monitor Sexual Predator in Nursing Home

William Cubbage was a dangerous sexual predator confined in Iowa's treatment program for its most dangerous offenders. However, the state of Iowa petitioned a court to allow it to release the man into a nursing home. Despite finding that Cubbage was still a danger to others a court agreed to the placement.

Cubbage was then seen sexually assaulting a 95-year-old woman at the nursing home. She sued the state claiming that it had a duty to protect the residents of the nursing home from sexual predators it placed in the home. An appeals court recently ruled against the woman's estate.

The Houston Chronicle reported this story in "Court: Iowa had no duty to monitor predator at nursing home."

After the incident Cubbage was removed from the home and confined in a state mental institution.

This is a disturbing case for elder law advocates. Seniors in nursing homes should not be subject to abuse from staff or other residents. In this case a known predator was placed in the nursing home without any plan to supervise him and ensure the safety of other residents.

That was a mistake and a 95-year-old woman had to pay for it. Her estate has indicated that it is considering appealing the matter further to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Reference: Houston Chronicle (March 23, 2016) "Court: Iowa had no duty to monitor predator at nursing home."

The Dangers of Elders' Hoarding

In the last few years the problem of hoarders has been brought to the public's attention thanks to television shows about the people with the issue. Hoarders are people who collect and keep everything. Their homes become so full of stuff that it is impossible to clean.

Often it is impossible to even walk around except by following narrow paths through the home.

Recently, Next Avenue had a story about one elderly hoarder and the problems that has caused for his family in "The Painful Costs of Elder Hoarding."

In this case a Florida man was living in a mobile home retirement community. The homeowner's association threatened eviction because of everything spilling over from inside to outside of the home. The cost to his family for cleanup was $4,000.

It was then discovered that the inside of the home was in even worse state and contained many health hazards for an elderly person. Cleaning up the inside of the home by professionals came at an estimated cost of $15,000, which the family was unable to afford.

Fortunately, the man's air conditioning unit broke and the family was able to convince him to do some cleaning in exchange for a new air conditioner.

Hoarding by the elderly is a serious problem that does not have any easy solutions.

If you have a family member with the problem, contact an elder law attorney or an elder advocacy group to see what resources are available in your area to help.

Reference: Next Avenue (March 23, 2016) "The Painful Costs of Elder Hoarding."

Wisconsin Latest State to Consider Digital Assets

The digital age has created changes for people in many aspects of life. This is certainly the case in estate planning, as estate laws were designed in a time when almost all property was physically present in the world. Those who created estate laws, for example, did so when a book was always a collection of bound paper and never a small digital file stored on a computer.

The problem for estate planners is that these older laws do not necessarily adapt well to digital possessions. This has left access to digital accounts up to the companies, such as Facebook and Google, that provide the accounts. Many state legislators are busy rewriting estate laws to take this new digital age into account. WMTV reports that Wisconsin is the latest state to do so in "Bill looks to help protect digital assets after death."

The legislation in Wisconsin seeks to treat digital accounts as much like physical accounts as possible. If a particular digital account has settings that allow for a post-death beneficiary, then those settings are respected. If the account does not make that possible, access to digital accounts would be given to a person designated in a will or a next-of-kin.

Regardless whether your state has laws concerning access to digital accounts after death, be sure to identify your accounts and what would happen to them. An estate planning attorney can help you to work within the framework of your state's laws to make sure your accounts are covered and accessible.

Reference: WMTV (Feb. 24, 2016) "Bill looks to help protect digital assets after death."