Do You Know the Documents You Need if Your Parent is Incapacitated?

Adult children of aging parents are usually the first line of support if a parent becomes incapacitated. Whether you're simply ensuring bills continue to be paid on time, or making important medical decisions, having the correct authorizations in place before they're needed is vital. In the short video below, Hooper Law Office Attorney Abigail Plankey gives valuable insight on these vital Estate Planning considerations and authorizations during a recent appearance on Local 5 Live.

Lisa Malak
You know, as parents age, they often need to rely on their adult children to handle financial matters. Today we are talking about setting the stage for that is probably one of the hardest things with Attorney Abigail Plunkett from Hooper Law office. Good morning, Abigail. Okay. So how do we make sure that the kids are ready to act on their parent's behalf?

Abigail Pankey
So oftentimes, when we're needing to assist aging parents, it's because of either a declining capacity or wanting just, you know, managing the checkbook type help. And really what you want to make sure that you have that is the legal authority to do that, which is in a Financial Power of Attorney.

Millaine Wells
So how do you make sure our adult children understand what accounts their parents have and what they need to do to access them?

Abigail Pankey
As uncomfortable as it can be to have good conversations about someone's finances? It is really important then, because otherwise you can end up in a situation where you need to help and you have no idea what to do. So just having good conversations, getting in touch with Financial Advisors or Estate Planning Attorneys that your parents may work with is really helpful.

Lisa Malak
Let's talk about one of the most difficult and most expensive things that parents might face, and that's Long-Term Care. How can the kids start planning for that?

Abigail Pankey
So exactly in that financial Power of Attorney, sometimes there's confusion. That being the Power of Attorney is just enough to handle what your parents might need in an actually matters what authorities are in that document. So it's a good idea to always have it reviewed, especially by someone who also does elder law. Because if you're looking for Long-Term Care planning, you need to have those authorities in that document to begin with.

Millaine Wells
Got it. How about record keeping? Sounds like that's probably a pretty important part of this whole process.

Abigail Pankey
Exactly. And in combination with having those good conversations, I do think that even though worse Pen is going to be better than the best memory. So if you can actually look at statements with your parents or ask them where they keep these important documents, where they keep their passwords, that's going to help you, because if you're faced with an emergency, you have a lot going on already.

Millaine Wells
If everything is together and organized, it makes it that much easier for that family at that time.

Lisa Malak
That leads me to our final question, and that's we shouldn't wait until there's a crisis or an emergency. We should be doing this while everybody's healthy, if possible.

Abigail Pankey
Exactly. Because a lot of those documents, you have to have a testamentary or that legal capacity to execute. And they're not something that you can necessarily get when you need it, especially if you have those Long-Term Care concerns and those diminished capacities.

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