Working with Elder Clients

Your clients may be taking care of elderly parents now or looking at that possibility in the near future. According to a report from USA TODAY/ABC News/Gallup Poll, 41% of baby boomers are helping take care of elderly parents by providing personal help or financial assistance or both.

If financial planning and long term care planning have not been done previous to the need for care, the burden falls on the care-giving family member. Decisions about how care will be paid for, who will be responsible for managing the estate as well as how the long term care will be given can cause stress and contention among family members.

It is best for parents and all family members to be involved in planning for future financial needs.  The financial resources being used today could change drastically with the occurrence of a stroke, illness or onset of dementia. In order to plan financially for long term care, you need to know what the costs are now and what they will be in the future.

Planning financial needs can be very difficult, considering you do not know when long term care will be required or how long it will be needed. You can determine what will be needed in certain living situations. A client staying in their home for care will require Professional Home Care assistance, travel accommodations to doctor appointments, help with shopping, meals, medical supplies and medication and possibly a 24-hour attendant. Even if a family member is doing most of the care, eventually professional care will be required or a move to a nursing home facility will be necessary.

When evaluating your clients present income and assets consider how they would work for future needs.

•                What are their care options?

•                What type of long-term care can they afford?

•                Do they have long term care insurance?

•                Are there assets they can sell?

•                If they stay at home how will they pay for care?

•                Do they have to sell the house to pay for other living arrangements?

•                Are there other financing alternatives?

•                Do they have life Insurance or the means to pay for a funeral/burial?

•                Will the spouse be cared for financially?

•                Should they do Medicaid planning?

•                Do they have the legal documents that may be needed?

An article by Thomas Day, Director of the National Care Planning Council, titled “Paying the Cost of Care,” reviews some of the financial options that can be used.

“Tangible assets that might produce enough income to pay for long term care might include investment property such as rentals, commercially leased property, land, a farm, second home or a business..."

"Some individuals are heavy into real estate and short on cash. If the intent was to cash out of the investment at some future point, then a sale is warranted. But, it seems a shame to sacrifice in early years to establish an investment only to throw it away to long term care. It would make more sense to use income from the investments to buy long term care insurance."

Long term care insurance is one option for paying for care. Long term care insurance helps pay for the care your clients need when they can no longer care for themselves. It can protect their family's financial future and their own investments. There are qualifications that need to be met with health and age. This type of insurance is more expensive the older the person and almost impossible to get if age related illness has already occurred.

As a senior financial planner, I work with seniors and their families to set up long term care plans.  I also work with an Elder Law Attorney and Care Manager (Professional) to give your clients all options and resources for care.

You as the Elder Law Attorney, help with Medicaid Planning and asset protection as well as legal documents needed for final requests.

Another option for your veteran clients who served during a time of war is the Aid & Attendance Benefit.  This benefit provides extra income to help pay for home care, assisted living and medical costs. It will also pay for widows or widowers of the Veteran. To learn more about qualifications for these benefits please contact me.

Knowing your client’s needs and financial resources is paramount before making any long term care decisions. Working together, parents, family members, both legal and financial professionals, can ease the stress and burden of elder care needs.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email.  Also, if you are interested in receiving additional information or a free case quote/illustration, please feel free to contact me.