As those of you who read my column on a regular basis know, I wrote a book on elder law entitled, New Jersey Elder Law: A Resource and Planning Guide. American Law Media (ALM) is the publisher of my book. ALM also publishes the New Jersey Law Journal, New Jersey’s premier legal periodical. My book is available for purchase through the following website: http://www.lawjournalpress.com/.
The first edition of the book was published in October 2015. The second edition is now available. The second edition contains the most up-to-date discussion of legal issues affecting the elderly and disabled in the state of New Jersey that you could find in any book. The second edition also contains numerous forms that were not released in the first edition.
You will find invaluable forms and discussions addressing estate planning (Wills, powers of attorney, living wills), Medicaid planning (strategies and techniques for obtaining Medicaid eligibility), and guardianship law. There are a great many people who are caring for an elderly or disabled person, and there are numerous legal issues affecting these populations. Having worked in this area of the law now for over fifteen years, I can honestly say that this book will help you better understand a great many legal issues.
Caring for another person, no matter their age, is taxing. There’s not just the physical strain of the work, but perhaps even more stressing, there’s the anxiety associated with caring for a loved one. We want the person to not need the care we provide, for them to be self-sufficient. We worry about them. We think about their fate if we were unable to continue to provide the care they need.
My book certainly cannot take away all the stresses and anxieties associated with caring for a loved one, but I do believe that there are a great many legal issues of which people in these populations should be aware. Here is an excerpt from my book:
“A general durable power of attorney is one of the three, fundamental estate planning documents, along with a last will and testament (Will) and an advance health care directive (living will). Of the three, it could probably be said that a general durable power of attorney is the most important document.
When you hear the phrase “power of attorney,” clients are most often referring to a general durable power of attorney for financial decisions. Sometimes, a client is referring to a living will, which is discussed in Chapter Two, but more often than not they are referring to a general durable power of attorney. Accordingly, when used in this book, the phrase “power of attorney” means a general durable power of attorney for financial decisions.
A power of attorney is probably the most important estate planning document because it can be the most helpful document for the client. A Will is a document that is not even effective until after the client dies; therefore, a Will is really a document for other people, since the person making the Will must be dead before his Will has any effect at all.
While a living will can be very helpful and is very important, many health care providers will abide by the decision of close family members when it comes to health care decisions for a patient. Assuming all family members agree as to the proper course of treatment for the patient, the family may get by without having a living will signed by the patient.
But, without a power of attorney, no family member—not a spouse, not a child, not a sibling—is going to be permitted to make financial decisions for a now-incapacitated person. There is no bank or brokerage house that is going to honor the financial decisions of a family member who cannot present a power of attorney document duly executed by the client, not even if that family member is a spouse or a child.”
Understanding how estate and Medicaid planning work together can help avoid costly mistakes. Resources that explain these issues clearly can make complex decisions easier to navigate.