Caregiving experts often advise that after an Alzheimer's diagnosis, family members meet with an elder law attorney to begin the process of planning for down the road as the illness progresses.
"I don't think families are well-versed in this," said Barbara Vogel, program coordinator for the Neuwirth Memory Disorders Program at Hillside Geriatric Center in Glen Oaks. "I don't think they're seeking the legal assistance or financial guidance that they need to do this early on so when the time comes they are prepared."
Instead of doing all of their planning with a lawyer, some caregivers turn to geriatric care managers or social workers who hire themselves out as guides to those attempting to navigate the system. Orlando Gonzalez, 66, and his daughter Kim Latkovich, 38, both of Manorville, paid a social worker $700 and found the experience both cheaper and faster than dealing with an attorney.
"Lawyers, I just think a lot of times they just charge a lot of money," Latkovich said. "Whereas I think social workers, they're not interested as much in the money, they're more interested in helping people in whatever field or expertise that they're in."
But experts advise that attorneys can help best with intricate financial planning. Vincent Russo, an elder law attorney with offices in Westbury, Woodbury, Lido Beach and Islandia said for him, the first step is determining the person with dementia's capacity for decision-making.
"Any time I hear the word Alzheimer's . . . decision-making would be my starting point of any discussion because we know that at some point that person is [not going to] have capacity, unfortunately," Russo said.
If the person is still in the relatively early stages of the disease there are three key documents that need to be made up, Russo said. These are power of attorney, health care proxy and a living will. The power of attorney enables someone to step in and make financial decisions going forward, Russo said, and the health care proxy allows for health care decision-making once the person loses capacity. The living will is a document that allows a person to give instructions to a selected person under the health-care proxy regarding whether they would want extraordinary medical treatment under certain circumstances.
Read Full Article (Newsday.com)