Gainesville Estate Planning Law Blog

Taking care of parents as they age can be a highly emotional and challenging experience as many adult children in Georgia can undoubtedly attest. Some situations are a bit more stressful than others, such as those involving a parent with mental illness. Mental decline is not always immediately apparent.

There are often certain issues or circumstances that arise in a person's life just before the onset of mental decline. For instance, many elderly people become mentally ill after being diagnosed with a physical chronic illness of some kind. Grief is often another condition that can lead to mental illness. When a man or woman loses a spouse to whom he or she has been married for 60 or 70 years, he or she may simply not be able to cope with the sorrow.

Most people think that if they draft a will, they have covered all the bases for what happens to their property when they die. However, there is much more to estate planning than simply drafting a will. To have a successful and effective estate plan, it must include other documents beyond a will or trust.

If you are starting the estate planning process, it is important to include a range of documents that not only financially provide for your family but also grant chosen representatives to make decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated. Here are the most vital documents you should include in your estate plan.

Many Georgia residents are currently thinking about estate planning or long-term care issues. Some are adult children who helping their aging parents get their documents squared away. Others are people who realize the importance of bringing such issues off the back burners of their minds to the forefront. It is never too soon to start, although there are several common mistakes that those developing plans will want to avoid, especially when naming a beneficiary.

It is critical to understand the various means for transferring assets to beneficiaries. Some people choose options that are payable upon death while others opt for living trusts. If not a single specific beneficiary is named, all assets will be processed in probate court. There is no guarantee that the person to whom the court transfers the assets would be the same person intended by an estate owner.

When a Georgia family is thinking about executing a long-term care plan, it is often because one or both parents in the family are getting on in years and want to have their financial, medical and daily living situations in order so as to provide for their own needs and also to protect assets that will one day be transferred to their loved ones. A main topic of concern for many elders is nursing homes. In fact, a lot of people are currently in need of nursing home assistance, perhaps during recovery from a long stay in the hospital or because independent living is no longer a viable option.  

Finding an assisted living residence that is a good fit for a particular family can be quite challenging. It is no secret that many facilities have been fined or otherwise penalized for providing substandard care or, worse, for negligence that resulted in patient injuries or death. The good news is that there are also many high-quality nursing homes in this state and throughout the nation as well.