Long Beach Elder Law Blog

It is not uncommon for those living in California and elsewhere to put off drawing up a will or dealing with estate planning. After all, most people do not want to think about their own mortality, and many may feel that they can deal with the issue when they are older. However, no one knows when they will pass away, and estate planning is more than just about financial planning for after someone's death.

Estate planning documents can determine who will take care of someone's children if he or she passes away before they are grown, and these documents can also determine who will make financial and medical choices for someone who is not able to do so on his or her own. If there is not legal paperwork in place that has already made these choices, the decisions are made by the state. This means that someone's children may end up in a home that the person would not have wanted them to go to or that the person making medical choices on his or her behalf may not be the best person to do so. Every comprehensive estate plan should contain a durable power of attorney and a health care proxy, which accounts for these crucial details.

Families and older adults in the Long Beach area may be acutely aware of the rising dangers of financial abuse suffered by the elderly. One study estimates that around 1,000,000 elderly Americans are victim to the loss of $2.9 billion every year due to financial abuse and fraud. They can fall victim not just to strangers but unscrupulous family members, neighbors and caregivers as well. Financial services personnel are also a reported source of fraud.

The majority, about 51 percent, of reported financial abuse cases involve fraud or deception by strangers while fraud from business personnel makes up another 12 percent. Fraudsters are especially likely to target those who live alone and who are prone to trusting people. These are often elderly adults who don't have any family nearby or who have a cognitive impairment and don't know when they are being taken advantage of. The most common target is a frail white female, age 70-89, with a cognitive impairment such as dementia and who trusts others easily, especially strangers.

Californians may be interested to learn of a report of financial abuse by a health care aide in Illinois. The aide started caring for an elderly man, and three months later, she arranged for a lawyer to create estate planning documents, including a will, trust and power of attorney that give her full control of his assets. The prosecutor has stated that this action taken in 2007 was the start of years of theft of approximately $350,000 from her patient's estate.

The man was 90 years old when his relationship with the aide began, and he reportedly had been diagnosed with dementia. The attorney hired to draw up the documents said that the man appeared competent, and he has not been charged in the incident. Coworkers at the hospital reportedly heard the health care aide boasting about recent large purchases, but they made no report of this, which the state's attorney says they were mandated to do.

Although many California employers offer retirement plans, such as defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) plans, or other long-term financial investment options, many employees may not frequently revisit those plans after setting them up. Other than getting periodic plan statements, such employees might leave investment decisions to their plan's fiduciaries.

A similar attitude is often exhibited toward the issue of estate planning. Although elderly workers may have set up a will or trust, few may realize that such planning instruments must be kept current. Yet with costs of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, at-home care and other long-term care options on the rise, a revisit of retirement accounts, other assets and estate planning documents may be in order.