New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
Choosing to retain the services of an experienced elder law attorney is not a light decision, but instead is often the result of great consideration. Unfortunately, deciding whether or not to retain an elder lawyer can result in a great amount of uncertainty as well as anxiety for the elderly individual as well as that person’s loved ones. Various reasons exist why deciding whether or not you need an elder law attorney is a difficult situation.
# 1 – Retaining an Elder Law Attorney Makes You Confront Your Mortality
One of the most direct reasons why retaining an elder law attorney is difficult is that it makes the elderly individual confront the fact that he or she will not live forever. Coming to grips with our mortality is a frightening prospect. An elder law attorney can be retained for various reasons including estate planning, which comes with the grim perspective each of our lives will one day draw to an end. Not only is this difficult for the elderly individual, but you also cannot look past the difficult emotions that this brings up in loved ones as well.
# 2 – You Might Have to Accept Your Elderly Loved One Is Not of Sound Mind
Another common reason why people hire an elder law attorney is that they have to accept that the elderly individual is starting to make choices that are not in the person’s best interest. It’s an unfortunate reality to accept that someone we love is no longer capable of making choices for him or herself. Understandably, no one wants to tell an elderly adult that they can no longer drive, should no longer have direct control over their finances, or that it’s time to start thinking about moving to an elderly community instead of staying at home. Elder law attorneys, however, can help to tackle these issues. Elder law attorneys can often utilize other interests as well as to facilitate making decisions. These conversations also can be made easier through various strategies. One common technique is for the elderly individual’s child to make it an issue about themselves instead of the parent.
# 3 – You Might Have to Accept that Your Elderly Loved One’s Health Is Declining
Many people retain the services of an elder law attorney because they come to a realization that their loved one’s health or physical condition is sharply starting to decline or get worse. Ideally, you will arrange a long-term plan in advance to deal with the issues that your elderly loved one faces, but this is not always possible. The better your elderly loved one’s ability to make decisions for themselves, the more control that elderly individual has in deciding what type of plan they’d like to use to address care issues.