The need for a guardianship really depends on the facts and circumstances of each case, however, many guardianship cases result from the absence of a properly drafted power of attorney (“POA”) and statutory gifts rider (“SGR”).  In order to sign these documents, one must possess contractual capacity.  Most people diagnosed with the onset of dementia…

Why can't I transfer my house to my kids to protect it

Simply transferring your house to your children is the least favorable planning technique in an attorney’s arsenal. The optimal way to protect your house is to use a trust. First, if you transfer your house to your children, you no longer have any rights to use an occupy the house. You become a guest in…

The elderly are vulnerable, and as a result, are often soft targets for non-physical abuse. I refer to them as “silent abuses” because they are often difficult to identify, or worse, prove. Examples include undue influence, duress, coercion, mental abuse, and financial exploitation. Generally, a common predicate for most cases begins with a close, confidential…

When I meet with people for the first time who are interested in estate planning, their focus is usually on after-death planning.  Whether their concern is minimizing estate taxes, planning for minor or spendthrift children, or simply passing assets to the next generation as quickly and efficiently as possible, nearly every meeting begins with a…

Serious problems with the public guardianship system in the United States can lead to elder abuse, according to an in-depth article in The New Yorker. 

According to a recent report published by the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2017, approximately 5.5 million individuals have “Alzheimer’s dementia”. If you consider those figures, together with the many other neurological diseases (ALS) and physical ailments (strokes) that impact our physical and cognitive abilities, you can understand why planning should be done to contemplate these matters….

  A guardian is an individual (or sometimes an entity) appointed by the Court to handle the personal and/or financial affairs of a minor child.  In New York, a child under the age of eighteen is considered a minor.  Usually, the Court appoints a guardian for both the person and property of a minor, but…

Nearly every aspect of estate planning and elder law requires an attorney to assess a client’s legal capacity. As elder law attorneys, we are regularly working with individuals who have some form of cognitive impairment such as dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. A common assumption is that someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s cannot sign a Last…

I recently received a frantic telephone call from someone whose sister suffered a stroke and was admitted to a hospital. Upon admission, the facility asked if there was a health care proxy appointing an agent to make medical decisions on the patient’s behalf. The sibling answered in the negative. As a result, the hospital refused…

In a perfect world, everyone would craft an estate and elder care plan well in advance of having to implement it˗ but the world isn’t perfect! I have had the opportunity to work on a fair amount of cases where clients, who had no estate or elder can plan, fell ill or became disabled. In…

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