Hurley Elder Care Law
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We often hear from concerned family members who are convinced they need to get guardianship over their loved one. Take this situation for example: a daughter calls our office after visiting an assisted living community. She is considering assisted living communities for her mom who has dementia, and one representative at a community told her…
Deepak Chopra, M.D, put together a list of myths regarding aging people. You’ve probably heard a thousand times that as you age, your body and mind begin to “go.” You can no longer move the way you used to and your health deteriorates. This is a myth and those “facts” couldn’t be further from the truth.…
Dr. Matthew Walker, a self-described “sleep diplomat” earned his degree in neuroscience from Nottingham University, UK, and his PhD in neurophysiology from the Medical Research Council, London, UK. He subsequently became a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, USA. Currently, he is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He…
Trying to mimic the feelings of a person with dementia, caregivers often go through a virtual tour, aiming to increase empathy for dementia patients. Some of their experiences include the following feelings and emotions. It was dim; my world was reduced to shadows but the worst part were the spikes inside my shoes. Then there…
For married couples, updating wills and beneficiary designations are important parts of Medicaid planning. Most of our clients have “I Love You” wills that leave everything to their spouse after their death. Likewise, their assets have their spouses as the Payable on Death Beneficiaries. This can be a huge issue if the spouse is receiving…
“Do I need to update my will? My situation is very straightforward, and I don’t think anything has changed.” We are often asked this question, and everyone hopes that the answer is: “No—whatever you put in place 15 years ago is probably still fine.” Unfortunately, there are many reasons your will might need to be…
We often hear from family members that assume it’s too late for their loved one to create and sign a new will because the person has dementia. Yes, at some point in the disease process, a person living with dementia will lose the capacity to sign legal documents. Having a diagnosis of dementia, however, does…
Hospice has been covered by Medicare since 1982. Health-care providers have to certify that a patient is terminally ill, with six months or less to live, which can be difficult to predict, according to both Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care and professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Mount Sinai…
If you own property in different states (say you live in New York but winter in Florida or live in Georgia but have family property in Ohio), your estate could be complicated for those that survive you one day. Real estate is governed by the laws of the state in which it is located, not…
Many people who are near the end of life wait too long to enter hospice care, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. In hospice care, attempts to cure a disease are usually replaced with treatments solely for pain and suffering, delivered by a specialized team. It usually…
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