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It can be a difficult thing to watch an elderly parent struggle with memory issues. Unfortunately, it can advance to the point where it is safer for your parent to enter into memory care. Those seniors with memory issues, whether it be due to dementia, Alzheimer’s, or something else, can be best served in specialized facilities equipped to handle the complexities associated with caring for a person with memory issues. If you have concerns about when the right time to have your parent move to memory care, here are some signs you can watch for that may signal they are ready for the transition.

Signs Your Elderly Parent May Be Ready for Memory Care

As we age, we may struggle with memory problems.

For many older Americans, driving provides a much needed outlet to the outside world. It helps them remain connected to the community, go to the grocery store, and can come to represent what they may feel is dwindling freedom in their golden years. For these reasons, it can be difficult to talk to your elderly parent about the fact that it may be time for him or her to stop driving. There is likely to come a point where your elderly parent cannot safely operate a vehicle anymore. Despite how difficult giving up driving may be, the safety of your parent and others should be put first.

To many, gift giving is a love language. It can bring so much joy to give someone a gift. There are, of course, some added benefits of gift giving that you may get, such as tax benefits and reducing the size of your taxable estate, among other things. If you are planning for long-term care, even as far into the future as 5 years from now, however, gift giving should be thoughtfully done as it can have some serious consequences on your plans to cover the cost of long-term care through Medicaid benefits eligibility. The majority of people in the U.

Q: Should I give my children their inheritance before I die?

New York and New Jersey estate planning attorneys know that everyone loves their children and wants the best for them. It’s what drives many parents to leave them a nice inheritance after they’re gone.

But is that the best—or only--strategy?

Some parents — who are fortunate enough to have the means to do so — are embracing a novel approach to estate planning in response to a book by a former Wall Street trader who revealed that he plans to spend down his entire retirement fund and won’t leave any of it to his children as an inheritance.

People often are not aware that estate plans need to be reviewed and updated on occasion. Putting an estate plan is an important thing to do, but it is not a set it and forget it kind of thing. As your life changes, circumstances change, and laws change, so should you consider updating your estate plan to reflect such changes.

It can be difficult to watch our parents age. The ones that once cared for our every need may have developed care needs of their own. As parents advance in years, there are unique challenges that will need to be faced and you and your siblings may not be fully prepared to handle it all. It can sometimes feel as though the care demands of your parents seem to have come out of nowhere. When the caregiving demands of your parents escalate to a point where they need a more dedicated caretaker or more comprehensive care, such as moving to a nursing home, getting everybody on board with a decision can be more difficult than you think.

Have you talked to your parents about planning for the costs of long-term care? The truth is that the majority of individuals will need long-term care at some point in their lifetime and the costs of such can be substantial, to say the least. The earlier you begin the long-term care planning process, the better as you will likely have more options open to you. Paying for long-term care has become a big issue and has gained even more attention as some states pursue the adult children of nursing home residents for payment on overdue bills.

Have you been tempted by ads proclaiming the ease and low expense of DIY estate planning? There seem to be more and more websites popping up where you can purchase estate planning documents to fill out yourself. Maybe this has appealed to you because estate planning has been on your to-do list forever and you have not yet gotten around to it. Perhaps you are thinking that you may use these DIY forms as a placeholder until you get around to meeting with an estate planning attorney.

So, you have taken the important step of putting an estate plan in place. Congratulations! You have put solid protections in place for your future and that of your family. Now, the question becomes, where should you store these important documents? A seemingly easy question, where you store your estate planning documents can be very important, especially considering the sensitive nature of such documents.

Have you considered trying to disinherit your spouse in your estate plan? While some may not understand why a person would want to do this, it is actually quite common and there can be many reasons behind it. Many, however, will be thwarted in such an attempt to disinherit a spouse because of New York’s Right of Election, also referred to as its elective share law. Here, we will go into more detail about the elective share and its potential implications for your estate plan.