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Alzheimer's Disease - Legal Issues to Consider By Alex Jensen |
| Thursday, March 5, 2009 |
When someone close to you has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a number of issues must be addressed immediately and in the future. One area that needs to be studied closely the legal issues that arise.
To say the field of law is complex, it is a minor understatement. That said, there is a concept that runs through much of the law is fairly easy to understand. The concept is known as the "capacity". Refers to a person's ability to make a decision. For example, a person under the age of majority is automatically considered to be incapable of forming a contract in most states. The reason is deemed to have insufficient capacity to determine whether the entry of a contract is a good step. This is why for 13 years can not buy weapons.
I am discussing the concept of capacity as it is key for any diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Often, people drag their feet on the implementation of judicial decisions and legal documents, because Alzheimer's disease tends to progress slowly. This is wrong as Alzheimer's disease is a disease that attacks the brain and this type of illness automatically raises the question whether a person has sufficient mental capacity to enter into legal agreements.
For example, a court could find a person diagnosed with Alzheimer's who waited five years to form a durable power of attorney does not have the capacity to do so. The court then terminated the judiciary and assign a guardian to make decisions. Do you really want that to happen?
When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a lawyer should be retained immediately. The documents to be discussed with legal counsel, including a durable power of attorney for financial decisions, a durable power of attorney for health decisions, creating or modifying a trust, the creation or modification of a will and the creation of a life will. Each of these legal documents is a complex issue, but all are useless if the diagnosis is made incapable of them.
In short, we need to act quickly or you might end up with a judge making decisions for you and your family. I can not think of any family that wants that to happen.
Alex Jensen is with Careplacement.com - free high housing placement service in Southern California for Alzheimer's patients. |
posted by neptunus @ 4:16 AM  |
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