By Attorney Maria C. Baler
July 4th is Independence Day, a day Americans celebrate our country’s independence from Great Britain marked by the date in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. Independence was important to the new colonies because it represented freedom from being subject to the laws and taxes of a country an ocean away. This is such an important day for our nation that it continues to be celebrated almost 250 years after the event took place.
Individuals value their independence too. As my clients get older, one thing I hear consistently from them is their desire to continue to make decisions for themselves, live where they want to live, receive needed care in a setting they choose, and choose the people who provide assistance to them if needed. Here are five ways to maintain your independence as you age.
1. Have Appropriate Legal Documents in Place
The legal documents that will allow you to maintain your independence during your lifetime are those that allow you to name people you choose to assist you with legal, financial and health care decision-making at such time as you need that assistance.
These documents include a power of attorney, which names a trusted person to make legal and financial decisions for you, and a funded revocable trust that allows a successor Trustee whom you choose to step in and manage trust assets for your benefit. These documents will be important if you become ill and are unable to pay your bills, including payment for care you may need in the setting you have chosen. Creating a power of attorney and funded revocable trust while you are well will ensure that there will be no obstacles for trusted people to obtain access to funds to pay for your care, even if you are unable to act.
Equally important is a health care proxy that names a person you choose to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself. A well- drafted health care proxy will also give your health care agent the ability to choose where you will be cared for and to move you from one care setting to another.
Without these documents, a Court will appoint someone chosen by the Court, and not by you, to serve as your guardian to make health care decisions for you and your conservator to manage your assets.
2. Create a Life Plan and a Team to Implement It
Just as important as creating appropriate legal documents is to have a team in place that will help implement your wishes and carry out your instructions when the time comes. As you get older, make sure you have trusted advisors such as an estate planning attorney, an accountant, and a financial advisor who are all familiar with your personal and financial situation and your wishes, and who can assist your appointed decision-makers if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself.
Explore potential care settings with your advisors and the cost of care and determine what care options may be best for you, and how that care will be paid for if necessary.
Make your wishes known to your team and your appointed decision-makers. This can be as formal as a written care plan, or as informal as conversations with these people to make your wishes clear and ensure they understand you are counting on them to carry them out.
3. Enlist Care Managers if Needed
A life care manager, sometimes called a geriatric care manager, is a person who is hired to assist you or your family to create an appropriate plan for care. Care managers are especially important and effective for people who may want to remain and be cared for in their home. This type of care requires a lot of coordination, communication and problem solving. This can be difficult for family members who may live at a distance or who may not have the time to take on this responsibility.
A care manager can take the burden of arranging and supervising care off of your family, take the time to understand the type of care you want, and implement those wishes. Care managers may also accompany you to doctor’s appointments or emergency room visits, communicate regularly with family members at a distance, and coordinate and advise loved ones regarding your care needs.
4. Build a Supportive Community Around You
Maintaining your independence requires more than legal and financial considerations. In addition to trusted decision-makers and care managers, maintain relationships with friends and family members you enjoy being around as you age. Spending time with people you enjoy prevents isolation, loneliness and depression which negatively affects your health. Having these folks around when you want and need their support starts by building and keeping those relationships as you age.
5. Make Sure Your Home Is An Ally In Your Fight for Independence
Many of us have lived in our homes for many, many years, and want to remain there to live out our lives. But many homes are not well-suited to aging in place – they have long flights of stairs inside or outside the home, they have narrow doorways that don’t accommodate a wheelchair, they have bathrooms that may be small and hard to maneuver around with a walker and lack grab bars and other things that make it easier for someone with mobility issues to navigate safely.
Before you encounter mobility issues, take an objective look at your home and think about what changes would need to be made to make your home more accessible. Is it possible to enlarge the doorways or the bathroom? Do you have a bathroom on the first floor of the home? Do you have a bedroom on the first floor, or could a first-floor room be converted into a bedroom if necessary? Can your stairway accommodate a chair lift? Are you able to get in and out of your home to a car safely?
If your home is not one that is easily or cost-effectively adaptable to aging in place, consider a move to a home in which you can age in place comfortably and affordably. And make such a move before living in your home becomes an obstacle to your independence and your ability to remain there.
On this Independence Day, consider your wishes for your own independence as you age, and take steps now to make it a reality. Although your independence may not be celebrated with a parade and fireworks, you will certainly celebrate the fact that you are able to carry on as you age as you choose, with assistance from trusted advisors and in your chosen location.
Maria C. Baler, Esq. is an estate planning and elder law attorney and partner at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, a law firm based in Dedham. She is also a former director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (MassNAELA), and the former President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys. For more information, visit www.ssbllc.com or call (781) 461-1020. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney.
July 2024
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