question mark

When it comes to IRAs most couples name each other the beneficiary and the remaining spouse creates a spousal rollover. If the surviving spouse is incapacitated by an ailment such as dementia, complications can arise. What happens when end-of-life affairs are set up for a couple and one member later becomes incompetent? The potential problem […]

Senior Couple At Home

Of the three leading diseases that kill most Americans, two are well known for being financial nightmares: heart disease and cancer. The cost of drugs, multiple surgeries and hospitalization are widely recognized as presenting huge financial challenges to families, even when there is health insurance. But less known is the high cost of dementia. A […]

Senior Couple

Waiting to create an estate plan could result in significant out-of-pocket costs at the end of life. Or even worse, it could result in a person with Alzheimer’s disease being subject to the will of the courts. With the number of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s skyrocketing, there is no time to wait to get your […]

Holding Hands with Elderly Patient

When might a police commission get involved with estate litigation? When a new will created after a patient was diagnosed with dementia leaves nearly $3 million to a previously-unnamed beneficiary … who just happens to be a police sergeant. In 2009 Geraldine Webber made a will to divide her estate. This will left one-fourth of […]

Recently, we were forced to watch a painful family feud play out in the media over how Casey Kasem should be cared for in his final days.  This type of internal family strife is not uncommon even among non-celebrity blended families who may not have considered the consequences of naming one child, a new spouse […]

A proper Caregiver Agreement is essential when a loved one or friend wants to pay you to provide assistance and care for them. Here is a link to an article in which Michael J. Amoruso, Esq., Managing Partner of Amoruso & Amoruso LLP in Westchester County, NY and Howard S. Krooks, Esq., Of Counsel to […]

Often, proxies are confused about how “do not hospitalize” orders work. Several proxies believed, mistakenly, that a such an order was equivalent to a request to withhold medical intervention altogether. For elderly loved ones in nursing homes, there is a very powerful tool found in a little known directive known as the “do not hospitalize” […]

Mature couple with laptop

“Family members are already on emotional overload—adding a financial and legal decision aspect to what they’re already going through is enormous,” said Carol Steinberg, president of Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, a national nonprofit focused on the care and needs of people with the disease. “Therefore, the more decisions made earlier on and with the input […]

doctors

The new tool, developed by researchers from Italy’s University of Milan, could provide doctors with a more objective method that gauges the complexity of a patient’s consciousness. Advances in brain science keep us informed and help us better understand how the brain functions. And when it comes to making end-of-life plans, the more we know […]

Woman taking a picture of themselves

There’s never a good or easy time to talk with older parents about their finances and estate plans. But taking advantage of a relaxing moment –well before problems arise – can improve the odds of success. If you are heading out for vacation with your elderly loves ones, you may picture some relaxing time by […]