Taking a proactive approach to Alzheimer’s disease helps families better support their loved ones.
An Alzheimer’s diagnosis is devastating for the patient and their loved ones.
It alters expectations and future needs.
A recent survey reveals that Americans have shifted their approach to the disease.
In the past, many families avoided the topic of Alzheimer’s disease until the crisis required quick decisions to be made in times of stress.
In contrast, Americans now approach the disease with early diagnosis efforts and legal planning.
The trends underscore the emphasis families placed on protecting dignity, minimizing confusion, and reducing the financial and emotional strain on loved ones.
Elder law and estate planning attorneys can help families prepare for the legal challenges of incapacity and long-term care planning.
The cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease requires proactive estate planning.
Recent data show that Americans are more willing to undergo cognitive screening when symptoms are mild or absent.
Why?
Many prefer to codify their financial and legal decisions while they are still deemed capable.
Because Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, proactive approaches allow individuals to make informed decisions before their cognitive decline becomes too great.
Those with an early diagnosis can immediately outline healthcare preferences, designate trusted agents, and establish guidelines for their care and their asset distribution.
While early diagnosis is crucial to estate planning, it also enables medical professionals to provide accurate risk assessments, support services, and access to emerging treatments.
Advance health care directives, general durable powers of attorney, and HIPAA authorizations are essential legal documents for individuals with Alzheimer’s.
Comprehensive incapacity and estate planning allows trusted individuals to make medical and financial decisions on behalf of the Alzheimer’s patient when the disease has progressed.
If individuals do not have these incapacity documents in place, families will have to petition the courts for guardianship and conservatorship over the personal, health care, and financial decisions on behalf of such individuals.
The legal process can be both financially and emotionally costly.
And that is an understatement.
While estate planning can be slightly uncomfortable to address in advance, it is better than the alternative.
If a family requires Medicaid, an elder law attorney can provide support in navigating the system and eligibility.
The rules are tricky and even treacherous for the uninitiated to navigate.
Because Alzheimer’s impacts memory, it will eventually lead to a need for more intensive care than what families alone can provide.
These costs of home health aids, assisted living, and memory care facilities can be steep at more than $6,000 per month.
Here, in the Kansas City metro area, the average monthly freight for a stay in "memory care" ranges between $8,000 and $13,000.
Yikes!
Proactive planning with an elder law attorney can help families preserve their assets through spend-down plans, irrevocable trusts, and long-term care insurance.
Any of these strategies can help families support the growing needs of their loved ones without depleting savings.
Another benefit of early planning is selecting a care environment to best serve the values, preferences, and needs of the ailing loved one.
Having conversations as a family about an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is essential to planning for the healthcare, legal, and financial needs of the loved ones.
Trends indicate that more families are discussing the legal documents they will need and how finances and care will be managed.
By talking openly, families will be more confident in giving their loved ones coordinated, compassionate, and competent care.
More Americans are benefiting from early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
This early diagnosis affords individuals the opportunity to protect their autonomy through legal planning with advance health care directives, general durable powers of attorney, and HIPAA authorizations.
Whether a family requires Medicaid or a combination of long-term care insurance and savings, preparing for future long-term care is necessary.
By talking with your family and working with an experienced estate planning attorney or elder law attorney (depending on your unique circumstances), you can navigate an early Alzheimer’s diagnosis together.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. You should contact an attorney for advice concerning any particular issue or problem. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between Harvest Law KC and the reader.
Reference: NPR (April 30, 2025) "More and more older Americans want to know their Alzheimer's status, survey finds"
REMEMBER: “The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.”
This statement is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Missouri.
