Parent Diagnosed With Dementia? 2 Documents You Need To Prepare Now

5 December 2019 by Jonathan Phillips

If your parent has been diagnosed with dementia, they will only get worse with time. Because of this, you need to prepare documents now while your parent still understands what they are doing. If you wait too long, you will not be able to get the documents you need without obtaining guardianship over your parent.  Before anything like this happens, below is information about two documents you need to set up now.

Living Will

A living will is also known as an advanced medical directive. This would be used if your parent is in the hospital and not able to make their own decisions of end of life care. You can get the document that you need from your doctor. Sit down and go through the questions with your parent. Getting their input is crucial, as you will know you are making the right decisions when the time comes.

The living will ask things like whether your parent wants to be resuscitated if their heart stops and how long your parent wants to stay alive after they get past a certain point in their disease. For example, they may not want to have tube feeding at the end as this will only prolong their suffering. 

You can also hire an attorney to obtain a living will. The attorney can help you fill it out so you know everything is done properly.

Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power attorney is also very important. With this, your parent will name someone, such as yourself, another sibling, or their spouse, as a principal. The principal is the person that will make all financial decisions in regard to your parent once they are not able to make these decisions on their own.

The person chosen as the principal is very important, and you need to make sure your parent chooses someone they can trust. If it's not you, talk with the principal your parent wants to make sure they understand what decisions they will have to make. Your parent will also have to name a successor in the event that the original principal is not available, such as due to death, health problems, or something else.

The power of attorney needs to be durable, which means they are only valid once your parent can no longer make the decisions on their own. This means your parent can make their own decisions until they are not able to do so.  Once needed, the principal will manage your parent's assets and income. 

If you hire an attorney from a firm like Wright Law Offices, PLLC, they can tell you of other documents you will need. 

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