Modern Estate Planning Blog

One of the more difficult topics that Sacramento elder lawyers and their clients must discuss is the potential need for nursing home care. However, talking about it and knowing the options is actually one of the things that can make things easier. With the help of a good elder lawyer in Sacramento, aging parents and their adult children can plan ahead to remove fear and uncertainty about the future.

One of the most compelling reasons for pre-planning nursing home care is the fact that the senior can be thoroughly involved in the process. Far too often, Sacramento elder lawyers work with families where the person in need of care has experienced physical or mental impairments that keep them from being able to make their own decisions. Whether they are incapacitated and unable to communicate or their cognitive functions have deteriorated due to dementia or other problems, the result is that they cannot make important choices or have their true wishes known.

An additional problem that pre-planning solves is that nursing home care is often needed on very short notice, as the result of an unexpected illness or injury. In the midst of a medical crisis, most families would prefer to already have arrangements in place so they can simply focus on treatment, recovery, or long-term care.

Understanding the importance of pre-planning is a great starting point. The next step is to familiarize yourself with some of the conversations you and your elder lawyer should have. For example, an attorney will talk clients through the alternatives to nursing home care in order to determine what is really the best option for you. Instead of a nursing home, it’s possible that you might be better served with in-home care or at an assisted-living facility. An elder lawyer with extensive experience in the Sacramento area will also have first-hand knowledge regarding the reputation and levels of care available from various local caregivers and institutions.

The entire process of researching, selecting, applying to, and paying for nursing home care is complex. It’s not something that most people can navigate easily. Pre-planning with an elder lawyer can remove some of the mystery and also gives you the opportunity to compare facilities and negotiate prices. Each of these things gets considerably harder when being done in a rush on the heels of an illness or accident.

The thing to keep in mind is that a Sacramento County elder care lawyer is able to focus on the needs of seniors. From pre-planning for nursing home care to qualifying for Medi-Cal to setting up a smart estate plan, the attorney has specific knowledge of the issues that directly affect our older generation and can provide solutions to problems that haven’t even arisen yet!