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A special report issued by the Alzheimer’s Association in March 2020 projected that by mid-century the number of Americans aged 65 and older who will suffer from dementia may grow to 13.8 million, up from 5.8 million today.

The cycle of wealth creation—and wealth depletion—is all too typical in America. One person or family creates the wealth, and within two generations, the heirs and descendants will have depleted everything that was accumulated: from parents to children to grandchildren, and then suddenly gone.

If you have aging parents, even if they seem to be doing well, you can never be sure what the future holds. Health issues and other unfortunate events can occur at any time, and if your parents haven’t yet made a plan for tomorrow, life can become challenging and even overwhelming for both parents and offspring.

Dementia not only robs those suffering from it of their ability to lead a normal, productive life, but it also places a caregiving obligation on loved ones. If loved ones can’t care for their parents or others suffering from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia because of their own work and family obligations, it can force them to make many difficult decisions.

According to a 2021 Wills and Estate Planning Study by Caring.com, about 34.2% of American adults don’t have a will because they don’t know how to get one. When creating your estate planning documents, you have the option of hiring an attorney or using a do-it-yourself method by downloading online forms. If you are considering drafting your estate plan, you may be wondering whether to use online forms or retain an experienced attorney.

The pandemic and its daily statistics about hospitalizations and deaths raised awareness of the need to plan for the future, especially among young adults, according to Caring.com’s 2021 Wills and Estate Planning Study. The number of young adults with a will increased 63 percent since 2020, but despite this new awakening, the percentage of Americans with wills has not significantly changed, with only 32.9 percent of adults saying they have any estate planning document in place.

Is there a Deficit?   First type of deficits identified by Probate Code Section 811:

A treating physician’s report or letter is only one piece of the capacity puzzle, it is not the final determination of the patient’s legal capacity. The Legal Perspective is TASK SPECIFIC!

One issue that I have noticed recently has to deal with the transfer of real property by an elderly person. The basic scenario is as follows:

One issue that is fundamental to estate planning is the capacity of the prospective client. Because we are an Elder Law firm, this issue comes up much more frequently. Many of the initial inquiries from the spouse or adult children of prospective clients discuss that their loved one has either declining capacity or an actual diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's.