Monthly Archives: February 2012

Dementia and Driving

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One of the hardest conversations to have with someone who has Alzheimer’s disease is the conversation about when they should stop driving.  Since driving requires the ability to make quick decisions and fast motor reactions, there will come a time when every person with Alzheimer’s will be unable to drive.

In our culture we often equate driving to independence. To preserve dignity, avoid isolation, and prevent the loss of independence, a plan needs to be in place for alternative forms of transportation.

Fortunately, there is a good resource for facilitating this discussion and discussing the alternatives.  The Alzheimer’s Association  now has a number of resources in their Dementia and Driving Resource Center, including safe driving checklists, resources for transportation alternatives, and videos to help families prepare for dealing with this difficult issue.

* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.

The Un-Program

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Do you ever wonder how attorneys keep current on the law and consider unique and difficult issues?

All California attorneys have to take a certain number of continuing education classes and report those units to the State Bar.  We attend various seminars to complete the required units and typically have hundreds of hours of classes between us.

However a unique type of program is called the Un-Program.  Rather than attending classes with a formal speaker, we meet with attorneys from all over the country and have the opportunity to discuss actual and complex legal situations in an informal setting.  We recently attended the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s (NAELA) Un-Program in Grapevine, Texas.  We spent three days meeting in small groups to discuss a variety of issues, with just general topics as the guide for the group.

This was a great way to discuss complex elder law issues including upcoming changes in Medicaid (Medi-Cal here in California), Veteran’s benefits, Special Needs Trusts and disability issues for our clients.  We had the opportunity to discuss cases and brainstorm options for those clients with the best elder law attorneys in the country.  We also have the ability to continue with the Un-Program format by discussing cases on the NAELA Listserve and in future conference calls that will be established.  We found this to be a wonderful resource for us and a great benefit to clients who have increasingly complex issues with federal benefits.

* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.

 

Digital Assets, Do They Disappear If You Are Not There?

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We all know we live in an increasingly digital world, but have you ever given any thought to how your loved ones would access digital assets if you become incapacitated or pass away?

Digital Assets covers a broad range of assets and accounts.  Do you have on line access only to a bank or investment account?  Do you have your photos stored on line?  What about a Paypal account, or a Facebook account or credits on a virtual game?  All of these assets or accounts may be lost if your successors do not know about them.

We have encountered situations where assets are trapped with no access by family due to the inability to login and access them on-line.  Clients may not even be aware that the assets exist, and may not have any mechanism to determine if they have missed anything.  In addition, social media accounts and access to those accounts following incapacity or death is increasingly becoming a problem.

Consider the need to give your successor agents or trustees, or even family members, a list of logins and passwords to all of your accounts.  Security issues are clearly a concern, and one way to still have protection is to give the logins to one child and passwords to another.  Another is perhaps to utilize a password protection system and only leave the main password locked in a safe that a trusted family member can access.  Financial Powers of Attorney should now contain language to authorize access to these accounts, including the power to change login and password information.  We should also consider providing instructions to our agents as to what to do with our social media accounts when we pass away.

It is critical to keep a list of all digital assets, covering everything from investments, to photos to social media,  how they can be accessed and then keeping it up to date.  However, keeping that list solely in the computer may not provide any assistance as the family may be unable to access the computer.  Thus, ensure that a paper copy of the list of all digital assets has been printed and is maintained with your other estate planning documents.

* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.