Many Massachusetts residents may not be aware that making end-of-life decisions can cover numerous aspects of a person’s life. Rather than simply focusing on asset distribution, individuals may wish to find out how they could utilize estate planning to make plans in the event that they need long term care. Planning for such an event could help avoid unexpected costs and complications later on.
If individuals do not have any sort of estate plan, the state may have to decide who will be in charge of making important decisions for those individuals and how assets will be distributed. Therefore, parties may wish to take steps concerning their beneficiaries. Additionally, appointing individuals to positions such as a power of attorney agent or creating a health care proxy may also be wise.
Because long-term care can become costly, planning ahead is often considered prudent. Rather than risking the entire loss of savings to cover such costs, individuals may wish to create a care plan in order to set aside money in a fund specifically for such care and to address insurance plans. Because wishes for care may change over the years, parties may also want to review and update their plans periodically.
Each Massachusetts resident may have specific ideas as to how he or she would like end-of-life wishes carried out. Therefore, exploring the various options for estate planning and long-term care planning may prove to be a useful action. In order to gain reliable information, parties may wish to consider speaking with experienced elder law attorneys.
Source: tapinto.net, “Avoid These Common Estate and Elder Law Planning Mistakes“, Anthony J. Enea, Feb. 15, 2017
