Incapacity Planning

The incapacity of a loved one is often more traumatic for a family than the expected passing of an older parent. This emotionally challenging time is made worse by feelings of denial, anger, and resentment. We believe that it is very important for families to come together during this period.  The incapacity planning we do at M&B makes for the smoothest transition possible.

The incapacity planning solutions that we use for each family are unique and individualized to your family structure, family dynamic, and wishes.

Incapacity Planning Tools:

• Advanced Directives and Health Care Powers of Attorney to allow doctors to listen to our loved ones regarding whether we would like tube feeding and/or life support if we are near death.
• HIPAA Authorizations allowing our doctor to share our medical information with loved ones.  Without authorization, medical information is confidential and our doctor cannot share it, even with a spouse.
• Powers of Attorney for Property as a safety net and back up plan for assets not put in trust. Over the last decade it has become harder to use powers of attorney to manage the assets of an incapacitated person. Banks and others increasingly refuse to accept them and there is little we can do to challenge their refusal. Therefore, it is usually better to create a trust and name successor trustees. However, as a back up plan, and for clients without trusts, we regularly prepare Powers of Attorney that are as detailed and specific as possible.
• Name Successor Trustees of the trust to allow for the seamless and legally enforceable transition of the management of our assets from us to a loved-one when we become incapacitated.
• Incapacity Panels. If we become incapacitated and don’t have an incapacity plan, our children will have to undergo the expensive and difficult process of taking us to court to have a judge appoint them as our guardian or conservator. With an Incapacity Panel, we take that public, embarrassing, and time consuming process and turn it into a private family discussion. Learn More
• A Family Care Agreement, where families come together and create a plan for how they are going to take care of an ailing family member. In Family Care Agreements we stress communication and transparency among family members so that ailing members receive the best care.

At M&B we plan for incapacity at the same level as death. Given the extended lifespans that we now enjoy, we are also unfortunately, likely to experience an increased period of physical and/or mental incapacity near the end of our lives.

For many of us, this will start with short term memory loss and then proceed into Alzheimer’s or dementia, not to mention the long list of other potential ailments that could befall us.

To help families through this period, we have created solutions to ensure that you will receive the care and support that needed during a period of incapacity, and also make the transition as smooth as possible for loved ones.

Estate Planning Links

• Estate Planning
• Grown & Flown Package
• Incapacity Planning
• Wills and Powers of Attorney
• Estate Planning Timeline
• Oregon Estate Tax Calculator
• Estate Tax Rates
• Navigating The Estate Tax
• Reasons to Review Your Estate Plan
• Succession Planning For Business
• Estate Planning Seminars