Estate Planning With Dementia

Estate planning can be a complex process and only gets more complicated when the person creating the estate plan has dementia. Discover some essential tips and documents for estate planning with dementia.

Appoint a Power of Attorney

The document is an important estate planning tool because you get a chance to appoint someone you trust to handle your affairs if you are no longer able to do so yourself.

Choose someone who will act in your best interests. This person should also be familiar with your financial situation and be comfortable dealing with financial matters. If possible, choose more than one person as POA to cover different areas of decision-making, such as healthcare and finances.

Moreover, have a backup plan in case your first choice for POA is unable or unwilling to serve. For example, you can name an alternate POA in your legal document or set up a succession plan so that someone else can step in if necessary.

Create a Living Will

A living will is a critical legal document especially as you approach old age or develop signs of dementia. In this document, you can highlight how you wish to be cared for when you fall ill. This estate planning tool ensures that your desires will be followed even if you cannot communicate them.

In your living will, you can specify the types of medical treatments you do or do not want to receive, such as life-sustaining measures or pain medication.

Creating a living will ensure the fulfillment of your wishes in the event of incapacity. However, a living will only covers medical decisions and does not provide anyone authority to make financial or legal decisions for you.

Write a Letter Of Intent

Although not a legally binding document, a letter of intent spells out your wishes for your estate and can be a valuable guide to your executor or successor trustee.

You may include information such as:

• Who you want to receive your assets
• How you want your debts to be paid off
• What funeral or burial instructions you have

You can also use the letter to express your wishes for things like pet care or charitable donations.

Review Your Beneficiary Designations

Beneficiary designations are an important yet highly overlooked aspect of successful estate planning with dementia. The legal document identifies who will receive your assets when you die.

Many assets, such as retirement accounts and life insurance policies, have beneficiary designations, meaning that even if your estate plan says that these assets should go to someone else, the beneficiary designation will override your estate plan.

Therefore, review your beneficiary designations regularly and update them as necessary. This step will help ensure that your asset distribution fulfills your wishes.

Work With an Estate Planning Attorney

Most importantly, hire a reliable estate planning attorney to guide you through the complex processes. An estate planning attorney can help you put together a complete estate plan that meets your unique needs and goals.



Your estate planning attorney can also offer guidance and advice on how to protect your assets and loved ones best. Your estate planning attorney will have your best interests at heart, so they will always represent you even when dementia kicks in fully.

Estate planning is critical for anyone and significantly more important for those with dementia. We are expert estate planning lawyers and can help you create an in-depth and personalized estate plan. Contact us at Shepherd Law Firm LLC, and let's discuss how we can help you. We look forward to helping you plan and achieve the best estate plan for your specific needs.