Been Diagnosed With Dementia? 2 Tips To Get Everything Planned Now
If you have just been newly diagnosed with dementia, you need to take steps now to get these planned. If you do not, you will not be able to do these things when your disease progresses. To get things started, below are two tips so you know what you should do.
1. Hire a Probate Attorney
One of the first things you should do is to hire a probate attorney. This will allow you to find an attorney that you would like before you pass away. This attorney cannot assist you now, but the attorney can assist your family members after you pass. This way, your family will already have a lawyer lined up to help them. The probate attorney is also known as an estate attorney. They can help the person of your choosing throughout the probate process from beginning to end. This is because probating your estate will be very difficult for someone to do if they do not have the expertise to do this.
The probate attorney will get your property appraised so your family will know the value. This will be valuable for your family if they want to sell your property. This attorney can also help file your last income tax return. If you create a will but forget about this will in the future due to your dementia, the probate attorney can take steps to determine if you do have a will already in place.
2. Set Up A Financial Durable Power of Attorney
As your disease progresses, you will not be able to make financial decisions on your own. Because of this, set up a financial durable of attorney now. This document will name one person that can take over your finances when you are no longer able to do so. This means the person can take over all your bank accounts, pay your bills for you, and more. This document would prevent you from taking money out of your accounts on your own, from applying for loans, applying for credit cards, etc.
All of this can save your family a lot of money. This is because if you continue with your finances, you may overdraw your checking account by thousands of dollars, you may get credit cards, use them, and then forget that you have them. Not paying your credit card states will result in exuberant late fees, and the amount of the charge will increase each month.
Sit down with your family and discuss this information with them so they will be aware of what you want to do.