Comfort Keepers Living Assistance Services and Legal Considerations in Stockton, Tracy, CA and the Surrounding Areas

If your loved one is in their final years of life, legal considerations are more important to talk about now than ever.

Legal matters are not exactly the most exciting of topics, particularly when they are to do with one’s health or the final years of one’s life and wishes. However, they are very important, and for seniors or those in the final stages of their lives, legal considerations can really help their family members. Not having to wonder whether one’s loved one wanted one thing or another in their final days, or having to go through a lengthy court trial, can spare loved ones a lot of pain, stress, and headaches, helping them move on and live well. This is why living assistance services professionals encourage the seniors they care for to take care of legal considerations as soon as possible, just in case, and while they still can.

If your loved one is a senior, they do not have to be in the final stages of their lives to take care of their legal considerations. Doing so sooner than later is a great idea. If you are only just starting the conversation about living assistance services with your older parent, it may be a great opportunity to bring up legal considerations as well.

Advanced Health Care Directives

Health care directives are some of the most important documents for your loved one to take care of. If you or they are not sure where to start, begin there. What are health care directives? They are documents that outline the level of medical intervention an individual would like to receive should they be prevented from making that decision themselves. A living will and a durable power of attorney are two types of health care directives. The two are very different. An individual’s living will set out instructions on which care should be provided to them and at what time. A durable power of attorney for health care, on the other hand, does not deal with medical directives but rather appoints an individual to make medical decisions for an individual.

Living Will vs Will

Living wills are different from wills, although people confuse them often. Whereas wills are concerned with the allocation of a deceased’s assets, living wills deal with medical directives.

All seniors should set aside the following documents and tell their living assistance services professional where they are located: birth certificate, social Security records, health and life insurance information, including policy numbers, names and addresses of primary care physician and medical specialists as well as medical history, special arrangements made for health care, including advance directives, funeral prearrangements, Medicare documents, trust documents, living will, will, sources of income and assets, bank statements and safe deposit box locations, mortgage papers, investment records, negotiable securities, credit card information, most recent income tax return, loan papers, military discharge papers, marriage license, and divorce papers. 

Contact our office at (209) 208-4592 for more information on legal considerations.