Homecare and Legal Considerations in Walnut Creek, CA
Find out how homecare professionals can help your loved one get their affairs in order.
Emergency situations happen, but, before they do, we can all prepare the best we can for them. The more prepared you and your loved one are for a hospital visit, the smoother things will go and you will be able to react quickly.
To prepare, homecare professionals recommend that you and your loved one should deal with a few legal documents. One of the most important is choosing a healthcare proxy. This person will be responsible for making decisions on your loved one's behalf in case they are incapacitated and unable to do so for themselves. It is important to choose a trustworthy person your loved one knows will carry out their wishes. This does not necessarily have to be someone related to them. It can be a close friend. In fact, choosing a close friend could help ease some of the pressure on loved ones during a difficult time. However, your loved one should do whatever they feel is best after discussing it with your family. Along with choosing a healthcare proxy, your loved one may want to have a medical directive. This way, their proxy will know what to do in the event that they need life support, a feeding tube, or intravenous fluids to survive.
Homecare professionals also recommend that your senior loved one have a will that divides up any property they may have and a durable power of attorney for healthcare, finances and HIPAA release. Consider gathering all your loved one's important personal documents in one place. This will make things much easier in the event of an emergency. These documents should include the following: 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, 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.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call. Our homecare professionals are standing by to answer your questions.
