Home Healthcare Legal Considerations

What kinds of documents need to be prepared for home healthcare in Sioux Falls, SD?

Legal matters are too important to go unplanned. When creating a care plan for an elderly loved one, it’s just as important to consider legal needs as health needs. Whether your family chooses a nursing home, assisted living facility, home healthcare, or some other plan here in Sioux Falls, take the time to ensure that your legal affairs and documents are in order. Want to talk over the phone? We're here to help: (605) 638-9791.

Where to begin

Start by gathering up the important paperwork and legal documents in your loved one’s life. These should be compiled, organized, and kept in a safe place in a home or office. You can invest in a small fireproof safe for added security. 

Legal documents that you should have in a secure and organized location include any medical, financial, and personal documentation that includes sensitive data. We recommend keeping this type of information in a large notebook along with copies of relevant documents that are kept in expandable files. Consider collecting and organizing any health or life insurance policy documents, retirement, pension, or investment account information, real estate documents, wills, birth certificates, and other legal documents in a separate expandable file. 

Legal documents keep your loved one safe

Wills, advance directives, and other documents that provide instructions of a senior’s wishes should be familiar to all family members who provide care to that individual. Your loved one’s decision about which documents to use, and what’s in them, will impact the whole family. This is a discussion you’ll want to have as early as possible so that the whole family can understand the wishes of your elderly loved one. 

Advance health care directives are legal documents that help seniors specify what type of senior care services and medical intervention should be made in case they become seriously ill or incapacitated. A directive can specify whether an individual should be moved to a particular facility, or whether at home healthcare should be accessed first, so it’s important to have a directive as you build a care plan for your aging loved one. 

There are two types of advance directives:

• A living will. This will contains information on what type of health care should be provided and is legally effective in the event that your loved one can no longer make decisions for themselves.
• A power of attorney for health care. This special power of attorney assigns a person to make health-related decisions in the event that that person can no longer make decisions for themselves.

Guardianship and decision-making for seniors

In the case that a senior is no longer able to make decisions or communicate decisions on their own, there are several legal options. Your family should make a decision in collaboration with your aging loved one about how to move forward. Often, a family member will take on the responsibility of caring for and making decisions for a loved one. A guardian or conservator can also be of use. 

A guardian becomes responsible for personal, financial, and health care decisions. The guardian may or may not be a family member. After an individual becomes disabled or is unable to make their own medical decisions, the guardian will make decisions on their behalf. 

A court may also hire a conservator to act on behalf of someone who is incapacitated. A conservator is responsible for financial decisions. This can include spending on health care, estate planning, asset management, and day-to-day expenses. 

Both a guardian and a conservator can make decisions like whether a nursing home, assisted living facility, or at home healthcare should be implemented. 

Contact Comfort Keepers – serving Sioux Falls, SD and the surrounding area

For more information on the high-quality home healthcare your aging loved one can receive from Comfort Keepers, contact our professional staff in Sioux Falls, SD today: (605) 638-9791.