Every family crushed by the devastating diagnosis of dementia – usually Alzheimer's – should read The 36- hour Day (4th ed., Johns H opkins Press) by Nancy L. Mace, M. A., and Peter Robins, M. D. With their fascinating description of the medical and social tornadoes of memory loss, the authors urge families to get early and competent legal help.
Early legal help.
While the diagnosis usually comes early enough to allow good legal planning, most families put off seeing a lawyer until it’s too late. They decide to "cross that bridge when we come to it". However, delays become very expensive when the family is denied Medicaid or is forced into an expensive "spend-down" that might have been avoided. Often, estate planning is procrastinated until mom or dad is no longer competent to sign a will, trust, or health care directive, and the family is left to argue about what she or he would have wanted. These mistakes just compound the grief.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jack Helgesen has had an extraordinary legal career. With a degree in finance and a law degree BYU Law School, he began in 1980 creating trusts and estate plans for wealthy retirees in Phoenix. He later moved home to Ogden and became a trial lawyer in hundreds of civil and criminal trials. Among his many successes, Jack is an A rated lawyer who:
- won jury acquittals in 1st degree murder, rape and kidnaping trials.
- defended hundreds of Utahns in mental illness commitment hearings.
- is one of the very few lawyers in Utah who have won a medical malpractice verdict over one million dollars.
- filed successful class actions for seniors, homeowners and consumers
- collected over $90 million in a class action against the State of Utah for more than 21,000 federal retirees.
Jack is a former President of the Utah Trial Lawyers Association, and a Governor of the Association of American Trial Lawyers (in Washington, D.C.), the nation’s largest trial lawyer organization, for more than ten years. He is currently a Governor of the American Association of Justice (Washington, D.C.), a Master with the American Inns of Court, and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Jack’s firm, Helgesen, Waterfall and Jones, has seven lawyers and two paralegals, with offices in Ogden and Layton. The firm handles a broad range of legal work. Jack continues his work with seniors through wills, trusts, estate planning, guardianships, conservatorships, probates, will contests, civil lawsuits, injury and medical cases, class actions, and elder law. His partners handle social security disability claims, real estate, family law and most other cases important to seniors and their families.
Jack and his wife Koy have eight children, fourteen grandchildren and live in Kaysville.
Competent legal help.
By "competent", we mean trained in "Elder Law", the practice of law which combines estate planning with disability law and other needs of elderly Americans. Standard estate plans can make your dementia disaster worse. Few Utah lawyers know how to plan for Alzheimer's or memory loss because they know little about Medicaid and other public benefits. Standard wills and trusts (and all joint tenancy property deeds), for example, leave property to the surviving spouse. However, an inheritance left to a spouse with dementia can immediately disqualify her from Medicaid until the entire gift is used up. In addition, standard estate planning usually does not include special needs trusts or mechanisms for appointing guardians or conservators for loved ones who cannot act for themselves. The usual durable powers of attorney contain no directions to prevent disqualifications from Medicaid or other public benefits. Revocable trusts do not protect assets from Medicaid, and usually do not appoint independent trustees. Overlooked beneficiary designations on insurance policies, bank accounts, and retirement accounts can be hurtful. Jointly owned property like cars, motor homes, vacation plans or retirement accounts can cost a family more than the property is worth.
All or many of these legal problems might be avoided if the attorney is trained in Elder Law and is aware of a memory loss disease.
If your family is facing the tragedy of dementia, please make time to call a Utah attorney who practices elder law.
Jack Helgesen is a founding attorney of Helgesen, Waterfall & Jones, one of Utah’s highest rated and oldest law firms. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), and has offices in Ogden and Layton, Utah. He can be contacted at (801)479- 4777.