Long-term care: What legal issues arise?

Health-care decision-making and financial management issues for the patient need to be addressed through proper execution of financial powers of attorney and advanced medical directives. Then, the actual payment of the long-term care service is often considered, which may involve planning for the submission of an application for Medicaid. Simultaneously, a review of other estate-planning documents is usually performed.

What if the patient becomes mentally unable to make decisions?

In the best case, an advanced medical directive which has named an individual to make certain health-care decisions on behalf of the patient has been executed. If not, Maryland law provides for surrogate decision-makers, who may need to be appointed via a court-ordered guardianship.

Source:  Craig Berman is an attorney and certified public accountant who practices estate planning and elder law in Timonium, Md. He can be reached at www.bermanlaw.net.

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