Younger adults with children are prime candidates for developing an estate plan under Florida law. The adult parents will be concerned about what can happen to the children if the parents die before the children reach adulthood. This may be even more pressing where one or more of the children may have special estate planning needs to provide for.
What you should know about guardianships and conservatorships
Watching your parents grow older is difficult even under the best possible circumstances, but if your parent is also experiencing a decline in his or her overall physical or mental health, it can prove even more emotionally taxing. At some point, you may find that your loved one is no longer able to appropriately manage his or her affairs, and you may need to devote some consideration to giving the power to do so to someone else.
Caregivers may benefit by having elder law planning in place
It is sometimes difficult to assess when the duties of a primary caregiver must give way to institutional or professional caregiving for a spouse, parent or other loved one. Nearly half of family caregivers nationwide and in Florida who are 75 and older are caring for a spouse or partner, according to a 2015 report. Caregiving by an elderly spouse may go on until the loved one is approaching full incapacity and cannot participate in assisting any longer or where terminal illness is diagnosed. Consultation with an elder law attorney is therefore desirable and may be more effective if it is arranged early enough in one's retirement years.
