For many people, estate planning becomes a necessary process when they achieve professional success or start a family. For others, medical challenges may be what inspire them to plan for the future.
Estate planning allows someone to authorize a person they trust to handle their finances. They can name someone else to serve as their health care proxy. They can also engage in advance planning to qualify for crucial forms of state aid, like Medicaid coverage.
A diagnosis of a condition like Alzheimer’s disease that may result in dementia could be what makes someone decide to create or update an estate plan. How can dementia influence estate planning?
Dementia can reduce testamentary capacity
The unfortunate reality for those dealing with a dementia diagnosis is that they may have waited too long to establish an estate plan. People need to be of sound mind to create legally binding documents such as wills and durable powers of attorney.
Other people may be able to challenge their documents by pointing to their diagnosis as a sign that they did not have the necessary capacity to understand those documents. Planning after a diagnosis is possible, but the risk of a challenge in probate court is higher than average.
The burden of proof falls to those challenging documents
The good news for someone hoping to establish an estate plan before dementia affects their capabilities is that they can document their current condition to prevent claims that they lack the necessary testamentary capacity to draft or update their documents.
If family members intend to challenge documents by claiming that someone lacked the necessary capacity, they need proof beyond just a diagnosis. They have to provide evidence that the testator was already incapable of remembering who their beneficiaries are, what assets they owned or what impact their documents might have.
Those with a family history of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease may want to be proactive about putting estate planning documents in place before their health declines. That way, they have protection from the worst-case scenario if they develop dementia.
Understanding how different medical challenges could affect estate planning can help people recognize when they need to create documents or when they may be incapable of doing so. Individuals with medical challenges often need to swiftly create or revise testamentary documents for the protection of their loved ones and living documents to ensure that they receive proper support in the future.
