Elder law discussed at event held at Alachua County Library Headquarters in Gainesville
Elderly members of the community and others were educated about the process of securing their future and their families’ future during a seminar hosted by Elder Options..
Panelists discuss elder options
“As a caregiver, it is important to know the legal ins and outs to make your life go smoothly,” said Johnnie Jones III, Elder Options caregiver support coordinator. “We recognized that you need spaces like this one and we’re glad they can spend time with us.”
Seminar hosted by Elder Options
The free seminar billed as the Elder Law Panel was held at the Alachua County Library District Headquarters in downtown Gainesville and was attended by more than 50 people. Panelists discussed issues such as advance directives, living wills, power of attorney and guardianship.
Besides Jones, the panelists were Marilyn Belo of The Law Office of Marilyn Belo, Steven McDaniels of Three Rivers Legal Services Inc. Sara Dicks of The Toney Law Firm and Genna Fasullo of The Miller Elder Law Firm
Seminar held to educate older persons
Belo discussed power of attorney, which is the authority to act for another person in a specified manner, and often deals with property and financial issues she said.
“Pick someone who will be available and someone you can trust with access to your financial documents,” Belo said.
Power of attorney
The power of attorney allows the agent access to bank and investment accounts, authorizes the person to sell property and change car registration, Belo said.
Advanced directives
McDaniels talked about advance directives, which are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes.
According to the National Institute on Aging, the two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for healthcare.
McDaniels discussed the designation of a health care surrogate, which includes obtaining a legal document that names who you want to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make them because of incapacity, dementia, recovering from surgery or long-term illness.
Living wills
He explained the misconceptions of a living will, which is different from a last will and testament.
A living will is an end-of-life document that makes known your wishes about being kept alive artificially when you have a terminal condition, end-stage condition or are in a persistent vegetative state, he said.
In the living will, your doctor and another doctor have determined there is no medical probability of your recovery from the condition.
“Find somebody you trust,” McDaniels said. “Don’t do it on your own, reach out to an attorney.”
Last will and testament
Dicks went into further detail of what a last will and testament is.
An LWT is a legal document that states how a person wishes to distribute their assets upon their death and it is a plan to protect your assets from going through probate, which is a court supervised process for identifying and gathering the assets of a deceased person, paying the decedent's debts and distributing the decedent's assets to his or her beneficiaries.
“When you die without a will, you are rolling the dice to have the state do what you hope to do,” Dicks said. “A will prevents your assets from going to probate.”
Guardianship
Fasullo told the audience that guardianship should be a family’s last resort.
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A guardianship is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent.
“Get your estate planning in place,” Fasullo said.
The seminar included a presentation from Elder Options Elder Abuse Project Coordinator Leslie Andrews and Community Hospice Palliative Care Community Relations Representative Kenyarda Feathers.
The panel ended with a Q&A session with the audience.
“Get your documents done,” Belo said. “It will be the greatest gift to your family when you’re gone.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Senior citizens in G'ville learned about securing their future at seminar
