One of the most profitable areas for lawyers involves trying to fix problems that arise after someone has died or become incompetent, when the person has “saved” money by using an inadequate estate or incapacity plan, or has no estate or incapacity plan in place at all.
It can be important to complete a Medicaid application, and to provide all supporting paperwork, have any needed Income Cap Trust in place, and the like before the end of a month.
In Oregon, there are certain statutes and conventions which funeral directors, hospitals, and others look to in determining who can make decisions concerning funerals and the disposition of a body after a person dies.
It is not uncommon for people to buy a house together with an elderly relative.
Powers of Attorney allow someone else to handle business affairs for you when you can not or do not want to handle your own affairs.
Often a person wants to leave property in his or her Will to a child.
If a person is no longer able to handle his or her own personal affairs, and thereby puts themselves or others in danger, a guardian can be appointed for the person in Oregon.
Generally, it is very difficult to move forward with health care if a person is no longer able to direct their own health care if there is not a valid Advance Directive for Health Care in place.
In some circumstances, a Medicaid recipient, or even a person who is planning to make a Medicaid application, may be able to transfer their home to children who lived in the home with them for a certain period, and who provided a certain level of care during that period.
Some people wonder if they need a Will or other estate plan if they are ordinary middle class folks, or even people of moderate wealth, but who fall below the estate tax threshold.