Repair Before Despair

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

– John F. Kennedy, 1962

On a typical Monday morning in my elder law office, I sat at one end of my conference table. My case manager sat at the other end. To my left sat the daughter of my future client, and to my right sat my future client’s son. 

The siblings came to see me because their mother desperately needed round-the-clock care because of her worsening dementia, and she was likely a good candidate for Medicaid benefits to cover the cost of that care. But the children feared pursing Medicaid would cause their mother to lose her home to Medicaid liens at the time of her death. Their fear was well-founded, but I had a perfect solution to their problem. 

The only problem was, we would need a validly executed, thorough power of attorney document to pursue my plan. That was something they didn’t have and weren’t sure we could get given their mother’s health. Had they waited too long to set up power of attorney and, thereby, jeopardized our Medicaid asset protection plan?

On a typical Wednesday afternoon in my elder law office, I sat across from an emotional daughter seeking advice on how to handle her father’s estate after he died unexpectedly without an estate plan. 

I had to explain to her the probate process, how she would not have access to anything in her father’s estate for at least nine months, and how the statutory legal fees and expenses would eat away at her father’s estate even after the waiting period was over. Her father’s unexpected death was hard enough to deal with before she faced the legal hassles that accompany the probate process she faced solely because of her father’s lack of planning. 

Could he have saved her from that?

Just before lunch on a typical Friday in my elder law office, I sat at my computer on a lengthy Zoom call with a wife facing the reality that her husband would not leave the nursing home he entered for rehab after his recent stroke. Immediately after he suffered the stroke, all she was worried about was his health, and rightfully so. 

When he transitioned to rehab, she was lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that Medicare and his supplement covered all the charges. But with all of three days’ notice, she found out earlier that week that Friday would be his last day of rehab and, therefore, his last day on Medicare. The facility would start sending her a bill for their $8,500 monthly private pay rate on Monday. Had the couple’s lack of planning put her in a dangerous financial situation?

In his State of the Union Address in January of 1962, President Kennedy acknowledged that the country was in a good place after recovering from a recent recession. But he encouraged his fellow Americans, and perhaps more directly Congress, to act right then and there to “repair the roof” rather than wait for a storm to highlight necessary maintenance that had been neglected. 

While his advice makes logical sense, it’s human nature to ignore it. Just as I wait until the inevitable February ice storm to worry about whether my generator is serviced and in good repair, my clients wait until the dementia gets worse to worry about power of attorney documents. 

They wait until the unexpected death to worry about the emotional and financial costs of probate court. They wait until the surprise health event that necessitates long-term care before they seriously worry about the high costs that come with that type of care.

If the sun is shining in your life, be happy! I’m not trying to dampen your mood. Enjoy the good times when they are good! But don’t be so naïve to think they’ll always be good. Repair the roof while the sun is shining. Act before the storm hits. Set up solid power of attorney documents to prepare for the possibility of future incapacity. 

Take steps to keep your estate out of probate court. Plan for the possibility of long-term care before you’re there. Work with professionals to make sure you’re asking the right questions and getting the best answers. 

When you’re ready, and for most of you I hope that’s right now, call to set up a no-charge consultation to talk about repairing that roof before your family finds itself in an emergency situation.