Since is Alzheimer’s is a gradual, degenerative disease, your family has probably been dealing with the situation for some time. Likely your Mom or Dad is in the Middle Stage of the disease and you are handling healthcare/personal care decisions on an ongoing basis. Now you are also facing decisions involving your parent’s property such as their financial assets and the family home. The steps you take now are critical to achieving a positive outcome for your Mom or Dad and their care.
The key point to make on this topic is that you should be making decisions regarding your parent’s property only in conjunction with medical and legal professionals. Although you may have a personal opinion regarding your parent’s ability to make decisions, this assessment must be done by professionals. A “capacity assessment” is a medical assessment with legal implications. My suggestion is to involve a lawyer as early as possible in the process and engage the services of a “capacity assessor“.
Some basic questions that need to be answered before any action is taken regarding the property.
Q. Does your parent have the capacity to make decisions on their behalf?
Q. Is there a Power of Attorney (POA) for Health Care and a Power of Attorney for Property in place. (Ontario, Canada)
Q. If so, when do they take effect?
You may find the following video helpful in identifying what stage your parent has reached in the timeline. Pay close attention to any comment(s) on making decisions. The video will begin playing at 31 seconds from the start. You can always rewind to the beginning if you wish.
If your Mom or Dad is still living in the family home, you may also wish to engage a Geriatric Specialist to help with tasks such as:
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- Identifying the right resources for helping your parent
- Help you co-ordinate those resources
- Helping to navigate the health care system
- Provide monitoring and support
- Planning for the future
If your family is in this situation, you are welcome to contact me for suggestions on finding capacity assessors, lawyers and Geriatric Specialists.
* You may notice some Canadian spelling in these posts. The words may look odd but that’s how we spell them. We’re used to it.
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Author:
Unless otherwise credited, all posts are happily authored with a quill pen …
Paul Ferri, Broker, ASA (Accredited Senior Agent)
RE/MAX Unique Inc. Brokerage*, Toronto, Canada
*Each office independently owned and operated.
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