The holidays are coming up on us quickly. Before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here, rushing us straight into the New Year. The holidays are my favorite time of year, even amidst the stress that we all know can accompany family gatherings of any kind, and I look forward every year to celebrating with my law firm team and my family.
Despite all the wonderful feelings, celebrations and memories the holiday season brings, it can be one of the most difficult for our Florida seniors and their loved ones. The holidays may start as a joyous time to reconnect, face-to-face, with parents and grandparents who live at a distance but end with the significant discovery of previously unknown issues. I find during this seasonal “check in,” it is not unusual to find dramatic declines in health in our elderly loved ones, including problems related to mobility and cognition.
Invariably, I will see tough cases throughout the holidays and into well into next year with new clients in my law practice. Unfortunately, many of the circumstances I find my clients and their families being frustrated and saddened by were avoidable with proper estate planning and elder law planning. I find myself in these meetings often wishing the people I am meeting with had taken steps to show their family members how truly grateful for them they are while they still had time to do so.
How can we demonstrate an attitude of thankfulness through Florida estate planning and elder law planning? The answer is simpler than you think; it is by making the decision to be proactive instead of reactive.
Let me explain what I mean by saying legal planning can show you’re thankful. All of us know that as a society we are living longer than ever before and our elder American population, sixty years of age and older, is on the rise. Longevity holds the tremendous benefit that you will have even more time with those you love but it also opens the door to future uncertainties. These uncertainties manifest in many different ways including rapidly declining physical health, cognitive impairments, sudden falls and depletion of financial resources. I see these uncertainties and more devastate my clients and their families when decision makers are not selected and planning decisions are not made in advance of serious illness or infirmity.
The good news is you can make decisions now to position you and your family to be protected well into advance age and after. The key is making the decisions you need to make now, before it is too late to plan. This holiday season, I am here to help you make the Florida estate planning and elder law planning choices that show you really are thankful for those you love most in this world by protecting them and yourself against an uncertain future.
