Life Becomes More Complicated, a column authored by Attorney Michael Hooker is a wealth of information. He covers everything from living wills to nursing home costs. We are happy to provide copies of his articles here.
If I had a dime for every client who wanted to protect their savings from “the nursing home” or “the state,” I would be a wealthy man. Many elders have heard war stories of how a neighbor or relative had all of his or her savings consumed by a long term nursing home stay.
The 1960s Woodstock generation, who often care for their elderly parents, are now older citizens enrolling in Medicare. Changes in demographics such as the baby boomer bubble, the drop in worker-to- retiree ratios and increased longevity are some of the factors that have created increasingly stringent health care financing frameworks.
Massachusetts law allows a competent person to designate a surrogate (substitute) medical decision-maker (the "proxy") for a resident, in the event that resident is later incapable of making health care decisions.
There are a variety of situations where a person is deemed incapable of making decisions because of cognitive impairment. Some professionals use the word "capacity" while others refer to "competence." While some readers might believe that a person is either mentally competent or not, the issue is not that easy. There is actually a spectrum of decisions and/or actions that require varying degrees of competence.
