Choosing an Assisted Living Facility in the Desert Just Got Easier for Yourself or a Loved One...

Sometimes it takes an illness, or an array of health issues to push us to plan as to what we would like to do with our house, assets and how we would like our money to be passed on to loved ones. Procrastination is the number one reason why people delay making decisions regarding their estate plan--and the same can be said about their long-term care options.

Health care decisions affect estate planning and finances--making families easily feel overwhelmed with the number of decisions needed to be made in choosing an appropriate board and care residential living facility option that would meet the wishes and lifestyles of those involved. As families embark on that search, an array of questions arise. Where do you look? How do you start and how do you evaluate the various assisted living facilities, and finally how do you compare them and make a final decision?

Recently, I had the good fortune of meeting with the founders of KLM Group Services, a new healthcare consulting company. Lawrence and Karen Morrissey who started the no cost referral services company desired to make the "Board and Care homes" search easier and more effective to the residents of the Coachella Valley. Lawrence (Larry) was dealing with some health care issues of his own and started to research and review the Board and Care facilities that were available in the Desert, when he realized that there were little to no standards for rating board and care facilities.

As a former healthcare executive, Larry thought it would not only be advantageous to the client and family, but a great help to the community to establish professional standards of "Board and Care homes" in the Coachella Valley. According to Larry, he decided to establish a set of accreditation criteria for inspection standards that would include potential preferences from social, lifestyle and personal options for each home. Their "strict accreditation standard" is currently used for the personal inspection of each home in their services network of Board and Care facilities making the search not only easier for the families, but increasing the level of trust and confidence that their loved one is placed in the a home which has been rated according to superior standards. 

Almost a decade ago, my grandmother was in a Board and Care facility in Cathedral City and so I think providing some criteria of the homes is a great idea, and I believe this is a valuable service for desert residents that need this option for themselves or a loved one. You can find out more about Larry and Karen Morrissey and their organization at www.klmgroupservices.com.

What Lessons can be Learned from the current Hearst Legal Battles

As I was reading the latest news about the ongoing legal battles over the control of Phoebe Hearst Cooke's assets (estimated between $1.5 and $2 billion), I couldn't help but think that in so many ways her story, even though larger in scale and scope, might be the story of many families dealing with an aging parent.   Worries about whether there is elder abuse by a caregiver, or how assets and money are being managed, and if an outsider might easily take advantage or control of the elder person's assets--should be on the mind of many families, especially here in the desert with a population that tends to skew to the older age group. 

To briefly summarize recent events, as reported in a Los Angeles Times article--Phoebe Hearst Cooke, the granddaughter of publishing legend William Randolph Hearst, is at the center of legal actions filed by relatives who contend the 81-year-old no longer has the capacity to manage her own affairs.  Currently, the only daughter of the heiress--Phoebe "Misty" Lipari, 56--is one of the relatives seeking conservatorship for her mother.

Here are some of my thoughts and lessons on what can be learned from this case:  

  • Include in your estate planning documents how a trustee is to be judged mentally competent.
  • And there should be documents in place that specify to what affairs may an agent act--for example you may want to have different agents that act for health care issues from the agents that act for financial matters.
  • In the case of a trust situation--there should be successor trustees that are nominated and can act in the case of incapacity by an elderly trust-maker.
  • Put in place asset protection strategies--to protect beneficiaries at the time of the distribution of assets (such as in the case of a lawsuit or divorce).
  • If charitable giving is part of your legacy, create endowment fund(s) for specific charities, with specific dollar amounts including your hopes and desires of how those funds are to be spent. For example, if a specific non-profit institution doesn't exist in 10 years, would you like those funds to be distributed to another charity with the same goal?
  • Finally, a great idea for an elderly person, and maybe close family members, is to create a personal inventory of the things in their home, ideally through a trusted personal property appraiser. This step is an important one as it can serve as proof of important family heirlooms, antiques or paintings--especially if they are stolen or missing when elder abuse is suspected. Personal property appraisers can document and photograph the items--and assess potential value.  This way the family has some protection in place, and will know for sure if items are missing after the death of a relative--or during the incapacity.