Live independently at home with the help of experienced Homecare California caregivers.
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Sunnyvale Senior Caregivers Conference to Provide Families with Resources and Support
Families of older adults with healthcare issues need all the support and information they can receive. If you would like the opportunity to get some excellent training on caregiver issues with seniors, I encourage you to mark your calendars for an upcoming conference. On Saturday, March 17, the Aging Services Collaborative (ASC) of Santa Clara County will be hosting an all-day training for families.
“Caregivers Count!” is the apt title for the event, which promises to cover a range of relevant caregiving issues for area families, including:
· Self-care and stress management
· Legal issues
· End of life and palliative care
· Navigating community resources
Major sponsors of the event include the Silicon Valley Council on Aging, HealthTrust, and several local healthcare organizations. Hosting organization ASC has been a moving force in Santa Clara County for the last five years. The collaborative of over 87 organizations promotes the well-being of older adults through leadership initiatives, capacity building, and information exchange.
At Homecare California, we work daily with families who are struggling with the demands of caring for an older loved one. Often the transition is sudden, and information and support are needed – often for the entire family. We encourage area residents to take advantage of this free training opportunity.
TIME and DATE:
Saturday, March 17, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION:
Sunnyvale Senior Center
550 East Remington Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
COST:
Free
REGISTRATION:
Registration is required, as seating is limited. You can register using this online form.
For additional information, go to the Aging Services Collaborative or HealthTrust website.
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
When Menlo Park attorney John C. Martin was younger, a favorite aunt worked as an estate planning attorney. She clearly enjoyed her work and shared stories of how she had saved families from various financial legal and financial nightmares. Martin also watched the lack of proper estate planning hit close to home. After his grandfather impulsively tore up his will, he died a few months later. With no will or estate plan in place, settling the estate was indeed a nightmare. Today Martin cites both these family influences as being professional inspirations for his work as an estate planning attorney.
“I enjoy counseling individuals one on one,” Martin says. “And I try to save them from their own family nightmares when I can.” As lead attorney in the Law Offices of John C. Martin, he works exclusively in the areas of legacy planning, estate and business succession planning, wealth preservation, and estate administration.
A key component of his work is incapacity planning. Martin notes that up to 44% of individuals will face a disability of more than two years’ duration during their lifetimes. When a person’s mental or physical condition affects the ability to make financial or legal decisions, the results can be far-reaching. He or she may become subject to state oversight and may face expensive legal proceedings such as conservatorship or guardianship. Decisions about health care may not be made according to one’s own preferences. And the planned legacy for an individual’s estate can also be impacted, as assets may not be adequately protected or probate disputes may arise.
When asked about the most critical elements of incapacity planning, Martin notes the importance of the right documentation, particularly for powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and revocable trusts. He offers the following tips:
Powers of attorney – Not all powers of attorney (POAs) are created equal, Martin states. Most individuals first need a basic document that assigns an agent to function in their behalf. However, many individuals may also need a more prescriptive one. Martin advocates “beefing up” a boilerplate POA with language that covers specific eventualities; e.g., the agent’s power to enter into long-term care contracts, such as agreements with in-home care facilities or providers. California law now requires the POA to state whether an agent may consent to resolving disputes by arbitration in a nursing home contract, for example, so he recommends that the POA explicitly empower the agent in this regard.
Health care directives – For most individuals, Martin finds that a standard template will suffice, such as the California Medical Association’s form. The advantage to a standardized form is that it can be readily reviewed in an emergency situation without delay. However, sometimes a more detailed directive is needed, depending upon the unique needs of the individual. For example, A Christian Scientist might elect to spell out the types of medical treatment that are acceptable for her care. An individual newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease might want to outline the level of care that she would prefer at each stage of the progressive illness.
Revocable trusts – A key difference Martin notes between a revocable trust and a power of attorney is that a trustee has actual title on assets. Because POAs do not create a change of title, agents may be required to submit documentation over and over again to demonstrate they are authorized to take certain actions. A revocable trust can be an important tool for specifying an individual’s wishes over the later years in life. In addition to protecting estate assets, the revocable trust can better position an individual to receive and finance the best health care options; e.g., laying the groundwork for a special needs trust or establishing alternative ways of producing income to fund later elder care needs.
In the arena of incapacity planning, Martin addresses everything from drafting HIPAA-compliant release authorizations (“What is the value in having a health care agent if your health information can’t be released to them?”) to establishing special needs trusts. His firm offers convenient and cost-effective client care programs, set up to deal with changing financial, legal, or health issues. Periodic checks are made to ensure that clients’ directives are up to date and relevant, and basic document changes are made as needed.
“I work with both seniors and their family members, “Martin says. “But I always remember that the client’s own wishes must be my first priority.” By ensuring that these wishes are protected through the right legal planning and documentation, he also hopes to reduce the likelihood of an estate nightmare for another family.
Based in Menlo Park, the Law Offices of John C. Martin provide legal consultation to individuals and businesses throughout the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay areas. A magna cum laude graduate of UCLA, Martin received his J.D. from Boston College Law Schools and a Diplôme from L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France. He is a 2010 recipient of the State Bar of California Wiley W. Manual Award. For additional information on incapacity planning, please visit his website.
Friday, February 10th, 2012
For Minda Cutcher, Financial Advocate for Seniors, her work is her passion. “My goal is to lift the burden of money management and household planning from seniors and/or their adult children so their visits together can be about quality of time vs. quantity of tasks.” The service she provides is equal parts daily money manager and professional organizer.
A few short years ago, she was serving as a financial manager of a very different sort. An MBA with degrees from Cornell and Northeastern and a background as a civil engineer, Cutcher was blazing trails in the corporate world. She managed multi-million dollar budgets, led teams of several hundred employees, and handled billing and collections for companies with more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue.
Today, her work is not always so glamorous. Cutcher often finds herself sitting across the table from an elderly client, helping balance a checkbook. In a typical day, she may pack boxes for a client’s cross-country move or scrutinize the fine print in a set of insurance claims.
What changed? The timely intersection of a tanking economy and her 93-year-old father’s need for more hands-on care led to a reassessment of priorities, both personal and professional. Around the time she was laid off from her finance manager position, she realized that her widowed father, living 3,000 miles away, needed her to apply her organizational expertise to his life. When she discovered that his cleaning lady was helping him pay bills, she rolled up her sleeves. One startling discovery: her father was eligible for veteran’s benefits for which he had not even applied. And after his death, she was struck by the accumulated “business” of death – obtaining death certificates, contacting Social Security, stopping pension checks, and disposing of his estate.
Her epiphany came when she realized that other adult children as well as seniors needed assistance in navigating what she describes as the “financial challenges of aging.” She established the office of Minda Cutcher, MBA, Inc. — and never looked back.
As a Daily Money Manager and professional organizer, she applies her professional skills to four assistance areas for seniors:
You can find further details about these services at Minda Cutchter’s website and blog.
Cutcher estimates that about half of her referrals are from seniors who contact her directly when they realize they need questions answered, records organized, or financial decisions made. Often seniors will turn to a provider such as herself, rather than allowing themselves to appear vulnerable to their children. The other half of her client base comes from adult children, who realize a parent needs assistance that they are unable to provide, due to lack of expertise, geographical distance, or other factors. Cutcher notes that relieving an adult child of a managerial role with an older parent allows both parties to enjoy the familial relationship more.
Cutcher enjoys the support of a broad network of other service professionals to whom she can refer her clients. She has worked closely with organizations such as ours, and her assistance and expertise often make a difference in the degree of independent living a senior can maintain, as well as their overall quality of life.
“What drives my passion,” Cutcher says, “and what is most rewarding to me, is to see the concern drain from the face of a worried son or daughter—to see them relax when they realize that things are taken care of. Now they can focus on spending time with, and caring about, rather than caring for their parents.”
A recent comment from a client validates these words. Cutcher was hired by an older woman’s daughter to downsize her mother’s household possessions and then move her from California to Pennsylvania. As Robin S. describes: “Minda’s role in my mother’s life has been transformative. When I moved 3,000 miles away from my mother… I carried great anxiety over my ability to complete the organizational work I had started for her. When I hired Minda, she worked a total transformation on my mother’s home the first week of her involvement. Minda has been instrumental in transferring responsibility for my mother’s finances and personal administration to me, allowing me to secure my mother’s future. Minda has my deep and lasting gratitude.”
For Minda Cutcher, she’ll take the transformative work of changing people’s lives by helping seniors over the corporate world any day.
Minda Cutcher, MBA, is a member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers and the National Association of Professional Organizers. She is a past Chair of the Board of Directors for Pathways Hospice Foundation and on the Board of Director for Senior Housing Solutions.
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