Being a caregiver means getting legal paperwork in order
Caregivers often put off the “legal stuff” because it’s confusing and it can be difficult to know where to start.
But when you’re caring for an older adult, an important part of the job is making sure essential legal documents are in order.
That allows someone to help with financial or medical decisions when necessary.
Getting the paperwork done before it’s needed will save time, money, and headaches down the road.
To help you get started, we found a helpful free guide from ARAG that gives an overview of caregiving legal basics.
It uses simple and straightforward language to cover key issues like planning for when your older adult will need someone to speak for them, housing options, end-of-life choices, and more.
We explain what’s in the guide and how it helps with important legal issues related to caregiving.
Guide to caregiving legal basics helps you get started
We like this free guide because the information is broken up into sections that are easy to read and understand.
We also like that it gives unbiased information that helps you understand which legal documents are needed, why they’re important, and how to get started.
The guide includes:
- Checklists
- Definitions of key terms
- Suggested questions to help you start sensitive discussions
- Tips on how to choose representatives, save on taxes, etc.
Page 4 of ARAG’s caregiver guide
How the guide helps with important caregiving legal issues
This caregiver legal basics guide covers 6 sections. Here’s what each of them includes:
Estate planning
- What an estate plan covers
- Which documents are needed and why
- A 6 step checklist for how to create one
Working with an attorney
- What to expect from hiring an attorney
- How they’ll work with your older adult and the family
Planning for incapacity
- How a legal guardian could take over when someone is not able to make their own decisions
- The process is for declaring someone incapacitated
Housing considerations
- Checklists to help decide the best place to live
Other issues
- Managing financial and insurance matters
- Funeral planning
- Tips to help caregivers care for themselves
Next Step Get a free guide to important caregiving legal basics from ARAG
Recommended for you:
- 5 Smart Tips for Hiring an Elder Law Attorney
- Simple End-of-Life Planning: The Five Wishes Living Will
- How to Estimate Long Term Care Costs to Make Care Decisions Easier
By DailyCaring Editorial Team
This article wasn’t sponsored and doesn’t contain affiliate links. For more information, see How We Make Money.
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About the Author
Connie Chow
Connie was a hands-on caregiver for her grandmother for 20 years. (Grandma made it to 101 years old!) She knows how challenging, overwhelming, and all-consuming caring for an older adult can be. She also knows how important support is — especially in the form of practical solutions, valuable resources, and self-care tips.
I am a Notary Public in AZ, so this article was of interest. One issue that is important is to be certain to obtain forms for End of Life – POA, Advance directive, will, etc. from the state of residency. Each state is a bit different regarding these issues. I also have been called to help a family where the husband/father is really not completely cognitive and at that point, I can’t help. An attorney should be one who specializes in elder law. Most states, I think, as here in AZ, have End of Life packets containing the necessary forms. One thing I will not notarize is signatures on a hand drawn will.
Excellent points, thank you for sharing!
Caregiving: an overview Guide… I follow the link for this from DailyCaring.com. I also searched for this guide. I cannot find it. Does the guide go by a different title? Has ARAG discontinued it?
Thank you so much for letting us know! We do our best to monitor for broken links, but sometimes one will slip through. We’ll contact ARAG to find out what happened to their guide.
Thanks for your patience! We’ve got a new (working) link to the Caregiving overview guide from ARAG. You should be able to download the guide now.
Great Post!
Thanks! So glad this is helpful.