Especially if your loved one doesn’t yet qualify for Medi-Cal for nursing home expenses, the decision to get your family member some needed help can be a difficult one. 
If you are concerned about making the transition with a loved one to assisted living or a nursing home, you are not alone. Many family members are naturally concerned about this transition and want to do everything possible to support their loved one. A new Covid-19 Beyond Dollars 2021 study from Genworth said that the vast majority of older adults prefer to receive medical care and assisted living care in their homes. However, only 42% of the are actually doing so. Loved ones who moved their family members into assisted living felt greater feelings of guilt compared with providing care at home. However, the feelings of guilt were the highest for those families with loved ones that moved into nursing homes. It can be difficult to see a path forward when your loved one needs care beyond what you and your family members can provide.
This makes it all the more important to craft a long term care strategy for your own future and to get the help of a dedicated estate planning lawyer in doing so. Walking through all of the possible scenarios and strategies available to you can help you create a custom plan to support your individual needs.
As you go through helping a loved one figure out what’s best for them, you also must think through your own elder law planning. Do you have a plan for what happens to your assets or your care if you become unable to speak for yourself? Often, it’s living through this as adult children that prompts us all to update our plans to make things easier for our own family members.
