Help me arrange legal management of my parents' care and finances

• Article - Power of Attorney for Finances: A Beginner's Guide

  Power of attorney designates who handles financial affairs when your parent is incapacitated. This article covers the basics of power of attorney.

• Article - Power of Attorney for Finances: A Step-By-Step Guide

  This guide shows you how to set up a power of attorney, from figuring out if your parent actually needs one to choosing who will act as their agent.

• Checklist - 10 Things That Should Be in Your Parents' Wills

  Everyone needs a will. You can create your own with...

• Checklist - 5 Legal Documents You Need for Your Parents

  These documents will ensure that you can assist your...

• Checklist - 8 Things to Look for in a Nursing Home Agreement

  Nursing home agreements affect your parent's care in a nursing home. Here's what to look for in a nursing home agreement.

• Checklist - 10 Things You Should Know About Your Parents' Finances

  Know the answers to these 10 elderly parent finance questions. Where do they keep their financial records? Do they have a durable power of attorney?

• Checklist - 6 Important Issues to Include in Your Parents' Healthcare Directive

  An advance healthcare directive -- a legal document...

• Article - What to Expect from Your Trusts and Estates Attorney

  How to help your parent find and work with a trusts and estates attorney on wills, revocable trusts, and estate planning.

• Article - Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills: A Beginner's Guide

  A living will or advance health care directive lets medical providers know a person's preferences when they're unable to do so independently.

• Article - Conservatorship and Adult Guardianship: A Beginner's Guide

  When and how to appoint a conservator, or adult guardian, for your parent if she can't make important health and financial decisions for herself.

Questions & Answers

• Question - How do I gain access to my parent's health records without a durable power of attorney for health care?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Can my parent give durable power of attorney for healthcare to one child, and durable power of attorney for finance to another?

  My brother thinks my parents should give durable power of attorney for healthcare to one sibling and durable power of attorney for finance to another.

• Question - Can a parent revise or revoke a durable power of attorney for healthcare or finances?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What's the emergency procedure for obtaining durable power of attorney for finance or health care?

  What's the emergency procedure for obtaining durable power of attorney for finance or health care? Get answers on obtaining durable power of attorney.

• Question - How do I set up a conservatorship for my mother?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What's the difference between a guardianship and a conservatorship?

  What's the difference between a guardianship and a conservatorship? I want to know because my elderly parent refuses to sign a power of attorney.

• Question - What rights do I have as a healthcare agent?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What do I need to know before I sign a nursing home contract?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What steps are required to get a conservatorship?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - How should my father balance estate planning, tax planning, and Medicaid planning?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What are the amounts of trustees fees on a testamentary...

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• Question - Will I have access to my father's health records?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - I take care of my mother 16 hours a day and she lives in...

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Tips & Reflections

• Tip - Put It on a Card

  Legal documents, such as an advance healthcare directive...

• Tip - Put It in Writing to Avoid Disputes

  If you and your siblings are squabbling over who should...

• Tip - Avoid Binding Arbitration Clauses

  Whether it's a hospital admission agreement, a long...

• Tip - Tax-Free Annual Gifts to Children

  Tax free gifts to children can help your parent reduce their tax liability. Parents may give a maximum of $12,000 per year to each child without incurring a gift tax.