Eldercare Planning

Planning for your financial future is a lifelong responsibility. However, it becomes more critical as people age and look to retirement and the potential of declining health. Listed below are some basic resources to begin the process, but ultimately there are many more decisions to make.

Adult children often find that their aging parents rely on them more and more to assist with planning and decision-making. For this reason it is suggested that parents be encouraged to have updated and well thought out estate plans and long-term-care plans. Though the Foundation does not offer estate planning services per se, we can offer suggestions as to the types of professionals you may wish to consult and how we can assist in planning charitable gifts.

Important legal documents you will want to consider:

Wills
Everyone needs a will. This legal document directs the orderly distribution of your assets and has the potential to name an executor as well as guardians of minor children. Because of the intricacies of the tax law it is essential that you use a competent attorney in the drafting of this document. The rules for a will are quite specific to your state of residence, so if you have moved or are planning to move you should reexamine your current will.

Check here for a listing of essential information that an attorney will need in order to complete the process of drafting the documents for you.

Financial Power of Attorney
This is a document that empowers someone else to act on your behalf. It may be a general power that enables the individual to do anything that you could do. Or it could be specific to a single transaction. A married couple or someone that owns items jointly with another may want to have a power of attorney so that if the joint owner is incapacitated or not present, the other individual can act on his or her behalf. This is a very powerful document and this power to act on your behalf should be granted cautiously. The document should be created by and under the advice of your attorney.

Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will
These two items are often contained in a single document.

The Medical Power of Attorney provides the authority for an individual to receive information regarding the medical condition of another and to act on this other person’s behalf when he or she is not able to do so.
The Living Will, sometimes referred to as an Advance Directive, provides specific information to medical providers as to what procedures you want to have followed when it is determined that your medical condition is irreversible and death may be imminent.

General Information Regarding Eldercare

If there are any questions you’d like us to address about eldercare planning, wills, or powers of attorney, please send us an email.

United Methodist Foundation
of Western Pennsylvania
223 Fourth Avenue, Suite 707
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
1-800-743-2128

The Foundation is a ministry established to provide United Methodists with the resources to accomplish collectively more than can be accomplished alone. We act in accordance with our mission statement and a funds management approach that is based on a Biblical, theologically sound form of Christian stewardship.