In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Southern Illinois Elder Law attorney, presents another topic covered in The Alzheimer’s Guide: Practical Advice for Families, Caregivers and Professionals and discusses the important subject of whether someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s can still legally and validly execute legal documents.
Can A Person With Alzheimer’s Still Sign Legal Documents?
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson from Dent-Coulson Elder Law, your St. Louis area and Metro East Elder Law attorneys. Today is another of our series of videos on Alzheimer’s planning. I will make my pitch for our Alzheimer’s Guide, a lot of useful, valuable information. Better yet, it’s free, so call us and get your copy.
Today I want to talk about the important subject of whether someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s can still legally, validly execute legal documents.
Might surprise you to hear that the answer is, in an awful lot of cases, yes they still can. One thing to remember is that Alzheimer’s primarily primarily memory, at least until the late stages. So, you can have someone who has a poor memory but can still understand a conversation and make decisions based on what they’re listening to at the time. And, the test of capacity for signing legal documents is “did you understand them at the time that you signed?”
So, as long as that’s the case, even if that person couldn’t remember tomorrow that they had done so, or they were fine when they signed in the morning, but perhaps would not have been when they’ve sundowned later in the day, they’re still fine.
I hope people take this to heart because there are so many important legal documents that someone with Alzheimer’s really wants to have in place. So, don’t be scared off by the diagnosis. Give us a call and we can help determine that for you and in a lot more cases than you might think, still help you to get those legal documents in place. Thanks.
For more topics from The Alzheimer’s Guide, visit these articles:
- Alzheimer’s and Nursing Home Care: If You’re Married, You Really Need to Plan
- Alzheimer’s and Powers of Attorney for Property: Why the document’s specific language matters so much
- Alzheimer’s and the Five-Year Look-Back Period: The time to plan is NOW!
“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618)632-7000 or (314)567-9292 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
