Get Thee to a Lawyer

 The moment we found out Mom had dementia we went to a lawyer. If your loved one has anything that is considered property or savings you need to do the same thing. The sooner the better. You need to get Power of Attorney, a Will, and possibly an advanced Medical Directive.

Power of Attorney: This gives the person named the power to make financial  decisions for them. For example you're mom ends up in the hospital. If she has bills due you would be able to pay for it for her. That's a very simple example, but I hope you get the idea. Power of attorney doesn't have to go into effect right away either. You can have it for years and not use it but it's there in case you need it.

A Will: if your loved one has any items, a house, a car, jewelry, etc you should have a will. That way there is no fighting. Hopefully. It doesn't have to be this elaborate thing.

An Advanced Medical Directive: Most people don't want to be kept alive by pumps and tubes. It's a sad thing to think about but it is something you need to talk to your loved one about. If they don't want to be put on machines to be kept alive you need this. Without one the doctor will automatically try to keep them alive.

Understand that you need to do this as soon as you can. Once your loved one can't make decisions on their own it will be too late. They're not real expensive either. A basic will, POA, and AMD run about 150 each. At least that's how much they are here in south east Virginia. Some lawyers will give a discount when you do all three. If you can't afford all of them you can find them on line, but I'll be honest. What I found on the web didn't make sense to me so I did the power of attorney with a lawyer.