An adult child being suddenly thrust into caring for an aging parent is a stressful enough situation, but it often pales in comparison with what can come next, an article in Financial Advisor Magazine points out. That’s because after the parent dies, what started out as rumblings sometimes escalates to lawsuits against the child who did all the work during the final years. “As mortality rates for baby boomers rise and their estates transition to their beneficiaries, the courts will be flooded with contested inheritance disputes, the American Bar Association predicts.
“Being a middle-aged adult or a young adult caregiver is stressful because of the multiplicity of roles that these people are supposed to play, not only being a caregiver, but also taking care of their own family,” Duke University School of Nursing Associate Professor Cristina Hendrix writes. “Caring for caregivers is an important part of population health because without proper support and training, caregivers can become vulnerable themselves, battling stress and overextending themselves,” she adds.
CBS Evening News pointed out driving factors in the problem:
- The large Baby Boomer generation is reaching advanced ages and living longer with chronic
- More seniors prefer to stay in their homes rather than move to formal care facilities.
- Caregivers frequently handle medical tasks, such as managing equipment and giving injections, often without professional training.
- Meanwhile, about 29% of caregivers support both their aging parents and their own children.
Psychology Today points out that “family care giving is increasingly recognized as a normal (if stressful) phase of the parent/child lifecycle.”
Healthcare is obviously an important element in estate planning, and, at Geyer Legal, we stress the importance of planning for healthcare needs. Adult children who take on the responsibility of caring for their parents need to protect themselves legally. Legal fees, delays, and administrative costs sometimes consume assets meant for heirs or charities, meaning that everyone loses when there are family conflicts.
Often, conflict is caused by an unequal division of caregiving duties, Attorney Amy J. Eddy writes. A parent will typically name one child as agent to make health care and financial decisions in the event of incapacity, choosing the person they believe to be the most responsible, the most available or the one who lives closest. Regardless of the reason, choosing one sibling over another sometimes leads to the caregiving child feeling overburdened with shouldering all of the duties while the other siblings feel resentful, left out and sometimes suspicious of that child’s actions.
As Indiana elder law attorneys, we help Indiana families plan for life’s unexpected twists and turns, and one primary goal is to ease clients’ way, helping avoid conflict and misunderstanding.
We not only help clients draft essential documents, but also advise adult children caregivers on benefits available to the parent, such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Veteran’s Administration benefits.
At Geyer Legal, we know adult child caregivers need care!
by Nicole Eckert, Attorney with Geyer Legal Group
