How to plan an estate with Alzheimer’s or dementia

There’s a lot to think about when you engage in the estate planning process. Chief amongst them is simply how to divide your assets upon passing. Yet, there are several other important considerations, including your mental capacity. After all, if you’re found to have lacked testamentary capacity at the time that you executed your estate plan, then your entire plan, or key portions of it, could be invalidated, leading to a distribution scheme that’s contrary to your wishes.

So, if you or a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s or dementia, you need to take care in how your estate plan is executed. If you’re thoughtful in how you approach estate planning, you can still create valid legal documents that protect the interests of your estate and your loved ones.

How can you show testamentary capacity?

You have several options. Here are some that you might want to use in your situation:

• See your doctor shortly before executing your estate plan so that they can give a firm opinion as to your mental clarity in the days or even hours leading up to the execution of your estate plan documentation.
• Gift assets to those you expect to challenge the estate plan, as acceptance of those gifts may be deemed agreement that you have the mental capacity to appropriately determine how your assets should be distributed.
• Have plenty of witnesses lined up during the execution of your estate plan documentation so that they can later testify about your mental clarity at that pivotal moment.
• Use a letter of intent to clearly specify your justifications for your estate planning decisions so that it’s harder for those who want to contest your estate plan to argue that you didn’t know what you were doing.

You’ve worked hard to develop your estate plan. Don’t let it all go to waste because of perceived issues with your mental health. Instead, work closely with your attorney to figure out the best way to protect the viability and validity of your estate plan so that you can bring your vision of the future into reality.