February 19, 2020

If your loved one was recently diagnosed with dementia, the entire family has plenty of things to think about. It’s hard to determine when things have gotten so bad that you need additional support or to consider whether they need to move to a new place so you can either keep an eye on them or have a group of people, like facility staff, do the same. 

When a loved one is diagnosed with dementia, the disease might have already progressed. However, others might catch these situations early on in the process and recognize that their loved one, by all accounts, still appears to be fine. 

Dementia can cause what seems like sudden changes to an outsider, or it can be more of a gradual decline. If multiple family members are involved in making these care decisions, this can also complicate the situation if not everyone agrees.

If you feel like things have become a safety risk but your brother argues that your mom or dad is fine, you might push off the decision over creating a power of attorney or making a care plan. There’s no one tried and true way to decide when the disease has progressed far enough that it’s worrisome; you’ll have to make that call for yourself.

Having a power of attorney document in place sooner rather than later means that when the time comes, if your loved one is no longer able to make decisions for themself or take care of themselves that you or another power of attorney agent can then step in. While you might hope that you have plenty of time before that becomes necessary, if your loved one is struggling to pay their bills, has difficulty remembering where they are, or has had any near-miss or near-injury events in the recent past, now is a time to take more serious action.

Need help with a dementia-related power of attorney? Contact our office today for help from a Mississippi lawyer.