How Quickly Can Dementia Take Away Your Legal Ability to Make Decisions?
The threat of dementia is concerning for various reasons. For many people, the most daunting aspect of this medical issue is the inability to make legal decisions. At a certain point, people with dementia become legally “incapacitated,” which means that they can no longer make decisions about their own finances or health care. How fast can this cognitive decline occur? Should you create an estate plan in North Palm Beach now, before it’s too late?
Dementia Can Lead to Complete Incapacitation Faster Than Many Realize
Many people assume that once they receive their dementia diagnosis, they have plenty of time to get their affairs in order. While it can take years for this disease to progress, patients sometimes experience extremely rapid deterioration of their mental faculties. At the end of the day, it all depends on your unique circumstances. If you want to understand how quickly your disease is progressing, it makes sense to speak directly with your doctors.
What is Rapidly Progressive Dementia
Rapidly progressive dementia (RPD) is a specific type of dementia that progresses at an extremely fast rate. Those who have this disease can reach full mental incapacitation in as little as a few weeks from the time of their initial diagnosis. This gives the patient and their family almost no time to prepare for what happens next. RPD may also progress within the space of a few months.
If you have RPD, it makes sense to get your affairs in order immediately. Every day you delay could make it more challenging to create legal estate planning documents. If you allow the disease to progress further, Wills, advance directives, healthcare surrogates, and other documents could be unenforceable. The logic here is that RPD prevents you from understanding the documents you’re signing. If you don’t understand the documents, your signature doesn’t carry any legal weight.
Most Forms of Dementia Progress Over the Years
Most forms of dementia progress more slowly than RPD. Doctors often follow a “three-stage” timeline consisting of early, moderate, and late-stage dementia. The early stage can last between two and four years. During this period, the patient may still be able to sign documents and understand estate planning concepts.
However, they may quickly begin to struggle with speaking, writing, and reading comprehension. Memory issues may also become increasingly problematic during this period. For these reasons, it makes sense to get started with estate planning within the first few months of early-stage dementia.
Can a North Palm Beach Estate Planning Lawyer Help Me?
Whether you just received a dementia diagnosis or your family history makes you vulnerable, it makes sense to get started with an estate plan sooner rather than later. Even if there is no sign of dementia at present, a proactive approach is always logical. Consider expanding on this conversation with a North Palm Beach estate planning attorney. Estate planning documents like Wills and advance directives are easy to create, and they should be affordable. Contact Kitroser Lewis & Mighdoll today to learn more.
Sources:
memory.ucsf.edu/dementia/rapidly-progressive-dementias
helpguide.org/aging/dementia/stages-of-alzheimers-disease
