Disability planning is essential for everyone because disability can, unfortunately, strike anyone at any time. A disability could occur as a result of a car accident, a fall, or any other type of unexpected incident that harms your body. Illness could also cause you to become disabled. While advance age makes it more likely an illness will cause a disabling condition, everyone is at risk- and everyone should have a plan. 
In some cases, only your physical abilities are affected by disability. In other situations, you may experience cognitive impairment and communication difficulties. This means you need to determine what will happen if you cannot make decisions on your own, as well as preparing for how medical decisions are to be made and how you will receive care.
Creating a plan in case of disability may not be fun and it may not be something you want to think about, but it is important so you don’t put your family in a bad situation. It is also important so you don’t end up getting medical care you don’t want or losing your assets due to a disabling condition.
A Montpelier disability planning attorney at Unsworth Law, P.C. can provide you with guidance on what should be included in your disability plan. Our experienced and compassionate attorneys can also help you to use available legal tools to put a solid plan in place in case the worst occurs. Give us a call now to learn more about how we can help.
Guide to Disability Planning in Montpelier
Disability planning in Montpelier should be focused on the different issues that can arise as a result of an injury or medical condition. Some of the different issues which need to be considered as part of your plan include:
- How you will pay for the costs of care?
Sometimes, an injury or an illness necessitates temporary rehabilitation. Your private insurance or Medicare may provide some limited payments for rehab after a hospital discharge. However, if your disability has made it so you need permanent care either in a nursing home or in your home, neither Medicare nor insurance will cover these costs.
You can get Medicaid to pay for a nursing home; however, Benefits.gov explains that Medicaid is available for people with disabilities but benefits are provided only to those with very low income and few assets. If you have to pay for a nursing home or even pay for medical care co-pays yourself out of your private funds, you could face financial problems very quickly. Creating a Medicaid plan to protect assets can help you to avoid spending down assets before qualifying for Medicaid. You need a plan in place at least five years before you need nursing care though, if you want to protect the maximum assets. This is one reason it is so important to create a disability plan early.
- What kinds of medical treatments do you want?
You need to consider quality of life issues in cases of severe physical or mental disability. Some people would prefer to be kept alive with extraordinary measures at all costs on the hope that medicine will advance and they will be able to recover. Others would prefer not to be resuscitated or kept alive if they will have no quality of life or if they will have to live on machines for the rest of their life. You need to make decisions in advance on what types of medical care you want, and under what circumstances, in case of a disabling illness or injury. If you don’t have a living will or advanced directive, your family could be forced to make very tough choices- and those choices may not be what you would have wanted.
- Who is going to manage your assets?
If you are disabled and cannot communicate or make decisions, who should be in charge of managing your assets? Your disability plan can include the creation of a power of attorney and/or the use of a living trust to answer this question before the answer is needed.
How a Montpelier Disability Planning Lawyer Can Help
When you want to learn more about disability planning and about what your plan should include, join us for a free seminar. You can also contact us to speak with a Montpelier disability planning lawyer who can help you to create your plan. Give us a call at (802) 879-7133 or contact us online today so we can get started on providing you and your family with protection in case a disabling condition develops due to injury or illness.
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