If you’re looking for a plan to save money, elder law planning on your own might seem like an appealing option, even though the advantage could be potentially saving money now. There are costly mistakes that you can make in the DIY elder law planning process, such as omissions, neglecting opportunities for protection, and errors that end up affecting you or your loved ones. 

When it comes to protecting assets from the cost of nursing homes, and naming those people who will make financial, legal, and medical decisions in the event of a disability, it’s important to think about how an attorney can help you draft a legally valid healthcare proxy and power of attorney. There can be significant consequences if you simply find a form online print it out and fill it in.

The power of attorney form in different states could require different considerations, and since you want your elder law plans to be as accurate as possible for your individual state, you need to verify with your attorney that your document is indeed legally valid. Healthcare proxies and powers of attorney, for example, should also have language that gives the named agent the authority to obtain all documents and medical information under HIPAA, the U.S. federal privacy law.

There’s too much left to chance when you engage in the process of DIY estate planning, and you could remove many of these barriers and hesitations by hiring an experienced and dedicated elder law planning attorney.