With the growing number of baby boomers starting to enter their “golden years” and their ever-increasing life expectancy, elder care issues have taken on increased importance in the practice of most estate-planning professionals. We thought it fitting to recognize this shift by creating a new Elder Care Committee for our editorial advisory board, starting with the July issue. Bernard A. Krooks, who’s been a longtime contributing editor to our magazine, is chair of the committee and Michael Gilfix, who’s also been a contributing editor of elder care articles, is now one of the committee members. In addition, Lawrence A. Frolik, professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a national expert on the legal issues facing older Americans, has joined the committee.
This month’s Special Report: Elder Care zeros in on some of the problems facing clients and practitioners alike and offers some practical solutions. “America’s Long-Term Care Crisis” (p. 44) by Russell N. Adler, Peter J. Strauss and Regina Kiperman, reviews the various options available to your clients to help pay for the cost of long-term care. Patricia A. Maisano tackles the heartbreaking issue of elder abuse in “Predatory Behavior” (p. 53). In “Plan to be 100” (p. 48), Amy R. Tripp explains how the increased life expectancy of Americans will change the way estate-planning attorneys practice. And, in “The One-Page Advance Health Care Directive” (p. 51), Ruth A. Phelps gives us a short and sweet suggestion about simplifying surrogate health care decisionmaking.
Finally, be sure to check out our semi-annual “Review of Reviews” (p. 57). This month’s installment features articles by our editorial advisory board members on recent law review topics including spendthrift trusts, tax deductible conservation easements, a proposed amendment to the Uniform Probate Code, the abolishment of the rule against perpetuities and what happens to our social media accounts after we die.