Program on aging and the law set for Monday

As part of its ongoing program of informational events, North Central Senior Citizens Center is hosting a presentation from Montana Legal Services on “Legalities Involved in Aging” Monday, Aug. 29, 1-2:30 p.m. at the senior center.

Heather Winter, activities coordinator at the senior center, said COVID-19 shut down a lot of activities at the center that they are now starting up again, and this free presentation is to meant to address a lot of wide-ranging questions she’s been getting from seniors and other people. Presenters from Montana Department of Health and Human Services Office on Aging will cover legal aspects on topics from basic estate planning, trust information, guardianships and conservatorships to scams, exploitation and the normal aging process versus dementia.

“A lot of folks had talked about wanting to know about aging and legal matters — long-term care, how not to lose all your money, what are the avenues to protect you — and we’ve been working on this for a bit,” she said. “ … So now we’re going to put this presentation on for the community.”

Katy Lovell, legal service developer at Office on Aging, said she and Susan Gobbs, an attorney with the department, will be talking about and answering questions on these issues that relate to the law and ways people might need to interact with an attorney as they age.

“So we’re going cover a wide variety of topics. We’re going to do a little bit about estate planning, what the general documents are, what they do,” Lovell said. “We’re gonna cover Medicaid planning very briefly, we’re gonna talk about exploitation, we’re gonna talk about (legal issues related to) normal aging versus with dementia and Alzheimer’s, and then we’ll be there to answer questions if folks have those as well.”

They generally present an overview on an issue and cover actions such as responses, finding resources and precautions to take.

She used scams as an example, saying, they do an overview on some of the main types of scams, what people can do to help protect themselves and others if they notice a scam in the community and where to report it.

The presentation, she added, does also benefit caregivers for the elderly and anyone who thinks they may be caregiving in the next five to 10 years, as well.

“It’s pretty general information, and, certainly, our clientele is mostly seniors, but I think that it’s information that people of any age could benefit from,” she said.

While emphasis is on pre-planning, information and help is available for people and caregivers who get behind the curve on some issues.

“When it comes to estate planning or really just documents like powers of attorney, the sooner you can plan the better, the more options that are available to you the sooner you start to plan,” she said, because things happen that people can’t plan for like a car accidents and slips and falls or they want to plan ahead for long-term care in a nursing home or care facility.

“Certainly, the options become more limited, and in a lot of cases more expensive, but there are options for people who are in crisis situations or who have waited too long,” Lovell said. “Normally it really depends on the level of capacity of folks as to what documents or what options are available to them at that point, but certainly we can talk about what’s available.”

This is often the case with Alzheimer’s and other form of dementia, she said, adding that Gobbs is on the board of the Montana Alzheimer’s Association and does a good overview of caring for people who may have some capacity issues or even if someone knows that they have some capacity issues.

Montana Legal Services conducts these clinics throughout the summer, she said, and they help with documents over the phone for people over 60 or who are enrolled tribal members. They also have needed documents online at https://dphhs.mt.gov/sltc/aging so people can look at them, or download and use them. The instructions are online, as well, and part of the presentation will be about what is available and how to access the forms.

Winter asked that if people know ahead of time that they are coming, they call the senior center at 406-265-5464 to register with their first name.

“Everybody is welcome. It is a free event and it is open to the public,” Winter said. “Anyone interested in this information is welcome to come”