The Gray Intersection of Dementia & Mental Health

In this Elder Law Minute, Kaye Dent explains the importance of seeking the assistance of an attorney when drafting a will.
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Video Transcript:
Katie Selms Dent: Hi, I'm Katie Selms Dent with Dent Coulson Elder Law. Here with an Elder Law Minute for you. These videos are intended to educate you about the Elder Care Journey, which begins earlier in life than you might think. We hope that you find them useful, and if you have further questions, please call us at Dent Coulson Elder Law.
Today, I'm going to talk to you about the gray area between dementia and mental health. Generally, when you sign Powers of Attorney appointing a person as your healthcare agent under the healthcare power of attorney, you're giving them usually broad powers to do anything and make any decisions about your healthcare that you would make if you were able. The idea is that while you're well, you give them power to make decisions for when you're not well and you're not able to make decisions. But you're choosing the person, and these are good things. There's just one little limitation in Illinois, and that's with regard to mental health treatment. As a person's agent, you can't force them into mental health treatment. And occasionally, with certain forms of dementia or certain symptoms, people need some mental health treatment, or at least that's the way our system takes care of them. And to be perfectly honest with you, I've been through this myself.
I was recently speaking with a colleague who had a similar situation for one of her clients and reaching out, trying to figure out what to do. In my situation, my husband has dementia, and he has a very specific form called frontotemporal dementia that you might have heard in the news that Bruce Willis has. Fortunately for Bruce, he doesn't have the behavioral variant that my husband had, or has. And he had, my husband, that is, had some very troubling behaviors. And ultimately, we had to have him admitted to the emergency room and from there to a behavioral health facility for a few days to get some medication adjusted and refine some of his treatment before he was transferred then to assisted living. There were a few days there where, as his healthcare agent and his wife, I was not in charge of his decision-making. But because he was in good hands, he was perfectly safe, and I knew that he was in a quality hospital. But it was very trying and it was a very emotional time.
At Dent Coulson Elder Law, we understand that there are gray areas with some of the things that we advise on and some of the documents that we handle for you. We do our best to advise you on the limitations, help you through these situations, and know that you're not alone. I know that there are many families out there who've gone through what my family did. And I think it's important for everyone to understand that the law is seldom all that black and white. It is actually full of very gray areas, and some of those are, again, very emotional. But we here at Coulson Elder Law can help you and can help you navigate sometimes troubling waters. If you have concerns about advanced planning, such as Healthcare Powers of Attorney or about a situation that your family is in involving one of these gray areas, please give us a call at Dent Coulson Elder Law.