Guidelines for legal and financial counseling of Alzheimer's disease patients and their families

As soon as there is reasonable evidence for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (primary progressive degenerative dementia), the physician should urge legal and financial counseling of the patient and the family in planning for the patient's long-term care. The general purposes and the process of such counseling are described as a guide for physicians who care for these patients and their families. The issues of informed consent, competency, powers of attorney, guardianship, inter vivos trusts, wills, and living wills are discussed. Timely planning eases the burden on the family and assists the physician in the patient's care during the later stages of the disorder.