Eldercare
Eldercare Mediation helps families to plan for the care of their parent(s) without hasty, emergency decisions and sibling animosity or estrangement. Mediation can avoid guardianship proceedings and can help family members come together to develop the best plan for a parent, the family and family relationship.
Decisions that are often discussed in Eldercare Mediation may include parental living arrangements, health and personal care (such as driving ability), provisions in the case of terminal illness, home upkeep and repair, financial concerns, nursing home care, trust and estate issues, guardianship, power of attorney, as well as relationships between parents, grandparents and grandchildren. Children and parents may work to develop agreements as to which child should hold the parent’s power of attorney and which should serve as the parent’s health care representative.
Issues regarding Eldercare are as varied as families themselves. Despite this uniqueness, there are similar financial, legal and medical decisions that need to be made. Too often these issues are avoided, disagreed upon, and/or ignored, resulting in fewer choices, financial loss and emotional turmoil for families to preserve financial and familial well being.
When families bring their interests to the mediation process, the mediator can facilitate a discussion of these interests and possible solutions. Starting and finishing a comprehensive conversation with all of the decision-makers present transforms family conflict into prudent planning. Through skillful mediation, seniors and their families can gain control of what’s important to them and protect family relationships in the process.
Elder-Related Disputes That Can Be Mediated