Several years before I became a law firm partner, my mother-in-law developed a serious and debilitating illness that required both in-patient and out-patient medical care. I watched my mother-in-law go from a thriving, vibrant woman to someone who needed regular on-going care with daily living at a fairly young age by today’s standards.

Our family estate plan did not consider her circumstances. These were new and unexpected events in our lives. Our stress skyrocketed as we tried to figure out how to address my mother-in-law’s health issues. How would we pay for her needed care? Would my in-laws potentially lose all the assets they had worked so hard throughout their lives to save? What did we need to do? Who do we go to? Who can help us? Does she need assisted living? What happens if something