Can a Person With Alzheimer's Make an Estate Plan?

 Posted on January 14, 2025 in Elder Law

Alzheimer’s is one of many age-related conditions that can affect a person’s mental state. People with Alzheimer’s or similar conditions can struggle with short and long-term memory loss and may experience confusion or impaired reasoning. Getting this diagnosis can be frightening and upsetting, for you and for your closest loved ones. Many people with Alzheimer’s have lost or will lose the capacity required to create a legally binding trust or will. However, many people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s do meet the requirements to sign a will or trust. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and would like to make an estate plan, you must act quickly. An experienced San Antonio, TX estate planning attorney can help to assess whether an individual is still able to create an estate plan.

Understanding The Capacity Test 

The legal test used to determine whether an individual has the capacity to make a will or trust is fairly specific. First, a person must be able to understand the nature of his will or trust and the effect of signing a legal document. If he is able to simply explain what their estate planning documents are for and what they will do, this prong is usually met.

Next, someone seeking to make an estate plan must understand his assets and how they should be distributed. This means the estate planner should be able to list his major assets accurately, not that he needs to remember every single asset he owns. A fairly common issue people with Alzheimer’s have when it comes to meeting this prong is being unable to remember which assets have already been sold. For example, it is very common for memory care residents to believe that they still have their house and their car when both were sold years ago.

Finally, the person making an estate plan needs to understand who the people receiving their property are and how they are related to the estate planner. If he is able to explain who he wants to leave his assets to and how he knows these individuals, this requirement is normally met. People who are in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and are struggling to remember who their family members or closest loved ones are may not meet this test.

If someone with Alzheimer’s has both good days, where he can likely meet the capacity test, and bad days, where he likely cannot, he can still make an estate plan. Our lawyers are experienced in working with clients who have good days and bad days and can work around this very common pattern.

Contact a San Antonio, TX Estate Planning for Elders Attorney

The Law Office of Ryan C. Moe, PLLC is committed to helping people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s finalize their estate plans and other essential incapacity planning documents. Our compassionate Bexar County, TX estate planning lawyers are experienced in working with older adults who are beginning to experience age-related capacity issues. Contact us at 210-861-6000 for a confidential consultation.