The Great American Senior Show

What Happens When Seniors Want to Euthanize a Pet Upon Their Own Death?

February 04, 2022 Sam Yates Season 2 Episode 42
The Great American Senior Show
What Happens When Seniors Want to Euthanize a Pet Upon Their Own Death?
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Show Notes Transcript

The Great American Senior Show caught up with Elder Attorney David Slonim on Florida's Space Coast to continue our conversation about the topics you should be coveringwith an elder attorney and someone you love. In the course of the conversation, your grey-haired host Sam Yates found a topic very near and dear to everyone's heart -- pets...and what should seniors do if they are thinking of having their pet put down upon their own death.

It's a topic that not too many people even think about and fewer know how to handle the situation if a loved one has asked in their Will to have their pets euthanized.

Join us as the Great American Senior Show touches on this topic and other conversations you should be having soon...before it is too late in a conversation with Elder Attorney David Slonim. 


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The Great American Senior Show podcast is produced by Yates & Associates, Public Relations & Marketing. This podcast is part of the network of podcasts streaming under the umbrella of the Pod National News Network. For more information about Yates & Associates or the Pod National News Network, contact Sam Yates at (772) 528-5185 or Sam@Yatespro.com. Sponsorship opportunities are available. The Great American Senior Show is ranked 3rd Best in Senior Podcasts to Follow for 2023 in all podcasts for seniors in a comprehensive survey by feedspot.
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Yates & Associates is a full-service Public Relations and Marketing company serving select clients throughout the United States and abroad. For more information visit www.YatesPRO.com .

Sam Yates:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Great American Senior Show. I'm your gray hair and host, Sam Yates. And we're back in Melbourne, Brevard County. And again on the road, David Sloman was our special guest an episode or so ago, and he is back with us today, because we really had a lot that we could talk about in the field of elder law, and a particular interest, as you may have tuned in for that previous episode, digital, and David, I, you know, am absolutely in thrall to that you're doing something in the digital realm, because those of us who are in the 50s 60s, and some who are old, you know, going up into the 70s are very familiar, we grew up as the Internet came into being we grew up and grew into Facebook and social media. So those are areas from a digital standpoint, that our seniors and those who care for them and even those in that sandwich portion of, of life that we talked about earlier, we'll come back to that. They're used to it, they're used to digital, but digital brings danger. What are some of the biggest pitfalls of being involved in that digital arena for those that seek elder attorney? Advice?

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Sure. Well, Sam, thanks again, for having me on. First off, when the things that that we really start to stress when a person has passed away and the family comes to us, is that we used to tell clients look in the mailbox, right? Look for all those statements that come in from the bank or utility bills or other things that we see now, almost nothing comes in the regular mailbox other than junk mail. And so what we're having people look at is their email. So the first thing that people need to do is have access to a person's email. And so there are some federal and state statutory requirements to allow for a fiduciary to be in place to have access to not just the outside of the envelopes, so to speak, but also the content. And so there does need to be some authority to do that. And so a person either should have that authority, if a person's just incapacitated through a power of attorney. And if they've passed away, then that authority has to either be in a last will or the trust, or some other separate digital fiduciary document. And actually, people can go to my website, to download a digital fiduciary document for various types of online accounts. And so that is, the first thing that you always need to know is where to look for some of these things, and then having access to the digital assets of themselves. And so one of the dangers that we see quite frequently is again, losing some of the digital information. For a Bitcoin, for example, that is stored in a login component for for that exchange, or other kind of source for storing the digital assets. And that requires usually a fairly complicated what's known as a hash. And so it's a really long password, essentially. And so if that is lost, then those assets are lost. And that could be from 1000s to hundreds of 1000s of dollars, depending on the market and the value of those things and whatnot. And so, it just a cryptocurrency on its own is important for you to have a good understanding of, as well as various other types of digital assets. So, you know, while most people don't think of even online computer gaming as something that has value, then people that used to play or still play a game, like World of Warcraft, or other things have those items that are part of that area that they sell, and they have actual cash value. And so there's there's that sort of thing, even something simple as a Netflix account, or Amazon that has continuous charges on it on a credit card. And those things also need to get stopped. Because all of the credit card numbers almost nearly all the time get sent to the dark web, and then those are bought for pennies on the dollar. And then those credit cards have continuous usage there unless they're stopped. And generally the the nefarious individuals that are that have those accounts are relying on somebody having no kind of oversight on that. And so those cards continue to get used and so that's kind of where some of these digital assets are kind of going and being mismatched. there. And so it could be anything from the credit cards, it could be, again, the digital currency, it could be the social media, it could be email accounts, as we discussed earlier, could be household appliances. So there's a wide variety of digital type things that need to be addressed. And that's easily overlooked. When you're looking at other life situations there.

Sam Yates:

And taking a look at that as a whole, I think it really leads into when do you have that conversation, whether it be your parents, or whether it be siblings or someone that is caring that you're caring for? Or even if you're being cared for, and someone hasn't brought that topic? How do you get into that conversation about all things digital, and where the assets are? And what are the passwords? How do you broach that

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

topic? Sure. So I call that the difficult dinner conversation. And so you know, you have to start that conversation somewhere. And that could lead into several days worth of conversation, or at least a few hours of sitting down, what I encourage people not to do is just to have something by the side of their computer with the passwords and logins and whatnot. In fact, just giving somebody a login and password is not the best legal way to do things because they don't have legal authority to actually access that account, per se. So that is actually in violation of some federal computer security laws there. So you need to have a fiduciary access, and you need to have that provided to the individual doing so about the type of conversation should be either at the computer also. So you can kind of see what's going on on your family members computer there. If there's even a login to the computer itself, is really important to know if there's other accounts on there, or if there's other phones, of course, the smartphone pads or other things that may contain photos, really important for a lot of families to have the last photos or video recordings or audio recordings. And that's usually going to be on a mobile digital device there. And so it's really hard to get information directly from Google or Apple, generally from one of those two. So you want to be able to have the fiduciary access and legal authority to do that ahead of time.

Sam Yates:

A little sidebar story to that. My mother passed away a number of years ago from breast cancer after she had passed away, and she had a Facebook account because I helped her set it up and we communicated. She was in a town less than 15 miles away. But she loved to communicate on Facebook and said, Dear Sammy, you know, though the type of information after she passed away, I had a friend request from her. And looking at it, it was like she can't be doing this. And lo and behold, Facebook looked into it and someone had made it into her account and was reaching out as my mother to be friends with so many different people. So that's one of the examples of what you're talking about,

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Oh, indeed, it happened to my own mother as well. And my mother, thankfully, still alive, but I just had to cancel her Facebook account just last month. So this is a very timely discussion on that. And what what happens, unfortunately, is people will have access or hack the account based on a long standing or simple password, and then they will ghost that account. So they will then use that even if it's not something coming directly from that individual's account, they'll have one that looks exactly like it, and has the same pictures and that sort of thing. And they'll reach out to people asking for money or other other things like that. So it can become really traumatic for the individual because they don't know what to do and how to fix it. And oftentimes, people my mother's generation or 80s, like where's customer service? Who do I call to fix this? And there just isn't right. And so, unfortunately, you're left hanging on Sowmya that, and that could become just an ongoing crisis. And I hear about people all the time, who get the reminders of the birthday requests, for example, on Facebook or other social media sites. And sometimes they don't want to be reminded of deceased loved ones or friend's birthday, you know, in that situation coming up. So it's continuous pain points that we want to help eliminate over time.

Sam Yates:

And the same thing I have, over the years gotten birthday reminders of my mother and it's it's impossible to get rid of them once it's out there on the internet or into that The inter avoid, as I like to call it, sometimes it's there. So that's why it is important that someone like yourself and your firm and your partners get involved,

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

right, we have been involved in digital assets since about since about 2015, when they Revised Uniform fiduciary access to digital assets Act came out. And so that in Florida was actually something that was propagated into the statute, chapter 740, just in 2016. And so then we've we've been at the forefront of seeing how that is going to tie in to the digital assets, as well as the physical documents, so the will and power of attorney etc. All these things should have references to digital assets and digital control of those assets in those documents,

Sam Yates:

I'm going to switch gears a little bit to something warm and fuzzy. And literally, it is something warm and fuzzy. And that is seniors or others with pets. One of the things that I see a lot, working from my disaster recovery role. I volunteer with Red Cross for many, many, many years. And we see people not wanting to evacuate their homes because they don't want to leave without their pet. And I know it's a little bit more of a tragic scenario. But people don't want to pass away without knowing that their pets are cared for. And that is that's a real touchy area for a lot more.

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Yeah, I in fact, I just had clients yesterday, this, you know, sometimes you see these things, kind of recurring, kind of in clumps. And so I had some clients yesterday and clients over the course of the last week or so, who have wanted us to put in their documents that when they pass away, then this one case the two cats, they wanted them euthanized. And that's that's kind of a really harsh way to go. Sometimes I said, Well, you know, nobody knows our Castaway that we do, and they're very picky. And I do remind them that I dealt with a situation a number of years ago, where this other lady had put something similar in her will for her dog. And the personal representative came to me and said, you know, somehow the dog disappeared, I can't find the dog. And so couldn't euthanize a dog. And so, you know, I don't recommend having that sort of language in the documents because somehow that pet is going to disappear more often than not, and not go the euthanasia way, which is probably okay. But you know, it's there. But otherwise, yeah, it is important to have some language in the well, for example, with reference to who is going to be the planned caregiver for that pet, usually dog or cat, but I've had burns or other creatures as well, and whether or not there's going to be some financial component and when that component is going to end or if it's going to end as a gift, or otherwise. So there are some thoughts that we have to put into the documents was relating to pets as well. What is in pets,

Sam Yates:

obviously everyone can relate to to a pet. But what is one thing that if you had to say, Sam, this is probably the number one thing that people forget about when it comes to needs under the elder care attorney umbrella, what is the number one thing across the board if you had to pick one

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

needs relating to pets or just needs in brosch? Overall, I'd say making sure that there's planning for what to do when you're incapacitated and need further continuing care. And so I think that there's oftentimes a failure of imagination for what is going to happen if you can't take care of yourself. And who's going to do that in Florida, we have a lot of people that are transplants from other places and their families may not be around. And so then who is going to actually be that care provider and be able to be responsible there when a family member maybe 1000 miles away. And so we actually have in our healthcare surrogate, a temporary emergency temporary healthcare surrogate, that could be a professional guardian or some other professional that can step in until that family member is boots on the ground, so to speak, to make those decisions here. And so that's important to also, you know, planning ahead of time for what's going to be a fairly costly endeavor when it comes to this skilled care other kinds of care at home or in a facility.

Sam Yates:

One of the things that we are seeing a lot of and I say we those of us that operate within the senior care circles is the Phenom of aging in place or aging at home. There are so many different variations of that aging at home Aging in Place happening that we all say, Yes, grandma needs to stay at home. But then there's the renovations, then there's the x, y, z. How do you address those thoughts as more people want to stay at home, and they haven't really thought about what they need to do to the home and what it gets back to that planning process.

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Absolutely. So I recommend that next time you're visiting your parents come and have a look at the house, look at the bathroom look and see the clutter of the house look and see what's in the refrigerator, look and see what the expiration dates are some of the food in the cabinet, make sure that that those basics are addressed. And then also you're looking at the bathroom and seeing if there's a need for handrails or other assistive measures there. And then oftentimes there are community resources that are available to install those for free. I know certainly in Brevard, the Eberhard, Alzheimer's Foundation does provide that assistance service there and they will have somebody come out and install that for free with the community partners.

Sam Yates:

Tim and his crew do a wonderful job. They're not too far from here, just up the street from your facility. And I know that the builders associations in Florida would be very appreciative of what you have to say. Because they are actually have created a program called caps certified Aging in Place specialist. And so far we have seen and I speak from the vantage point of having been involved in I'm currently involved in different builders associations and the why for that is a long story. But as it comes to working with seniors and those wanting to age in place, we see that so far under that caps category, certified Aging in Place specialist, a lot of interior designers, but I have yet to see anyone with that with that certification are involved in the Builders Association from the the standpoint of being an elder attorney. And, you know, I really want to recommend to our builders who may be listening right now that if you are contemplating helping to renovate, or you're contemplating of coming in and making sure that even in your own family, that your loved ones are going to be able to age in place or age at home that they reach out to you.

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

You know, Sam, I think one thing that is overlooked when it comes to elder law attorneys is that not only are we of course addressing the legal needs of our clients, but because of our position in the community, and who we interact with on a regular basis. Many elder law attorneys, of course, myself included, have so many resources that we can reach out to. And so if the builders need to talk to somebody, if potential residents need to have access to a certain type of organization or individual for assistance, going to the elder law attorney is a good first place to go. And that's something that I think a lot of people don't recognize as a resource that's available to them.

Sam Yates:

And I think that idea of having a resource is the nominal. I've been recently doing outreach to what are called the area agencies on aging. We have 11 regions of them in Florida, and I've been in contact with all of them recently in Tallahassee with the Department of Aging. And that's going to be a big focus about aging at home and the resources is certainly something that everyone is saying what resources do we have? And here is the very first stop on the resource list. And that's your elder attorney.

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Right. You're right. Yeah, I think you can look at the elder law attorney is kind of the locomotive engineer Yes, so to speak, and you know, you get on and kind of, they're going to guide the train as to where you're going to go. And the state is really interested in making sure that their resources or husband did as much as possible in order to have the maximum ability to service as many people as they can. And one way they do that is by for example the Medicaid process. There's, of course the what's known institutional care program where the local state Medicaid covers a bunch of the cost for a skilled facility, which is usually in excess of $10,000 a month. And so then they have a separate at home waiver program that they fund. And the problem is that it's usually so necessary to have that program that that at home waiver program is has a long waitlist that could be in excess of six months to a year. And unless you are meeting just the right criteria, that you may not move off of that waiting list to get the resources from the state there. So it's really important to work with an elder law attorney to understand how that whole waitlist process works, how to answer the interview questions that come with that, and to make sure that they're maximizing their ability to get on and off the waitlist to get the government benefits that are available from the state.

Sam Yates:

David, we're getting tight on time again, I'm going to leave the door open for you to come back at yet some point in the future because things change rapidly. And I'm sure as we go into this year of 2022, there will be opportunities to have you back. But once again, How may people contact you?

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Sure, they can again, go to our website, slow nem law.com, one word, or if they want to, they can call us by telephone, our main number for all locations, three to 17575701. We have three locations in Melbourne and Kissimmee and in Clearwater, so anywhere across the state, and then we can also assist anywhere throughout the state generally otherwise.

Sam Yates:

And I an interesting sidebar to that is that our program is heard not just here in Florida, but throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and some of the island Pacific areas where we may have expats living who still have family here. So have you are one of those persons living outside the United States and you have loved ones here in Florida in particular, they can reach out and they can talk with you and find out how you can help them with their loved ones here in Florida.

David Slonim, Elder Attorney:

Oh, my goodness, yes, we've we've helped clients all over the world. So in the UK, and in Southeast Asia, and throughout South America. And of course, the US in North America. So So yes, we've actually assisted clients throughout the world. And in fact, we are, I'm going to just plug one of the things that we like to do here, we're technologically advanced enough where our staff, especially because of COVID, but even prior to that are international, so to speak, as well. And one of my main staff members actually lives in Hawaii and has lived there for many, many years now and and is just a phone call away because of technology. And so, yeah, so we're able to work because of the different time tables or timeframes. For the staff, we actually can get support beyond that just a nine to five timeframe as

Sam Yates:

well. And I am going to invite you back because that seems like another topic for us to get into. So you'll be back. Absolutely Thanks, Sam. Fantastic David Sloan and Sloten law elder attorney here in Central Florida, but serving all of Florida. We're in Melbourne today. And a reminder that our program today brought to you by VIP America, they are a nurse registry, helping to care for people in their home. And that help right now probably would be the best way to say if you have a loved one, please get them advanced registration and advanced registration so that when the time comes, that they need the care that they are able to match your loved ones needs specifically with someone that that meets all of what they like what they don't like, are they a pet person? Are they not a pet person? Maybe they are a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and really didn't know what to say or do when Tom Brady fell short this year by just about four seconds. But that's another story. So we're going to come back at some point in the very near future and David will be back with us. And in the meantime, a reminder that I'm Sam Yates, your gray haired host for the great American senior show. And that's the way our program