- We're continuing our Detroit PBS special series on caregiving with a look at the sensitive but important conversations that need to take place between caregivers and their loved ones.

Our colleague, Marty Fischhoff spoke with an attorney about the financial and legal issues that arise as people age.

And he visited a mother and daughter who are planning for the future.

- We're at the home of Judy Page.

She is 81 years old and lives in northwest Detroit.

Recently she and her daughter Erica, visited the Elder Law & Advocacy Center to prepare for Judy's future.

Why did you decide it was time to meet with the attorney and talk about your mom's future?

- Her older sister is a year, almost a year older.

They, her and my cousins, her daughters had sat down to talk about her final wishes probably about 10 years ago and had urged us to do the same.

And just, you know, it's not an easy subject to breach, and so just had put it off for a while.

But I saw an email that invited, you know, the community to come and learn about estate planning and wills and trust and the like, and I signed up.

I figured it'd been time enough to put it off.

- Judy, what made you think it was the right time to do this?

- I wanted to leave my daughter the house, and it was trying to proceed with the workings because I had a stroke and I was not retaining everything that I wanted to retain.

- So you wanted to set down a plan for the family, so they would know your wishes for the future.

- Correct.

- Erica set up a meeting with Antonia Harbin, an attorney at the Elder Law Center to address sometimes difficult issues.

Antonia first asked to speak to Judy by herself.

Were you surprised when the attorney asked you to leave the room?

- You know, I'm a little protective of her, so I was like why do I have to leave?

You know, because we do everything together.

Antonia was very warm and welcoming.

So I was able to trust her and know that my mom was in good hands.

And I wanted the attorney to understand that these are her wishes and not mine.

- [Marty] Erica and her mom knew there were documents that they needed to sign, but a will was not on their minds.

- Honestly I hadn't thought about a will.

You think that when you're wealthy, that's when you think about a will, but talking with Antonia, we realized that yeah, it actually is important.

It really is not, it's more about what happens with the assets that you do have, you know, after your demise.

'Cause you're dealing with so much when you lose a loved one, so just one less thing to worry about, and I'm glad we did it.

- [Marty] A recent survey by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation found that most Michiganders 50 years and older have not taken the necessary steps to prepare for their long-term needs.

Only 25% have designated a durable power of attorney for medical care, and only 24% have identified the people in their lives to serve as their caregivers.

Even among those aged 65 and up, only 37% have assigned durable power of attorney.

The survey also found that 39% of those 65 and older said they had not talked with family, friends, healthcare providers, or anyone else about their options and wishes for long-term care and caregiving.

That is the kind of planning for the future that the Elder Law & Advocacy Center helps clients with, and they discuss the necessary paperwork to make sure those plans are carried out.

Antonia Harbin, Judy Page's attorney at the center explains.

- The Elder Law & Advocacy Center is a division of Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan.

And we do a lot of different type of work there.

We provide free legal services for those who are 60 and older who live in Wayne County and their caregivers.

And we do all types of legal services, landlord tenant, probate, we do elder abuse prevention, we also do life planning, and we help with kinship caregiving as well as other caregiving.

Those are just to name a few.

- [Marty] Yeah.

- And outside of that, I really wanted to tell you about our Tuesday workshop that's been going on for many years now, and it gives those who are 60 and older the opportunity to get their life planning documents done for free.

- The workshops are held by Zoom and by conference call.

If clients want to proceed, they fill out forms and then meet with an attorney one-on-one.

When would you say people should start thinking about these life planning documents?

- Well, really 18 years of age or older.

But, you know, that rarely happens just because people may not be prepared to have those conversations.

But I would say those conversations should be more immediate because you never know if something will happen or kind of can happen, so just having them as soon as possible.

- [Marty] There are generally two primary documents that need to be executed.

The Financial Durable Power of Attorney gives a designated individual the authority to manage bank accounts, retirement funds, and other assets.

The Durable Power of attorney for healthcare specifies the kind of treatment a person wants if they are incapacitated and designates an individual to make decisions according to those stated wishes.

- With the life planning documents, we often say those documents are even more important than those after death because they control while you're living.

They help you to continue your decision making as you're living.

If something happens, you become incapacitated, unable to give your preferences, give your thoughts about certain things, then someone you've trusted can actually step into your shoes and make those decisions for you.

- [Marty] Antonia says dealing with older adults is something that gives her great satisfaction.

- Really being able to talk to older adults about, you know, what their situations are.

They have so much wisdom.

So I enjoy every moment.

Every time we get to meet, talk, it's just, it's a great joy for me.

- Completing the paperwork, knowing that her wishes will be carried out when the time comes brought peace to Judy and her daughter.

Now that all the paperwork is signed, sealed, and delivered, how does it make you feel knowing that that's all in place?

- It's comforting that it is all in place, and I don't have to worry about it.

And I was glad that it didn't really cost me anything because it was free of charge.

- A burden lifted for sure because like I said, it nagged me for quite a while to get it done.

And it just, you know, sometimes we make up things in our head like it's just gonna, you know, I don't wanna breach this conversation.

I don't, you know what I mean, but it's a burden lifted.

But then on the other hand, it also is a kind of a nudge for me to get my own paperwork done, which is a whole nother story.

Now I gotta have the conversation with my children.

- I at first was apprehensive, and I'm glad I did it, and it was out of the way now, and I can relax