Memory Digest

Planning Your Future Care

After a diagnosis, planning ahead lets you make your own choices about health care, money and where you'll live while you still can; a step-by-step guide to advance directives, powers of attorney and care wishes.

Last reviewed: October 2026

One of the most powerful things you can do after a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment is plan ahead while you can make your own decisions. Planning means your wishes guide your care later, and it spares your family from guessing during a crisis. It isn't giving up. It's taking charge.

This article gives general U.S. information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state. An elder law attorney can help you with your specific situation.

Why plan now?

Dementia gradually affects the ability to make complex decisions. To sign legal documents, a person must understand what they're signing. In the early stage, most people can. Later, they may not, and the family may then need to go to court for guardianship, which is slow, costly and stressful. Alzheimers.gov urges people to start planning soon after diagnosis.

Step 1: Think about what matters to you

Before the paperwork, think and talk about:

• What makes life worth living for you? Being at home? Being with family? Being free of pain?
• Where would you like to live if you need more care: at home with help, with family, in assisted living or memory care? (See Choosing Memory Care or a Nursing Home.)
• What medical treatments would you want, or not want, in late stages? For example, feeding tubes, CPR, hospital stays, or a focus on comfort.
• Who do you trust to make decisions for you?
• Any religious, cultural or personal values your care should respect.

Write these down in your own words. Some people record a short video.

Step 2: Choose your decision-makers

• Health care proxy (agent). The person who will make medical decisions if you can't. Also called a durable power of attorney for health care. Choose someone who knows your wishes and will honor them, even if they disagree.
• Durable power of attorney for finances. The person who will handle your money, bills and property. It can be the same person or someone different.

Name a backup for each, and talk with them about your wishes.

Step 3: Complete the key documents

The National Institute on Aging describes the main advance directives:

• Living will. Describes which medical treatments you would and wouldn't want at the end of life or if you can't speak for yourself.
• Durable power of attorney for health care. Names your health care agent.
• Durable power of attorney for finances. Names your financial agent.
• Will. Says how your property should be handled after your death.
• Living trust (optional). Can make managing assets easier.

Other helpful forms:

• POLST or MOLST ("Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment"): a medical order, signed with your doctor, usually for people with serious illness. It travels with you and tells emergency staff what you want.
• Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order, if that matches your wishes.
• HIPAA release, so family members can talk with your doctors.

Forms vary by state. Many state forms are free online, and your doctor, hospital or local Area Agency on Aging can help. See Legal Planning for more detail.

Step 4: Plan your finances

• Make a list of bank accounts, insurance, pensions, debts and where documents are.
• Think about how you'll pay for care. Long-term care can be very expensive, and Medicare does not cover most long-term custodial care (see Financial Planning and Paying for Care and Medicare, Medicaid and Dementia Care).
• Set up automatic bill payment and bank alerts.
• Consider adding a trusted person to accounts, carefully, to help spot scams (see Protecting Against Scams).

The NIA's "Getting Your Affairs in Order" checklist lists the documents to gather.

Step 5: Share and store your plans

• Give copies to your health care agent, family and doctors.
• Ask that your directive be added to your medical record.
• Keep originals somewhere safe but easy to find, not a locked safe-deposit box no one can open.
• Review your plans every year or after major changes.

Other things to think about

• Driving. Plan for when and how you'll stop (see Driving and Dementia).
• Research and brain donation. If you'd like to help future generations, arrange it in advance (see Brain Donation and Joining a Clinical Trial).
• End-of-life wishes, including hospice and funeral plans (see Hospice and End-of-Life Care).
• A "this is me" document: your routines, likes, dislikes, history and what calms you. It helps future caregivers know you as a person.

For families

If your loved one has already lost the ability to make decisions, talk with an elder law attorney about options. And if you haven't made your own plans, now is a good time. Advance care planning is for everyone, not just people with a diagnosis.

This article is for general information and is not legal, financial or medical advice.

Sources

1. National Institute on Aging: Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care
2. National Institute on Aging: Getting Your Affairs in Order Checklist: Documents to Prepare for the Future
3. Alzheimers.gov: Plan for Your Future

Not medical advice. This article is general information, not a diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual. Talk with a doctor about your situation.

Related articles

• Legal Planning
• Financial Planning and Paying for Care
• After a Diagnosis: First Steps
• Hospice and End-of-Life Care
• Choosing Memory Care or a Nursing Home