The legalization of marijuana is on the ballot in California this November, but California isn’t the only part of the country where marijuana is making news. The use of marijuana for medical purposes is being debated around the nation—especially as concerns elderly patients in nursing homes which receive federal funding through Medicare or Medicaid.

This article on the New York Times’ New Old Age Blog reports on this issue, and just how concerned and confused nursing home facility administrators are about what their options are and how to proceed. “Any patient using medical marijuana breaks federal law. Marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, which means the federal government considers it to have no medicinal value. Despite this, physicians in 14 states and the District of Columbia are allowed to recommend it. . . Many facility administrators wonder how they can comply with federal law and preserve their reimbursements and at the same time permit residents to medicate with marijuana.”

Federal funding isn’t the only conflict attached to the medical marijuana issue. Nursing homes in New Mexico (a state where marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes in 2007) report that “the lack of dosing direction has caused problems. . . Pills in nursing homes are in what they call vacuum packs: you have to pop a pill out one at a time. They don’t do that with marijuana. It’s an amount of marijuana in a small plastic bag, so there is no way to track if someone took one or two pinches.”

Another issue to consider is the stigma attached to marijuana use, and complaints from other patients or residents.

Medical marijuana is generally prescribed to seniors to help them deal with chronic pain. Oregon’s long-term care ombudsman, Mary Jaeger, asks in the article above “Wouldn’t any one of us, in our own homes, feel that we have the right to live our lives by our own values and choices, to preserve our own dignity and, frankly, to live pain-free?” Will seniors moving to federally supported nursing homes have to find other ways to deal with chronic pain? And more importantly… will they be willing to do so?

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Although we hate to admit it, this statement will also sometimes apply to estate planning; and more often than we would like, it happens with powers of attorney.

A power of attorney is the document in which you nominate an agent (or attorney-in-fact) to make financial decisions and take legal action for you when you are incapacitated or otherwise unable. (This does not include healthcare decisions, covered in another document called a health care directive.) Unfortunately, as this recent article on the Elder Law Answers website points out, “many people experience difficulty in getting banks or other financial institutions to recognize the authority of an agent under a power of attorney.”

This difficulty usually has nothing to do with the validity of the document; rather, it is the bank’s attempt to protect itself. But while a little bit of caution is understandable, it can have frustrating—or even tragic—results if not addressed. Luckily, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of having your power of attorney honored. The article mentioned above includes a number of good suggestions:

* Talk to your bank about your plans ahead of time.

* Ask your financial institutions if they have any requirement for powers of attorney, or even their own standard form.

* Update your power of attorney forms or documents frequently (every 2-5 years.)

Talking to a representative from your bank every 2-5 years may seem like an inconvenience now, but imagine the inconvenience if you are incapacitated and your agent is unable to access the funds he or she needs to pay your bills, make your mortgage payment, or provide for the needs of your family. A little bit of time spent now can save a mountain of stress later on.

Coping with the death of a loved one can be a crushing task. There are so many things to do and details to remember; all of this at a time when each small task can serve as a reminder of your loss. At such a time it can be helpful to know that you’re not going through this alone; there are a number of people who can help when you begin to feel overwhelmed. To relieve some of the stress, and help ensure that no important task is forgotten, we offer a list of people to call after the death of a loved one:

Funeral home - This will likely be your first call. The funeral home you or your loved one has selected will be able to help you with a lot of the immediate details and tasks. The funeral director will also be able to help you obtain 10-20 copies of the death certificate, something you will need later.

Family and Friends - This probably goes without saying. Not only will you want to notify family and friends, but they can also help with a lot of the endless tasks and overwhelming details. Don’t be afraid to delegate.

Veteran’s office (if deceased was a Vet.) - If the deceased was a Veteran you may have to stop benefit payments; you may also be able to get assistance with the funeral or memorial service.

The deceased’s employer - You will need to do this not only to inform the employer of the death, but also regarding termination of health insurance.

Attorney or Tax Professional - You will need to know what to do about probating the deceased’s estate, filing tax returns, dealing with bank accounts, etc. An attorney or tax professional can help. It is especially important to find out if your loved one had any existing estate documents.

Office of Social Security - If your loved one was receiving benefits you’ll need to stop payments. You will also want to find out if survivors are entitled to any benefits.

Insurance company of the deceased – You will probably need to file a claim. This is something your attorney or accountant may be able to help with.

Local Newspaper - You’ll want to publish an obituary or notice of death, as well as information about the funeral or memorial service.

Credit card companies and utilities - Give notification of death and pay off any remaining balances.

Bank - Arrange to change any joint accounts or to open an account in your name. Do not close any accounts right away!

Although this list is a good starting point; a complete list of people to call and things to do will depend on where the deceased lived and the details of their estate. Contact your loved one’s estate planning attorney (or your own) to ensure that nothing is left to chance.

When people think about estate planning they generally think about inheritance, or taxes, or even guardianship—but rarely are the words “executor” or “agent” the first ones that come to mind. And yet, choosing your executor or your agent is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make.

Your executor is the person who carries out the instructions in your will. You may spend hours (sometimes months or even years) agonizing over inheritance plans and making decisions; but in the end, when the time comes for all of those decisions to be implemented, you’re not going to be around. If there are any questions to be answered or clarifications to be made they’re going to fall to your executor.

Your agent is the person who—depending on whether the document is a health care directive or a financial power of attorney—will make your important financial or health care decisions when you are unable. This person is your proxy during your life, signing checks on your behalf or talking to doctors about your treatment.

Considering all of this, it is understandable why so many people have trouble naming an agent or executor. It’s not easy to choose your own replacement, so to speak. But the most difficult decisions are often the most important. If you are a parent of more than one child then you know about the sibling fights that can erupt seemingly out of nowhere, even in loving and agreeable families. This is especially true when there is any uncertainty about what mom or dad’s true wishes were. The right agent or executor can relieve much of that uncertainty.

So how do you choose the right agent or executor?

First of all, think it through carefully. Choose someone reliable, whose decisions you trust. You’ll want someone who’s careful; and you’ll want to choose someone who isn’t already overloaded, because they’ll need to have time to do a thorough job. Choose someone who knows you and who knows your family; a familiar face will be comforting in hard times. On the other hand, nominating a financial institution rather than a personal friend can work out well under the right circumstances, but research your choices carefully.

If there isn’t one clear choice you may decide to nominate two people to make decisions together. This can be a good alternative, but it can also be a recipe for disaster, so be sure to build in some protections: name an uneven number of agents or executors to prevent tie-decisions, or nominate a mediator or tie-breaker who can step in to prevent serious disagreements from having to be decided in court.