Do estate plans really protect you when you need them to? Yes and no.

In a perfect world, an estate plan is all you need to provide for your care and well-being when you lose the capacity or ability to care for your own finances. And for some people, this works great because they have loving (and non-manipulative) family members who all get along and agree on the correct course to take.

And then there’s the other side of the coin, where an estate plan does not work so well because family members do not agree. Or worse, a family member is manipulative or making decisions and changing documents to protect his or her own financial interests rather than caring for the elder’s well-being.

While things like revocable Trusts, durable powers of attorneys, and health care directives work great when all is well, they are not as useful when someone is taking advantage of an elder. In fact, an abuser often will have new documents signed that give them the power to control the health or finances of an elder.

When confronted with disaster, the only way to protect an elder is to file for conservatorship.  A conservator is a court appointed person who steps into the elder’s shoes and becomes the only person with the legal authority to make health and finance decisions on behalf of an elder.

But wait, isn’t an estate plan created to avoid conservatorships? Yes, but when someone is being manipulative or abusive, the court process is the only way to protect an elder. Once a conservator is appointed, he or she can take steps to protect the elder, provide proper medical and health services, and look over the finances. Also, in the context of a conservatorship action, the Court can invalidate any health care directives or durable powers of attorney that harm the elder.

Is estate planning still worthwhile? Yes, absolutely because without a plan you will most definitely end up in court. And a majority of estate plans work well to avoid court intervention. But when estate plans go awry, the court system is the only answer to protect an elder from abuse.