My dad is lucid in the morning, but seems to have memory issues and attention issues in the afternoon. He is in a nursing home. He never created a will. He is 84 years old and almost 85. My family wants me to help him create a will. He has no real property and is on Medicaid.
*If a person dies and owns real estate (regardless of value) either in his/her name alone or as a "tenant in common" with someone else, a probate proceeding is required.
*When a person dies and has no real property, but has personal property in his/her name alone totaling $75,000 or more, a probate proceeding must be filed.
*When a person passes away and has a combination of real property and any amount of personal property in his/her name alone, a probate must be filed.
You can look up what requires probate in your state.
My husband had a will. My mother did not. Neither of their "estates" went through probate because as Medicaid recipients they had negligible assets.
Do help Dad make a simple will, naming you executor and stating where his personal goods should go. It will keep things simple. But unless your state has very different rules than my state, I can't imagine that probate is going to be necessary.
If the whole family is on board, and your dad is lucid enough to write down his wishes and sign the paper, then he DOES NOT need a lawyer to write a will (which can be quite costly). Really, all you need to do is search the web on how to write a will. There are numerous free will's you can download, or your dad can simply write it all out on a piece of notebook paper in his own hand. Just check to be sure what needs to be in it...such as the date, his assets, who he wants to carry out his wishes after death (executor), etc.
If he's been officially diagnosed with Alzheimers by a physician and is on medication for it, then it might be easy for the family to fight a hand written will if they so choose. But if the family is ok with it and your handling of his the estate after dad passes away, then this would definitely be the way to go.
Explain all this to dad when he's lucid and let him know it will save much time and keep the government from trying to hit up the family for much more money then they would get if he had simply written down his wishes in the form of a will before death. His writing a will will also, hopefully, help things go more smoothly between siblings as they were the ones suggesting that you get him to write a will.
My husband and I both have wills we wrote and we keep them in our safety deposit box and our daughter knows where the key is and is on the box as a signer. We did get our signature's notarized, but this, too, is not a set in stone rule. If he's concerned about writing his own will without a lawyer, then finding someone who can notorize his will might help him feel better. There may be someone at the nursing home who can, or if not, any local bank can do so.
Good Luck!
There's no dispute within the family about funeral arrangements, items of sentimental value, or anything like that?
If the Attorney feels your Dad is past the stage of understanding legal documents, he/she will let you know. Then you would need to take the advice of a Probate Court once your Dad passes.