Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services

Legal

Planning and managing personal and family life through
advance preparation for major life decisions

Older adults and their families face various legal matters ranging from estate planning to consumer protection. Learn more.

LEGAL RIGHTS

Even though consumer-protection laws and pro-consumer court decisions are on the increase, older adults need to be well-informed of their rights . Learn more.

Many older adults are unaware of their legal rights, the need for legal planning, and available low-cost legal assistance.

Grandparents can take legal steps to maintain contact with their grandchildren. In the 1970s, state legislatures began enacting "grandparent visitation" statutes to protect the visitation rights of grandparents and other caretakers. Learn more.

LEGAL PLANNING

Estate planning refers to the ordering of one's affairs so that property, called the estate, is passed as desired to family and loved ones after death. Learn more...

Wills are written documents that state how to distribute assets after death and can make estate administration proceed more quickly and smoothly. Learn more.

A living trust is another method for distributing property after death. Learn more.

Because property in joint ownership does not pass through probate, some people use joint ownership to distribute their estates. Learn more.

A durable power of attorney is a written document that gives one or more persons the authority to make personal and financial decisions for another person when they cannot act on their own behalf due to absence or incapacity. Learn more.

Advance care planning is a process for assuring that a person's wishes are carried out if he or she becomes incapacitated due to health conditions. Learn more.

If a person becomes unable to manage their personal or business affairs due to illness or accident, and has not implemented a less restrictive measure, a court may have to appoint a guardian or conservator. Learn more.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

There are low-cost options for assisting older adults. Learn more...

Resources

Legal Issue PDF Icon
Legal facts, trends and issues

The letters PDF or symbol PDF Icon indicate a document is in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To view the file you will need the Adobe® Reader® which is available for free from the Adobe web site. You can also download the free Acrobat Accessibility Reader for PDFs.

 

Updated: November 2, 2007