Survivors Pension, also known as Death Pension, is a disability income program available to the single surviving spouse and/or dependent children of a deceased veteran who served during a period of war.

Sometimes it may be necessary to pursue a conservatorship or guardianship for a person who is not able to make or communicate decisions. Unlike a power of attorney, an individual appointed as a conservator or guardian can make decisions on behalf of the person being protected and those decisions cannot be overridden by the protected person.

A life settlement, or senior settlement, as they are sometimes called, involves selling an existing life insurance policy to a third party, a person or an entity other than the company that issued the policy, for more than the policy's cash surrender value, but less than the net death benefit.

Government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration will cover the cost of long-term care under certain conditions.

No one in this country dies from old age.

Beneficiary designations at death take precedence over the provisions of a will or trust.

Probate avoidance is not as important as it used to be because of the many states that are bypassing the formal probate process with simplified options.

It is amazing how quickly formerly cordial relationships between family members will sour when the family has to deal with care of elderly parents or inheritance at their death.

Roughly 35 percent of the 25 million persons in the U.S. at age 71 or above have mild cognitive impairment or dementia, according to a Duke University study.

Federal law allows states to recover money spent on behalf of the Medicaid beneficiary.

Life insurance for the final years of life is generally a good thing.

A power of attorney is a legal instrument.

Many aging seniors rely entirely on family or other trusted individuals to help them.

As the population of our country ages more people will need help with legal or planning issues unique to aging seniors.

This article uses the term aging seniors and final years of life frequently.

Among the myriad of wonderful ideas available to caregivers for coping with the care of a loved one, some strategies that can influence the attitude of care recipients are often neglected.

The original concept was to provide a sitting service.

A guardian is an agency or person legally appointed to manage the affairs of an individual who lacks the capacity to make responsible decisions concerning his or her personal matters.

Long Term Care Planning is the process of preparing for and funding long term care.

For many seniors and retirees, the hard-earned equity in their home is their single largest asset, yet it is unavailable to use unless they take out a home-equity loan.