Longevity has attendant difficulties, but so does life. That is the cautionary tale Yvonne Amrine has to tell from her personal family experiences.<\/p>\n
And that is also a major reason why the longtime Downtown resident launched the nonprofit San Diego Planning Partnership (SDPP) to provide advice and legal counsel to seniors and family caregivers.<\/p>\n In fall of 2003, Amrine\u2019s recently widowed mother was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which proved to be the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Then, when Amrine\u2019s daughter had left home for college, she was found to have contracted a life-threatening form of leukemia at the age of 19. Amrine suddenly became a \u201csandwiched\u201d family caregiver to both.<\/p>\n \u201cThese were life-changing events,\u201d Amrine said.<\/p>\n Her response was surprising resilient, based on the legal hoops she had to jump in giving care for both women simultaneously.<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow is not promised to anyone,\u201d she continued, discussing the rollout of her newly established venture.<\/p>\n SDPP had its official start date on July 2. Experts on estate planning and senior care involved with SDPP will include representatives and advisors from St. Paul\u2019s Senior Services and The Salvation Army.<\/p>\n Amrine decided, at the age of 47, to go to law school and become an attorney. She graduated from California Western School of Law in 2010, and subsequently set up her legal firm Amrine Law in Encinitas in June 2011.<\/p>\n SDPP will now offer information and counseling from Amrine\u2019s life experiences and her legal studies.<\/p>\n \u201cAround 70 percent of aging Americans will need long-term care,\u201d Amrine said of those entering their sunset years.<\/p>\n Amrine wants to help people plan ahead for whatever needs they encounter as they are growing older.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery adult needs a plan in place,\u201d she continued, noting how young her daughter was when she fell ill.<\/p>\n Amrine plans to assist San Diegans in putting together the plans and documents to ensure their wishes are met for their care.<\/p>\n During her law school studies, Amrine gravitated naturally to working on estate and elder law issues, including conservatorships. Amrine advises that everyone should have in place both a power of attorney for medical care and a power of attorney for finances. This helps avoid the lengthy legal process of establishing a conservatorship during times of duress.<\/p>\n \u201c[Conservatorships] take a long time, because it is about stripping adults of their constitutional rights,\u201d Amrine said.<\/p>\n Amrine explained that attorney advice is needed regarding specifics of power of attorney papers to have in place. In particular, she cited planning for parents providing for their special needs offspring.<\/p>\n Amrine has a lot of valuable information about the subject to impart. She is committed to protecting seniors and other vulnerable persons by avoiding mistakes that can take a financial and emotional toll.<\/p>\n Amrine concluded with other cautionary observations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all think we have time,\u201d Amrine said, noting that this assumption is one obstacle that prevents pre-planning for personal care in all contingencies.<\/p>\n She went on to describe how lack of knowledge, fear of the unknown and the complicated legal terminology can turn people away from planning ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd many people think they don\u2019t need it,\u201d she added, because they have few assets.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who owns a house in California should have that placed in trust,\u201d Amrine continued.<\/p>\n SDPP will be staging free two-day workshops about estate planning and long-term care choices over the coming months. The first set will be held on Aug. 15 and 16 in conjunction with KPBS Public Media. Workshops on Sept. 12\u201313 will be in Oceanside, hosted by The Salvation Army, and the October 10\u201311 workshops will be at St Paul\u2019s Senior Services in Chula Vista. Information and online registration forms are available at sd-pp.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Tomorrow](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Yvonne-Amrine-Portrait.jpg\")