Do you worry about how cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, or dementia might impact your and your family's future?


Whether you have a family history of cognitive impairment, or you or your loved one have been recently diagnosed, it's something none of us want to think about. It can be overwhelming to consider and even more difficult to imagine losing oneself to such a disease that steadily erodes your cognition and the essence of who you are. And as if that weren't frightening enough, there's the financial devastation that it can wreck.

Did you know...

  • Dementia care, including Alzheimer's care, can range from 4 to 8 years after diagnosis, to as long as 20 years! The average length of care is 8 years.
  • Last year, unpaid caregivers provided 16 billion hours of assistance to people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia and memory loss. This contribution, in monetary terms, is valued at $271.6 billion!
  • In 2021, the Alzheimer’s Association reported the total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia was $377,621. 70 percent of that figure is borne by family caregivers via unpaid caregiving and out-of-pocket expenses. 
  • The Alzheimer’s Association also notes that over half of family caregivers (57 percent) to those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia provided care for four or more years. 

Additionally, a significant amount of caregiving is provided by unpaid family members who take time away from their careers and other family responsibilities, and the impact is oftentimes severe. 

The good news is the Alzheimer's Planning Center can help.
The Alzheimer's Planning Center is a special division of Carolina Family Estate Planning devoted to helping individuals and families impacted by cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease live their best lives possible through our unique Memory Safeguard Planning. 

How can Memory Safeguard Planning help you? 

Memory Safeguard Planning is composed of three parts created especially for you and your family that fulfill your dreams and goals and will protect you and your family for life.

  • Care plan— An assessment of the social, family, and medical information to create a strategic plan to meet your needs
  • Legal plan— Estate planning, healthcare power of attorney, wills, and trusts, and other items to ensure you take the best care of your loved ones. 
  • Financial plan—  An assessment to find the best solutions to fund long-term care

Our Memory Safeguard Planning options are specifically designed for:

  • Healthy individuals concerned about the possibility of cognitive impairment in the future (e.g. family history, high-risk factors, etc.)
  • Individuals recently diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment
  • Individuals (or their family members) in progressed stages of Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

For far too long, traditional estate planning and elder law have been failing to address these issues. Traditional estate planning focuses primarily on what happens when you die, but generally does an inadequate job of addressing quality of life and long-term care concerns. Meanwhile, traditional elder law planning has primarily been focused on nursing home planning and government benefits such as Medicaid. We believe that good planning can and should be so much more than this.

How can our plans help you and your family live better? 

  • Strengthening your financial security during retirement and planning for long-term care
  • Maintain your safety and dignity 
  • Maximize your input and control over your quality of life 
  • Reduce family stress and discord to preserve family harmony

We understand the difficulties in navigating the issues arising from a diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Our goal is to relieve that stress by mapping the way through for you. 

Call our office at 919-887-9380 to discuss the best way for you to get started. The earlier you begin planning, the more powerful your options will be and the amount of peace and security we can provide.

For additional resources, we recommend downloading our free e-book, Guide to Alzheimer's Care.