Do you need separate estate planning documents if you spend part of the year in different states or own real estate in more than one state? The Wall Street Journal recently answered this question raised by a reader, quoting Margolis & Associates managing attorney Harry S. Margolis. While wills from one state will be honored in another, when the decedent owns property in more than one state it will be necessary to probate his estate in each state. This can be avoided by putting property in revocable trusts.

One power of attorney should also suffice, as long as it's written generally enough to be recognized in as many states as possible. However, some banks and investment firms may be reluctant to honor a power of attorney regardless of whether it complies with state law. Putting property in a revocable trust can also circumvent such a problem.

"Figuring out how to live to age 140 may not be imminent, but we do have in our midst today some examples of people who live to a ripe old age with hardly any medical problems and very little disability. Centenarians, of whom there were slightly over 88,000 in the United States in the year 2004, come close to the prolongevist ideal and might provide valuable clues to successful aging...Centenarians have something important to teach. Often they have wisdom arising from their accumulated experiences which they enjoy sharing, and which they are able to share because they are not burdened by multiple maladies, each with its own demanding regimen of pills, monitoring tests, and physician visits..."

At Margolis & Associates' March First-Monday Lunch, Dr. Gillick, a geriatrician and palliative care specialist with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, an Associate Professor in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention of Harvard Medical School, and author of The Denial of Aging: Perpetual Youth, Eternal Life, and Other Dangerous Fantasies read numerous excerpts and vignettes from her book, like the one above. She used true life stories and experiences, to exemplify and explore some major domains of the denial of aging in America, including the importance of intermediate healthcare, the significance of where an elder chooses to live, and the concepts of "immortality" and the "meaning of life."

The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model of care, financed by Medicare and Medicaid, provides a comprehensive package of services designed to maintain frail elderly in the community. Participants must be at least 55 years old, live in one of the specified PACE service area in Massachusetts, be eligible for nursing home level of care, and able to live safely in the community. Participants receive all of their medical care through their PACE program, whose aim is to enable them to remain living in the community for as long as possible.

Massachusetts has more PACE programs than any other state. The following are PACE service areas in Massachusetts. You can call the Elder Service Plan, at 617/296-5100, to see if you are geographically and clinically eligible for a PACE program.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 20, at 5:00 p.m., Boston College Law School's Professor Ray Madoff, lead author of Practical Guide to Estate Planning (CCH), will speak on “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Mediation in Will and Trust Disputes *But Were Afraid to Ask” to the Massachusetts Bar Association's Probate Litigation Group at the MBA located at 20 West Street in Boston.