April 15th Sneaks Up

[Bees Knees]

I understand that her son will be coming with her but she is not pleased with that and is fighting any help. Will this take several hours to complete? Little nervous about this.

You have to be very careful not to break any disclosure rules by talking with a family member without the taxpayer's permission. Without some kind of POA, dementia is no excuse for making disclosures without consent.

[Bees Knees]

Several years ago we had a long discussion about ethics and the scenario with an elderly client showing signs of dementia. The issue dealt with whether or not we could talk to a family member about the elderly client’s taxes without first obtaining a disclosure consent from the client. I suggest everyone look at that thread before meeting with your dementia clients.

http://forum.thetaxbook.com/showthread.php?3406

[Burke]

If the client really has dementia and appears incompetent to handle the completion of the tax return, how can we expect her/him to sign it with any degree of confidence that they know what they are signing?

[Bees Knees]

If the client really has dementia and appears incompetent to handle the completion of the tax return, how can we expect her/him to sign it with any degree of confidence that they know what they are signing?

I always compare current year info with prior year returns and ask questions about things that appear to be missing or unusual for the current year. If the client appears to be getting worse with memory issues, shows signs of dementia, and has some un-explained differences for the current year, I would tell the client that I cannot complete the return and sign as a paid preparer until the client brings in a family member to discuss my concerns. Once the client agrees to allow a family member to sit in on the tax discussion, all disclosure issues are solved. If the client refuses to allow a family member to get involved, then I would tell the client I can't do the return.

[JohnH]

Zeros: Sorry I couldn't respond to your question in time. But I think one important consideration with any client who may have dementia or some other cognitive disorder is to remember that their time perspective can be badly skewed. They will often repeat the same phrase or even a story word-for-word within the span of a few minutes. They can listen intently to an explanation, then respond with a comment or question which implies they haven't heard a word you said. This behaviour can be extremely frustrating when you are trying to deal with them, but if you signal frustration it just causes them to become more frustrated and confused. I read one time that a person with dementia finds it impossible to hold more than one thought in their mind at a time - that helps in trying to put yourself in their shoes. The key is to try and reassure them in any way possible.

I have a client who goes for weeks without any communication, then he calls me one day anxiously asking when he needs to file a tax return. Who knows what the trigger may be? Perhaps he heard taxes mentioned on TV, he received something tax-related in the mail, or he stumbled across a tax document while going through his personal papers. In any event, he will usually call multipe times over the next few hours asking exactly the same question. I just patiently give him exactly the same answer, and I NEVER tell him we've already talked about this today or yesterday. Reminding a person who has dementia that you've already had this conversation is often one of the most frustrating things they hear, because in their mind the previous conversation simply did not take place. They often begin to mistrust YOUR sanity, and imagine how frustrating it can be to know things aren't quite right and then simultaneously losing confidence in the people around you. This sounds very much like your client.

I could go on, but let me just say I have lots of compassion for people who have cognitive disorders, after having dealt with it in my family for several years with several people. Many on this forum have probably had similar experiences in thier personal lives as well as with clients, whether knowingly or not.

Here's an excellent resource for anyone who may be dealing with someone exhibiting signs of dementia. I give this link to people in my church and also to clients who may be dealing with an elderly relative who is acting "eccentric". There are many professional resources out there, but I happen to think Teepa Snow is one of the best. Plus, her name is easy to remember when you're trying to recall where this info is located. A google search on her name also turns up several interesting links to YouTube videos and articles by her & about her work.

http://teepasnow.com/wp/