Advance directives for financial and estate management must be created while the person with dementia still can make decisions. As mentioned earlier, it would be best to have a guardian appointed by the court. Another option is to have a Financial Power of Attorney to designate a person to make financial decisions on your behalf, however one must bear in mind that the Principal (the person who gives up the authority) must be mentally competent at the time of signing and a physician assessment should occur if there is any doubt of the Principal’s competence.

     Another legal document of worth mentioning is the will. A will, under article 783 of the civil code, indicates how a person’s assets and estate will be distributed upon death. The person creating the will is called the testator and the person named in the will who is assigned to implement the provisions is called the executor. In the Philippines, wills should be written in a language or dialect known to him and cannot be in any other form, i.e., audio or video recording. Moreover, the testator must be 18 years old and above, with a sound mind; it is not necessary that the testator be in full possession of all his reasoning faculties (Article 797 – 800, New Civil Code).

     Under the Civil Code, there are two kinds of wills which a testator may execute. The first kind is the ordinary or attested will, the execution of which is governed by Articles 804 to 809 of the New Civil Code, which requires your signature as the testator, together with the signature of at least three witnesses who shall attest the execution of the will, which then must be notarized. A holographic will on the other hand, requires that it should be entirely made in your handwriting which must also include the date of its execution and your signature without the need for witnesses in its execution.