• Linda Scaparotti, a California-based lawyer who specializes in estate planning and family law, said that often LGBT+ elders have no children or extended family members to serve as agents for written Power of Attorney (POA), healthcare directives, wills and trusts. This impacts who will take on legal or conservator-type roles if LGBT+ elders become disabled or suffer cognitive decline.

• Frederick Hertz, who also practices law in California and has expertise in premarital and cohabitation agreements and mediation of dissolutions, explained that if LGBT+ elders have no friends or relatives to step in, or if they remain closeted, they may avoid, or be fearful of, completing these essential documents.

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