{"id":12160,"date":"2021-02-07T02:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=12160"},"modified":"2025-06-18T17:06:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T22:06:52","slug":"what-is-an-occupational-living-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupational Living Will – What You Need To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Somewhere around age 60, most people start worrying about mental decline. That is not surprising since we see it all around us. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of adults 65 and older suffer from cognitive impairment and at least 10% suffer from dementia.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, adults are working longer. Forty percent of people 55 and older are still working, compared with only 29 percent in 1993. Expect this number to continue to increase because seniors will need more money to retire; low bond yields mean low future returns for a lot of savings accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

All that means that more people who are still working will start to experience some sort of cognitive decline. You might think these people would voluntarily remove themselves from the workforce, but that rarely happens. One of the effects of a progressive dementing illness is declining self-awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

This can lead to a situation that is cringeworthy. While a lot of people love their work, very few of them want to continue until they become such an embarrassment that they are forced to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the answer?<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is An Occupational Living Will?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An Occupational Living Will. That is a written plan for transitioning out of your career or profession if your cognitive or functional skills significantly deteriorate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sound difficult to write? It is not if you break it down into small sections and seek the input of others in your profession.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Should An Occupational Living Will Have?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The plan should start with a commitment that you do not want to continue working if it means that you cannot be effective\/professional\/useful. Then define the terms. Does \u201cworking\u201d mean that you will work less hours, work only with a co-worker, or quit? Does \u201ceffective\u201d mean supervising 500 people or merely giving input to a team?<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have a transition plan in mind, then write it down. Could you do some of the job functions if you had increased support? What would increased support look like for your job?\u00a0 Which job responsibilities should be removed, and in what order? What work habits would need to be changed to accommodate a gradual decline in mental functioning?<\/span><\/p>\n

Decide who among your colleagues or peers you can trust to give you a fair assessment of your functioning. It might be easier to pull them in on a groupthink, where everyone in the group has an Occupational Living Will and promises to share their observations with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think now about the influencers you will need to convince your future self to follow the plan. Remember that a hallmark of dementia is denial and that, when the time comes, you may not easily accept the plan. It might be a good idea to make a video or recording of yourself talking through your reasoning, thoughts and wishes. This could be played back to you when necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure to include a point in the process at which you would go for a formal evaluation by a cognitive neurologist or a geriatric psychiatrist. The doctor will be able to assess your mental capabilities and determine which functions you can still perform.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, share the plan with people you trust who can support you through the process.\u00a0 Update as necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get Help With Creating Your Occupational Living Will in Lewisville, TX<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Virginia Hammerle<\/a> is an attorney with Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/a> whose practice includes probate law<\/a>, estate planning<\/a> and contested litigation<\/a>. To receive her newsletter contact her at legaltalktexas@hammerle.com.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Somewhere around age 60, most people start worrying about mental decline. That is not surprising since we see it all around us. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of adults 65 and older suffer from cognitive impairment and at least 10% suffer from dementia. At the same time, adults are working longer. Forty percent of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[685,905,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-12160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wills-trusts","8":"tag-estate-planning","9":"tag-trusts","10":"tag-wills"},"yoast_head":"\nOccupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"headline\":\"Occupational Living Will – What You Need To Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Estate Planning\",\"Trusts\",\"Wills\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Wills & Trusts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/\",\"name\":\"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"description\":\"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Occupational Living Will – What You Need To Know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\",\"description\":\"Legal Talk Texas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\",\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Virginia Hammerle\"},\"description\":\"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/virginiahammerle\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/author\\\/virginia-hammerle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm","description":"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm","og_description":"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.","og_url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/","og_site_name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","article_published_time":"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Virginia Hammerle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Virginia Hammerle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/"},"author":{"name":"Virginia Hammerle","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"headline":"Occupational Living Will – What You Need To Know","datePublished":"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/"},"wordCount":584,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg","keywords":["Estate Planning","Trusts","Wills"],"articleSection":["Wills & Trusts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/","name":"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know | Hammerle Law Firm","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-07T08:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-18T22:06:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"description":"Once you get to a certain age, it might be worthwhile looking into having a written Occupational Living Will.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Occupational-Living-Will-What-You-Need-To-Know.jpg","width":800,"height":500,"caption":"Occupational Living Will - What You Need To Know"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/what-is-an-occupational-living-will\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Occupational Living Will – What You Need To Know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/","name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","description":"Legal Talk Texas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd","name":"Virginia Hammerle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","caption":"Virginia Hammerle"},"description":"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/virginiahammerle\/"],"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/author\/virginia-hammerle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}