Reported mental health crises rose 25% during the pandemic. Substance abuse, from drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine increased double digits from previous years. Combine the two data points and Americans are headed down a dark path, that for many, hasn’t gotten any brighter in many years.

Even before the pandemic, mental health and substance abuse caused many family members to lose control. It’s estimated that around two thirds of Americans know someone with one of these health disorders.

How can concerned family members ensure loved ones don’t fall further into this dark place, which includes dementia, acute memory loss, or incapacity related to any of these – especially if they have access to money, holdings or other valuables at risk of frivolous or wasteful spending or vulnerable to theft or abuse?

An important caveat is how to accomplish this without stigmatizing the sufferer? Ensuring their pride isn’t needlessly harmed.

The solution can be getting revocable trust documents prepared and signed to protect or curtail the family member’s access to various accounts. The best approach can be to get a head start on the process. This goes beyond advance directives, such as a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR), Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney, and a trust to cover long-term, permanent incapacitation.

Furthermore, this isn’t about guardianship; the individual in question, in this type of situation, isn’t in permanent incapacitation where guardianship becomes a solution.

This is about preparing a document or plan to cover a position of being in “limbo” resulting from temporary mental breakdown or temporary incapacitation.

More recently, I was working with a client whose family member was suffering with bouts of fleeting capacity. During one such event, no one had legal access to their financial accounts, and as such risked falling behind with vendors, credit card bills, utilities, and payroll for their hired help. If either were to happen, she could have faced collections, foreclosure on the home, or even her staff quitting.

Thankfully the client and their legal team had put in place planning such as advanced directives, health care proxy and revocable trust. But none of this had provisions for temporary incapacity that comes and goes indiscriminately.

We knew we needed to have the client assign trustee powers to her accountant and assistant, in case the client was to slip into a period of mental incapacity. In such case, these additional trustees will have the ability to access their accounts to pay any bona fide or reasonable expenses.

The major challenge was to catch the client in a moment of lucidity, so the attorney could confidently argue that the executed documents are legal and binding – and most importantly signed when the family member had capacity.

Herein lies the challenge. The goal is to have in place documents to protect the individual and their assets, whether it be from lenders, unscrupulous individuals, even to protect them from signing away their assets during moments of weakened capacity.

The need is common in markets where high net worth individuals often retire without family protective members close at hand, to step in should situations like these occur.

This trust document can only be crafted and executed if the individual and family members or their trusted advisors are aware of the situation and open and honest about the need to go down this path. With such transparency and everyone on the same page, the family can protect the member, their assets – and pride.

If you or your family are navigating a member’s mental health, dementia, substance abuse or other related issues, and how to protect their finances, holdings or other valuables at risk of frivolous or wasteful spending or vulnerable to theft, let’s talk. With a thoughtful approach, assets – and sensitivities – can be protected.

If you know someone suffering from mental health or substance abuse, the National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)