What Can an Elder Law Attorney Do For You?
Elder law attorneys and elder care lawyers deal with issues related to elderly and disabled people. They prepare documents such as wills or trusts, answer tax questions, and plan strategies for obtaining disability, Social Security, Medicaid and/or Medicare payments, as well as Veterans benefits. Their services are useful for health and long-term care planning, as well as end-of-life planning decisions. Elder law attorneys know what public and private resources may be available for your elderly relatives or for anyone else you know with special needs.
Life Care Planning
This type of planning is a necessary step for seniors and their family members in order to choose the care that they will eventually need and to oversee their care service providers, to see to it that every single step accommodates the care that they need.
Life care planning, commonly known as "pre-disability" planning, is a distinct strategy of elder law where lawyers interact with other providers, most likely a health professional or a social worker, to assist our clients so they can plan for and afford the care that they require.
Experience has shown us that pre-disability planning is commonly the very best way for a family to start off handling their expected needs. We offer clients the opportunity to benefit from a comprehensive life care plan created to accommodate the possible different special needs of a disabled beneficiary.
With the use of very carefully drawn trust documents, powers of attorney, and other life planning documentation, your desires, suggestions, and challenges can be handled in a way in order to ensure a potentially disabled beneficiary is taken care of.
Long-Term Care Planning
We also help clients with their long-term care plans. Some plans may use private insurance, while other plans will involve government benefits such as Medicaid or Veterans assistance. For many individuals, meeting the eligibility criteria for government benefits requires estate and asset planning.
With respect to income eligibility, in most cases, only the income of the applicant will be used toward his or her share of cost. In other words, resources are categorized as either countable or non-countable. Of those countable resources, the value of all countable resources will be considered, regardless of whether the resource is held in the name of the applicant or his or her spouse.
Our senior population needs the added protection of having appropriate estate planning, including wills, trusts, financial powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, and living wills.
Financial Exploitation
Our seniors are commonly being highly targeted by con artists including home repair, internet and phone scams and phony charities, to mention a few. Financial exploitation is a disastrous reality for many of our seniors. Effective legal preparation can help to minimize the danger of becoming the victim of financial exploitation.
Disability Planning
In cases of physical or mental disability, we will assist with planning for incapacity through the use of Powers of Attorney and, when necessary, assist you through the process of guardianship's and conservatorships. We are also qualified to help with special trusts which can help you to make use of government benefits.
