Elder Law is the area of law, statutes, regulations and decisions that impact the lives of mature Americans and their families. It encompasses long term care planning issues such as access to the appropriate type of medical and personal care. It also includes matters such as educating clients about available private and public income assistance benefits and resources, i.e., Medicaid benefits, to finance the cost of care.
Incapacity planning purpose is to avoid the disastrous legal and financial consequences that often accompany incapacity. Such protection comes through the execution of financial powers or attorney and health care directives which lay the foundation for all higher levels of planning, and is often the starting point for new clients
We offer planning for the orderly distribution of your assets at death through wills, trusts, and other legal mechanisms.
For those who need more than a basic will, asset protection is recommended. The asset protection living trust provides general asset protection immediately upon funding, and Medicaid asset protection five years after funding. Clients are a candidate for this type of planning if they are living independently, have no significant health problems, and are not likely to require nursing home care within the next five years.
Lastly, crisis management focuses on the availability of benefits combined with asset protection strategy. At this level, we provide comprehensive Medicaid asset protection and life care planning. Completion and filing of the Medicaid application and all documents and actions required to obtain Medicaid are just two of the services provided.
There are always situations that require additional methods of planning. For example, clients who have a beneficiary with special needs should generally add a Special Needs Trust to their planning. Clients with an extremely high net worth may wish to include additional trusts to their planning.
In addition to our planning services, we also offer the following Elder Law services, including but not limited to, trust and estate administration for the orderly distribution of assets through a probate or non-probate process, and guardianship and conservatorship representation.
