Who needs an Elder Law attorney and why?

A. Need of Elder Law services dovetails with services outlined above and vice versa; examples include Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers, persons needing long term care, persons without, or who wish to change or enforce advance directives or other incapacity documents; persons without or who wish to change their wills or trusts; persons who need guardianship; persons who need assistance with the probate process when a loved one has died; persons who need assistance with long term care policy evaluation, nursing home billing, resident rights and transfer and discharge issues.

B. As with most other aspects of life, preventative is better than rehabilitative. It’s rarely too early to begin estate planning, particularly if you are married and have children. If you have a debilitating illness or one that is likely to result in a period of incapacity, you should make decisions now before you are unable to make them for yourself. As you approach an age when incapacity is more likely to occur, or when you are more likely to need long term care, you should examine how to pay for such events. Lifetime and estate planning for disabled children, spouses or siblings is also critical, particularly where there is a need to preserve the disabled individual’s access to public benefits.