To a wide extent, aging elders have additional legal needs compared to young adults. For instance, they need to plan for their growing old age and all the things that come with it like disability, healthcare, retirement, guardianship, and long-term care. These are legal needs that concern old adults more than young ones. Aging adults will also need to plan for tax preparation, nursing facility placement, disability planning, and other legal matters that are related to their growing age. This is where the role of an elder law attorney comes into play. As there are various law specialization fields that focus on distinct scopes of law, an elder law attorney focuses on the special needs of aging elders. For instance, you can check elder law attorney Naples, FL who have been successfully working with providing compassionate elderly law services to their community.
Elder law attorneys are also known for working professionally with geriatric care managers, social workers, and other specialists who work with different concerns of aging elders. They advocate the rights and privileges of seniors and assist them in navigating the complex state, federal, and local laws and regulations. Let us learn a little more about them.
What is Elder Law?
Defined by the legal needs of senior citizens, elder law is a practice area that grew out of the need for addressing legal issues faced by aging clients and their children. It is a diverse area of law practice. It encompasses a wide range of legal issues that can affect the elderly population which can include anyone from a 60-year-old athlete to a 95-year-old senior living resident. Elder law also protects older adults who are often in need of protection against probate avoidance, estate tax avoidance, and creditors.
An elder law attorney should be empathetic and offer unbiased advice about guardianship proceedings, estate planning, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, nursing home care, retirement plans, prenuptial agreements, grandparent visitation, and all kinds of elder abuse. The list goes on to include retirement planning, incapacity, probability of disability, nursing home placement, and home healthcare.
Responsibilities of an Elder Law Attorney:
- Asset Protection and Preservation: Making sure that a person’s assets (that can include their real estate, life savings, and other financial investments like mutual funds, stocks, and bonds) are not counted to prevent them from qualifying for health care benefits. This is done by a qualified elder law attorney by using advanced estate planning techniques.
- Elderly Services: An elderly law attorney can understand the unique needs of incapacitated and aging people and recommend or implement the best possible care plans.
- Medicare or Medicaid Planning and Recovery Prevention: Elder law attorneys can assist their clients in qualifying for Medicare or Medicaid benefits. They can reassess your case if you have been told previously that you are ineligible because of your income or assets. Moreover, a qualified elder law attorney can shelter their clients’ assets against recovery and forced sales due to government lien.
- Administration of Trust: Living Trusts are becoming popular and hence the need for Trust Administration has become more common. It can include settling a trust or estate and the responsibilities of distributing the assets to the beneficiaries.
- Guardianships and Conservatorships: Your elder law attorney can appoint a conservator or guardian and distribute restricted power over your medical decisions and money along with other important decisions if you become mentally or physically incapable.
- Probate: As a Trust Administrator, your elder law attorney can also help you to avoid making costly mistakes during a probate process. He can handle all the required steps for ensuring that the rightful heirs of the estate receive the entirety of the inheritance as smoothly and quickly as possible according to the last wishes of the person.
- Elder Abuse: An elder law attorney can protect you from all kinds of physical, mental, financial, and emotional abuse that are inflicted by your close family members, the government, or anyone in question.
Are you looking for a qualified elder law attorney? It can often be an emotional and confusing territory that can come with practical and financial responsibilities, especially if you are searching for yourself. You can ask for referrals from close family and friends or explore online to get started on your search. You can also use various attorney directories to find a qualified local adult law attorney in your area. So you can visit the above link if you are searching for help to find the right senior living facility, want to protect yourself from emotional, physical, and financial abuse, or want to draft a trust or will. You will be directed to a qualified elder law attorney who will be sensitive to your unique needs and instantly become a valuable asset in your life.
