Elder Law
Senior Citizens must deal with many legal issues. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need to address these issues, and there is now an area of practice known as Elder Law. This focus is specifically designed to address the particular concerns of older citizens. By looking at the whole picture, before a crisis occurs, a plan can be developed to carry out your wishes to the greatest extent possible.
Some issues The Peper Law Firm, PA can address are as follows:
1. Long Term Care Planning: You may need the help in assessing long term care needs and getting recommendations to ensure your wishes are carried out.
2. Medicaid Qualification: If it is likely that you will need Medicaid benefits to cover the cost of long term nursing home care, it is important to know the qualification and criteria and to plan accordingly. There are strategies that can be used to reduce countable resources, protect assets for children and speed up eligibility for Medicaid.
3. Disability Planning: Should you become incompetent, someone must handle your financial affairs and make personal care and health care decisions for you. To Plan for such circumstances, a Durable Power of Attorney for property and a Health Care Power of Attorney are the most important tools. You appoint an agent to act on your behalf. This agent has the legal authority to make decisions for you. A living will can also be used to express your wishes concerning withholding or withdrawal of life support and other major medical decisions.
4. Conservatorships and Guardianships: In the event that you become incapacitated without appointing an agent under a Durable Power of Attorney, or in the alternative, if you are incapacitated to the point where a Durable Power of Attorney is not an option, it may be necessary to have a Conservator appointed to manage your assets and a Guardian appointed to make daily decisions for you.
5. Supplemental Needs Trusts: If you are providing for a disabled adult child, you will want that child to be protected in case you die or become disabled. One way to ensure continued security for the disabled child is to establish a Supplemental Needs Trust. This trust is intended to provide extras to the child without jeopardizing the child's eligibility for government benefits.
6. General Estate Planning: Like everyone else, you need a current will to carry out the disposition of your estate in accordance with your wishes.
7. Reverse Mortgages: If you own a home and wish to remain at home, the home may be used as a source of additional income to make repairs and accommodations or to help pay for in-home care. Unlike traditional mortgages, no repayment is required until you die or no longer occupy the home.
8. Nursing Home Issues: When you or a family member needs nursing home care, there are numerous admission documents to be signed. It is helpful to have a lawyer knowledgeable in this area review the documents and advise the client before signing. After admission to a nursing home, there are often issues relating to patient's right and the nursing home's obligations to the patient and family. Sometimes these issues revolve around the quality of care being administered or the method of payment for care. There are numerous state and federal laws in place to protect the rights of the nursing home resident, to assure quality care and the prevent discrimination based on whether a resident is paying privately or receiving government assistance. Many people are unaware of their rights and are therefore unable to protect themselves when the nursing home takes a position adverse to them.
The key is to plan for the future while you are still ale to express your wishes. Then you can be comfortable knowing that, in the vent of a crisis, those you love will be protected and will also know how to protect you.
