What is an Elder Law Attorney?

An elder law attorney specializes in the legal needs of elderly people, veterans, and adults with special needs. Elder law is a specialization that has only been around for about twenty-five years and was born out of necessity. With life expectancy increasing, people are dealing with rising health care costs and an increase in debilitating diseases like dementia.

A major role of elder law attorneys is that of an educator. Estate planning can be a daunting task but an elder law attorney is there to educate and guide their clients through the process, seeing the estate plan through both during life and after death. This planning could include writing a will, assigning powers of attorney and trust administration.

Illnesses can change physical and mental health during the later years. In many cases, people may become unable to make their own decisions about care or in the case of adults with special needs, their parents may become unable to continue caring for them. An elder law attorney is there to make sure that if or when this happens, the wishes of the client are carried out, helping with advance directives for healthcare, guardianship paperwork for making sure a trusted caregiver can make healthcare decisions, and conservatorship, for making sure a trusted person can manage affairs such as finances.

Planning for incapacity or long-term care is very important. An elder law attorney is an invaluable resource for helping with nursing homes, Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. They are there to assist and protect the rights of their clients.

In addition, elder law attorneys help veterans obtain their entitled benefits. All of the elder law clients are targets for scams, where they are abused or exploited. It is important for the clients and their families to know they can turn to an elder law attorney for help in finding justice.

Finally, an elder law attorney can be an excellent mediator in helping sort out complicated family and financial matters. Give yourself and your family the gift of an estate plan, Holman Law is here to help!