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Elder Law
Elder law is more than simple estate planning or retirement planning.
Legal issues for the elderly, disabled, and their families are complex. Laws and regulations involving Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security,
guardianships and conservatorships, nursing home rights and procedures, special needs trusts, and estate planning and asset preservation can be
difficult to understand. Our attorneys are members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), and provide a variety of elder
law needs.
In the areas of elder law, Medicaid planning, and estate planning, our attorneys provide an in-depth analysis of the client's personal
legal situation with recommended actions after an initial conference at no charge, and quote all fees prior to commencing work.
Estate Planning
The firm offers estate plans tailored to our client's goals for those clients interested in maintaining management and control of their estate while at the same
time avoiding probate, protecting family members, ensuring financial privacy, and obtaining peace of mind. Our estate planning services include drafting
of revocable living trusts, special needs trusts, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives and living wills, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
Our services go beyond basic document drafting, incorporating tax and re-titling advice and plan implementation.
Probate & Trust Administration
Our probate and trust administration services include administration of full probate estates, both independent and supervised, small estates, spousal and creditor
refusals of letters, discovery of asset proceedings, and will contests. We serve as corporate trustee and advisor to trustees of all types of trusts,
including Special Needs Trusts. We also advise trustees and assist in preparation of annual accountings, trust liquidation, and other
trust administration services.
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Veterans Benefits The Veterans Administration offers a special pension program for war veterans and their widows. This pension can be used for at-home nursing care, assisted living facilities, or skilled nursing home care. A larger pension is available to Veterans who are confined to a nursing home. There are income and asset limitations to qualify for the pension program. Maximum monthly benefits are approximately $1,100 to $2,000, depending on the particular situation. Firm attorneys can provide more information about these valuable benefits for veterans.
Guardianships and Conservatorships
Making the decision to seek a guardianship and/or conservatorship for a disabled loved one can be difficult. Our attorneys are sensitive to those difficulties,
and represent clients in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings for full guardianship and conservatorship actions, limited guardianships or conservatorships,
or minor estates. After the appointment, our firm assists guardians and conservators with initial ward placement and asset allocation as well as annual accountings
to the court.
Business Formation and Advice
The form of business entity a new business chooses affects every aspect of its operations. Our attorneys assist clients in formation and business planning,
and in deciding whether they should operate as a closely held business, limited liability company, partnership, or corporation. Once the entity choice is selected,
we draft all appropriate documents, insure registration is done properly with the state, obtain appropriate tax identification numbers for the entity,
and set up corporate records books.
Special Needs Trusts
Estate and lifetime planning for individuals with disabilities presents unique problems. Disabled persons have special needs, and often rely on public benefits, at least to some extent, to fund housing, living expenses, and medical benefits. While the family of the disabled person may want to make extra provisions in their estate planning for the disabled individual to fund his or her exceptional needs, a direct distribution to a disabled individual could render that person ineligible for important public benefits. Our attorneys are knowledgeable in protecting assets for individuals with disabilities, and can assist in drafting a special needs trust with necessary provisions to insure that the disabled person’s exceptional needs can be met while avoiding any loss in public benefits otherwise available to the special needs individual.
Real Estate
Our firm attorneys have an excellent understanding of the intricacies of real estate law, and can represent clients in acquisition, financing, leasing, and
tax free exchanges. We represent both buyers and sellers in residential, commercial and industrial real estate transactions. As negotiators, we understand
all the parties' legitimate needs and work to resolve them and provide a successful outcome for our clients.
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