Creating a special needs trust (SNT), also sometimes referred to as a supplemental needs trust, can help you provide for a loved one who is disabled or has special needs while maintaining your loved one’s current benefits or leaving open the option for need-based governmental aid in the future, even if your loved one receives an inheritance. As long as the SNT meets certain legal criteria, the existence of the SNT and the amount of money and property inside it will not affect your loved one’s means test.

November is National Caregiver month.  This month is a time to honor those who are caring for their aging parents. You may already be acting as a caregiver for one or more of your parents who are no longer able to look after themselves.  Or, due to their age, you may have be more involved in caring for your aging parents. As part of your caregiving, you need to know the essential estate planning documents for caregivers. 

Our parents age and their physical and mental capacities diminish.  We, as their adult children recognize our parents’ decreasing ability to care for themselves.  We see that we need to step in and help them. Often, one of us children will take over the bulk of the responsibilities such as taking the parent to doctor’s appointments or the attorney’s office. We see our parent begin to depend on thatchild more and more.  So, our parent decides to appoint that child as a trusted decision maker.  Our parent may even give them a larger inheritance to compensate them for their time. At the same time, the other childre must take extreme care to ensure that our elderly parent is not being exploited by a manipulative caretaker.   We need to ask ourselves, is our sibling caretake being a dutiful child or a financial manipulator?

So what exactly does an elder law attorney do for seniors anyway? Elderly or disabled individuals are the focus of a broad array of legal concerns referred to as elder law. Practitioners of elder law are legal advocates who strive to devise appropriate legal strategies to help seniors and their families improve their lives. Elder law encompasses an extensive range of topics, including retirement planning, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, estate planning, long-term care planning, guardianships, and many others.

Estate Planning and Elder Law go hand in hand. While Estate Planning deals with what happens when you die; elder law deals with what happens as you age and /or become disabled.

The steep costs associated with long-term care have made Medicaid planning a growing trend for middle-class Americans. Legally restructuring financial resources helps people qualify before the need for care arises.

Comparing elder law and estate planning - what’s the difference? Estate planning and elder law play different roles, while sharing some common ground. Despite these distinctions, both are crucial for safeguarding both you and your loved ones. While they often intersect, there are some nuances to consider.

Elder law and estate planning are two concepts that are commonly confused. Nevertheless, these areas of law differ in important ways. Although there may be some overlap between them, it is essential to understand and utilize strategies from both fields to ensure a prosperous aging process and safeguard a family's heritage.  So, dive in and learn what is life care planning and why you need it.

Yes, you can save money by using do it yourself on-line forms to create your legal documents. But, should you? If you are not a lawyer, preparing do it yourself legal documents can be very costly when the time comes for those documents to be used. So, beware of on-line legal documents.

If you have a disabled loved one, learn why a guardianship for adults with disabilities is a must.

What happens when your disabled child turns 18? Who will make decisions for them now?

If you have an elderly loved one, there are signs and circumstances to watch for that can help prevent all types of elder abuse, like these.

Incapacity planning is not just about mental cognition, accident, or illness; find out what’s involved to protect your loved ones.

Learn the top 5 reasons you need an elder law attorney.

Incapacity Planning starts with avoiding a useless power of attorney

The staggering cost of elder care is why you need an elder law attorney to help you pay for long-term care.