What Does an Elder Law Attorney Do?

The need for an elder law attorney Plantation came out of the necessity of dealing with the complicated maze of managing and paying for elder care. The average age of Americans is increasing which means more people needing long term care that involves home health aides, assisted living or nursing homes. This leads to increasing costs and the involvement of a complicated maze of insurers and other providers.

In addition to managing care, seniors have financial and legal affairs to settle. An elder law attorney helps seniors deal with all such issues. Their services include:

  • Advising as to the government benefits that are available to help cover the cost of long term care, such as VA Aid & Attendance for veterans and Medicaid.
  • Establishing financial power of attorney to ensure that they have appointed someone they trust to pay their bills and manage their finances when faced with an illness or incapacity.
  • Establishing a health care surrogate to ensure that they have appointed someone they trust to make critical decisions on health-related issues when one cannot take such decisions on one’s own.
  • Establishing a court-appointed guardian for someone who has not appointed a power of attorney or health care surrogate and who can no longer make decisions due to illness or incapacity.
  • Discussing and planning estates and wills. This can include providing for others, both minors and adults. An attorney can advise on issues like probate, providing for others with special needs and a variety of other matters.

These are some of the services offered by an elder law attorney Plantation. In short, they help in arranging for all matters related to financial and medical care for seniors.