Elder law attorneys may specialize in estate planning, incapacity planning, and end-of-life care for seniors. They also help older adults remain in their homes as they age and protect them from abuse. These practitioners are essential because they work to protect a vulnerable population. To plan for their future and their care, seniors and their families should consider hiring an elder law attorney.

How Can an Elder Law Attorney Help My Aging Loved One?

Having a plan for your aging loved one’s care can relieve anxiety for you and the senior. Elder law attorneys can help their clients by providing some of the following
services:

Long-Term Care Planning
The number of Americans living past age 65 has exponentially increased over the past few decades and will continue to grow over the next few years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there will be more than 80 million seniors in the U.S. by 2040. This increase requires more people to pay close attention to the need for long-term care planning.

An elder law attorney can help seniors create a plan to pay for their care needs for the rest of their lives. Many seniors may worry about a lack of financial resources to pay for food, rent, medical care, and transportation in the years to come. Others hope to stay in their homes as they age but aren’t sure what the options may be for in-home care if it becomes necessary.

An elder law attorney can help you create a customized plan for your needs and assist you in allocating money to pay for the essentials as you age. In addition, with
expertise specific to elder law at the federal level and in your state, they can aid you in determining what public benefits you could qualify for, such as Medicaid and Medicare, and help you successfully apply for them.

Housing
Many older adults report wanting to age in place in communities. Elder law attorneys help their clients achieve this objective by representing them in landlord-tenant and other housing disputes.

For instance, an elder law attorney may help a homeowner with limited mobility who has been unable to maintain their lawn respond to a city ordinance violation. An elder law attorney could help an older adult access benefits and services that allow them to age in place, guiding them through applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and helping them find services such as Meals on Wheels.

Elder law attorneys can assist older adults with disabilities who experience discrimination. The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination against people with disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that two in five adults 65 and older have a disability. If you encounter discrimination, an elder
law advocate can protect your rights.

While some older adults are renters, others own rental property. When older adults rent out property to pay their housing expenses, elder law attorneys can help. If a tenant refuses to pay rent, becomes aggressive, or breaks the lease, an elder law attorney can advocate for the older property owner, helping to evict the tenant.

Estate Planning Document Preparation
Most people contact an elder law attorney whose expertise includes estate planning when they need end-of-life documents drafted. Yet it is smart to start estate planning when you are still healthy. Elder law attorneys may draft for their clients such documents as a last will and testament, health care directive, and power of attorney. By carefully crafting these documents, an attorney can help protect a senior’s legal rights when it comes to their retirement benefits, estate administration, and medical decision-making authority.

At the same time, having a comprehensive estate plan in place may not only ease the stress your family members encounter upon your passing, but also help them
avoid any potential disputes regarding their inheritance.

Please see part 2 of this article here.