Elder Law is the legal practice of counseling and representing seniors and their families about specific issues which impact their lives including, health care planning and financial planning to finance the ever-rising costs of long term care needs. Elder Law encompasses asset protection planning, preservation of assets, disability planning and estate planning & administration (wills, trusts and probate).

We offer the experience and expertise to assist and counsel clients in all matters of concern to seniors and their families, even those of a non-legal nature, such as insurance, housing, long-term care, employment, and retirement. I am familiar with professional and non-legal resources and services publicly and privately available to meet your needs and will always be accessible to discuss any issues which arise.

Medicaid planning is the practice of preserving assets by securing eligibility for government benefits. Our goal is to help you secure the best available health care while preserving your hard-earned assets to pass on to your children or other beneficiaries. We can help you attain both goals with proper and legal Medicaid planning.

Early planning is the key to preserving your assets, allowing you to make lifetime gifts outright to family members or to a trust, thereby assuring your assets will not be spent on your health care or paid to the government. More emphasis than ever before is now placed on how early you begin to plan for the financial cost of long term health care due to the recent enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006. Through the Act, President Bush severely restricts Medicaid planning, the likely result of which will cause many seniors to spend all of their assets on long-term care costs before Medicaid eligibility.

There are different rules for transferring assets based upon family composition and the type of care required. Spouses may have special rules that allow for exempt transfers of assets. In addition, the laws governing Medicaid Home Care benefits are different from the laws governing Medicaid nursing home benefits.

Americans are living longer than ever before and this fact only emphasizes the importance of planning for those living with disabilities. Many disabled adults receive some form of government benefits, such as Social Security benefits, Supplementary Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid benefits. What happens if a family member wants to leave that disabled person an inheritance? What happens if the disabled person comes into some money, such as proceeds from a lawsuit, or a lump sum payment from Social Security?

The law entitles disabled individuals to keep such monies in a special trust called a Supplemental Needs Trust. This is a special type of trust designed only for disabled people to provide extra things that are not paid for by government programs. A Supplemental Needs Trust may maintain for the disabled person an unlimited amount of money without effecting, eliminating or reducing their government benefits.

Planning for a disabled child requires equally careful consideration. Who will care for your son or daughter when you are gone? Where and how will he or she live? Any assets left to a disable child upon the death of a parent should be left in a Supplemental Needs Trust. Parents should consider purchasing life insurance to fund a Supplemental Needs Trust, as either a primary or secondary source.

There are various options available to care for a disabled adult or child, but proper planning is the key to accomplishing your objectives. Asset Protection Planning:

You have worked hard for the money you earned, but times have changed since the once popular cliché that "it's not what you earned that counts, but what you saved". Today, it is equally important to properly safeguard what you worked for and saved over the years. How do you protect your assets from the escalating cost of health care from the government or from creditors?

There are various tools at your disposal and I can help create a unique and effective plan for you. In you require assistance with an Elder Law matter please call us at (917) 226-6884 or click here for an immediate e-mail inquiry.