May is National Elder Law Month and Older Americans Month

May marks Older Americans Month as well as National Elder Law Month. Older Americans Month aims to celebrate and acknowledge the vitality and achievements older people. Elder law attorneys help seniors with a wide range of legal issues. Elder law became a specialty in the 1980s when seniors were facing complicated legal issues like qualifying for Medicaid (currently known as MassHealth in Massachusetts).

Hiring an elder law attorney, also known as an elder care attorney, like Matthew Karr, Esq., is a key step to protect your hard-earned assets and get any benefits you or your loved ones may be entitled to. Working with an elder law lawyer has many benefits:

We understand how to communicate with older adults, their families and organizations to help them with legal issues.

Estate Planning:

• Estate plans are needed to determine the distribution of your assets to your loved ones. Also, we can help you avoid the costs and time associated with probate.
• Asset protection:
• We’ll talk to you about estate planning techniques to protect your assets now and in the future.

Tax planning:

You can minimize estate taxes by using the right estate planning strategies.MassHealth planning:

MassHealth is a joint federal/state program that supports the cost of nursing home care for people who qualify by meeting strict income and asset limits. We can protect your assets, improve your quality of life and save your family money by using certain planning techniques. We can also help you through the burdensome and often confusing application process to get MassHealth benefits.Long-term care planning

, including home options

: We’ll discuss your needs and review the options that would work best for you.Incapacity planning:

A durable power of attorney (POA) puts a person in control of your legal and financial decisions should you become incapacitated or unable to make your own decisions. If you become incapacitated and don’t have a durable power, your loved ones will not be able access your bank account, or write checks for you. It gives someone else the legal authority to make decisions about your health care if you are unable to. This document expresses the wishes you have for end-of life care. A living will isn’t legally binding in Massachusetts, but it’s important because it allows you to state the type of medical care you would like to receive or have withheld.Special needs trust: This type of trust is generally a very effective way to maintain or achieve eligibility for need-based public assistance for the benefit of a person with disabilities. The trust can then be used to supplement the older person’s care while MassHealth pays for long-term care.Estate and trust administration:

When a person dies, their estate must be administered. This includes filing a will with the probate courts, paying creditors, taking an inventory of the property and paying taxes. Notifying beneficiaries and distributing assets are also included. This process is known as estate administration. The probate process is required if the deceased person had a trust or a will. If the person had a trust, the assets will be handled through a trust administration.Contact us today

Many people feel like they don’t know where to start when it comes to elder law matters and estate planning. We will guide you through every step and make the process as simple as possible. You’ll be able to handle the future with ease knowing that you have everything in place. Contact us now.