Elder Law Lawyers: Advocating for Your Elderly Loved Ones

The elderly seemed to need an advocate in the 1960’s and they got one in President Lyndon B. Johnson. He signed the Older Americans Act and gave birth to the first of many legal improvements. Elder Law became a growing legal specialty and today there are a number of Elder Law Lawyers, Elder Law Attorneys, Nursing Home Lawyers and Nursing Home Attorneys.

There is an entire industry now built around Elder Law. There are many career opportunities for people that want to work in this field. Estate Planning lawyers help the elderly decide how their property and assets will be distributed. Some of the distributions can be guidance on charitable donations. There is a lot to know about trusts and estates and most people unfamiliar with Elder Law, Estate Taxes and Inheritance Taxes can make mistakes. For this reason, hiring an Elder Law Attorney is the best course of action.

Rules and laws regarding guardianship and conservatorship are everyday business for Elder Law Lawyers. They assist families in need of finding the most efficient way to conduct business for a family member that can no longer conduct their own affairs. They can also assist in the advisement of executor duties when the family member dies.

Elder Law Attorneys help people obtain all the necessary documents to assist an elderly person. Some people choose to have a durable power of attorney assigned to conduct affairs in their stead. Other people want assistance in specific tasks, such as sale of property. Elder Law Attorneys assist in drafting documents that reflect the elderly person’s wishes. Sometimes, this includes making the scope that another person can decide things very narrow.

A Medical Power of Attorney is a document that an Elder Law Lawyer can have drawn up at the behest of an elderly person so that a designated person can make health care decisions. There are many considerations and legal implications to these documents and professional people in the field of Elder Law should assist to ensure that the true wishes of an individual are honored.