Are you or one of your loved ones getting older? It is a sad fact of life. What is great though is that people are living longer.
If you are a boomer, one of the golden post-War generation, then your parents could well be in their 80s, 90s, or even 100s now. And you may well have spent your life in an amazing job with a great salary.
Your parents might also have worked hard to cover some of their costs of retirement. But how do you ensure they are fully safeguarded from all the challenges of the modern age? This is where an elder law attorney can help you.
Here’s everything you need to know about hiring a lawyer for the elderly.
What is Elder Law?
Elder law is a specific part of the law that deals with concerns about an aging population. Specifically, it deals with the boomers born in the post-war period who still have parents around born in the pre-war era.
The most common issue with elder people is what will happen when they die – principally their estate. But elder law isn’t just about probate or complex legal cases about inheritance. In fact, it also deals with a host of other issues. One example is if an elder person is kicked out of an assisted living scheme.
Disability Planning
One of the key things that elder law focuses on is disability planning. This is what happens if you or your loved one becomes disabled as they grow older. How will this affect their life?
They might not be able to live as independently as they did before and this could lead to them having to invest in a host of new equipment or carers to help them continue their lives.
If the disability is debilitating and degenerative, you or your loved one might need to give power of attorney to someone. In which case you will need to understand the ins-and-outs of the power of attorney and how that intersects with other branches of law.
There are other options that elder law deals with besides power of attorney including appointing a health care proxy.
Special Needs
A disability might not just be physical and it might not simply occur in adulthood. An elder relative might also have special needs.
And they may be eligible to receive government disability benefits. If you or another relative dies however they may need an elder lawyer to ensure they are getting what is owed to them.
An elder lawyer might also be required if a change in the law adversely affects the amount of money a relative with special needs receives.
If your elder relative does have special needs, be sure to do your research carefully to pick a lawyer that will be caring and kind and not just focused solely on the money.
Death
One of the key aspects of the work of an elder law lawyer is the death of your relative. This is a touchy subject and one you might not want to deal with. But you must establish how you handle your elder relatives’ estate.
Try to do this before they are likely to become incapacitated. Remember that elder lawyers are lawyers for the elderly, they are there to step in to avoid abuses of power or younger relatives trying to pressure them into changing their wills.
Abuse
Abuse is another concept that an elder law lawyer has to litigate. Thankfully elder law protects older people from being abused by their carers.
Care home workers or relatives could be stealing your relatives’ belongings without them being aware of it. Or they could be tricking them into giving them away. If your elder relative has dementia or another mental disability this might be particularly distressing.
They might appear confused and the care home worker could take advantage of their mental state to profit from them.
Another form of abuse is mental cruelty. With no one there to protect them, they could be vulnerable and they might not even be able to talk to your or other younger relatives about it.
Care Homes
Do you want to send your relative to a care home when they get older? If so will they be required to sell their home?
And what about if your elder relative is already in a care home and your relatives are not getting the kind of service that they paid for? Elder law can cover them to make sure their consumer rights are protected.
Another scenario is if the care home is sold and taken over by another company changing the systems and rights of your elder relatives. An elder care lawyer can take care of all of this for you and your loved one.
An Elder Law Attorney Can Work Wonders
An elder law attorney can work wonders for your elder relatives as they contemplate their future.
From ensuring your disabled relatives are properly looked after and receive the benefits they need, to dealing with probate and estates after they die, an elder law attorney is indispensable.
We are all living longer thanks to technological advancement in health care and a better social system. The pre-war generation that gave so much for our country deserves special treatment in the form of a lawyer for the elderly as they enter their eighth, ninth, and even tenth decades. Elder law can also prevent relatives and carers with a malign agenda from taking advantage of your loved ones in the event that you pass away.
If you are interested in learning more about hiring an elder law attorney, keep reading our blog.
