Rather than concentrate expertise in a small segment of the law, Elder Law is comprised of many different practice areas. Before Elder Law became recognized as a bona fide discipline, most encounters between seniors and lawyers essentially was to arrange their estates to carry out their goals after death. The main goals were to assure the intended postmortem distribution of assets, minimize taxes, and simplify or avoid Probate. Multidisciplinary in its perspective, Elder Law requires the legal practitioner to have a working knowledge across several areas of the law in his or her attempt to maintain the quality of life of the client.
There are certain characteristics common to every Elder Law practice. The first involves the emphasis that is placed on issues arising from a long life rather than death. In essence, Elder Law concentrates on the quality of life of the elder. Another characteristic is the integration of legal planning into the larger picture of personal needs planning. It bears repeating that Elder Law draws upon an interdisciplinary planning perspective.
Why is Elder Law beneficial?
Although Elder Law is comprised of diverse matters such as alternative decision making, estate planning and Probate, a primary role of an Elder Law attorney is to have a working knowledge of those rules and regulations that apply to Medicaid (“MassHealth in Massachusetts). Which for all practical purposes is the only “insurance” plan for long-term institutional (i.e., nursing home) care in the United States. Without properly planning for one’s long-term care costs, one can find oneself quickly impoverished.
Medicare only pays for approximately 7 percent of long-term nursing home care in the United States. Private insurance pays for even less. The result being that most people pay out of their own pockets for long-term care until they become eligible for Medicaid. We can help you form a comprehensive Medicaid plan that is tailored to meet your specific needs and circumstances; so that you do not unnecessarily “spend-down” the assets in your estate.
The MassHealth Benefit Request
The Medicaid application process is both cumbersome and tedious and is oftentimes complicated and potentially aggravating. MassHealth requires that an applicant submit 60 months of financial statements. Every fact asserted in the application must be verified by documentation. The application process can drag on several months as the Division of Medical Assistance (the DMA) demands more and more verification of amounts of assets, dates of transfers, and the like. We help you organize and analyze financial and personal documentation. When everything is complete, we will submit the application to the DMA, explaining every deposit and withdrawal over $1,000. Elder & Disability Advocate’s goal is to simplify things as much as possible and minimize your frustration whenever possible.
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