Elder Law Attorneys

As we get older, families have concerns about long-term care for their elderly loved ones. Elder law attorneys address the needs of seniors as well as younger adults who have a disability. Whether you are designing an estate plan for yourself or exploring long-term care options for a relative or friend, it can be an overwhelming and difficult task when you handle it alone and don’t know where to begin.

What is Elder Law?

Elder law is a specialized area of legal practice that focuses on the needs and challenges of older adults and their families. Elder law attorneys help clients navigate the complex and often changing laws and regulations that affect their health care, long-term care, financial security, estate planning, and personal rights. Elder law attorneys also advocate for their clients’ best interests and dignity in situations where they may face abuse, neglect, exploitation, or discrimination.

At its core, elder law is about ensuring that seniors and their families have the legal tools in place to protect their rights, assets, and well-being. With the guidance and advocacy of an experienced elder law attorney, individuals can be empowered with the knowledge and support needed to help them make informed decisions to safeguard their future, allowing them to achieve long-term financial security and peace of mind.

When Do You Need an Elder Law Attorney?

You are never too young, or too old, to consult an elder law attorney about planning options you can implement to create the future you want for yourself and your family. By working with an experienced elder law attorney, individuals and their families can create a personalized, solid estate plan now to avoid unnecessary financial burdens and legal complications in the future.

You may need an elder law attorney when planning for retirement, managing healthcare decisions, or protecting your assets from long-term care costs. The assistance of an elder law attorney can also be crucial when navigating issues relating to long-term care, such as nursing home placement, qualifying for Medicaid benefits, or in “crisis” situations where immediate care planning is needed, or where guardianship may be necessary to protect a loved one from harm.

You may need an elder law attorney if you or a loved one is:

• Facing a health crisis or a chronic condition that requires long-term care or home care
• Applying for or appealing a denial of Medicaid or other public benefits
• Concerned about protecting your assets and income from the cost of care or creditors
• Planning for your future and your legacy, including creating or updating your will, trust, power of attorney, health care proxy, or living will
• Dealing with the death of a spouse or a family member and the administration or probate of their estate
• Seeking a guardianship or a less restrictive alternative for a person who is incapacitated, disabled, or has special needs
• Experiencing or witnessing abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of a loved one based on age, disability, or other factors

It is important to contact an experienced elder law attorney when any of these situations arise, so that you can be empowered to make informed decisions needed for both immediate and long-term planning. Don’t wait—take the first step towards securing your future today by reaching out to our team for a consultation!

Who We Serve in Elder Law

Most individuals will, at some point, need to consult with an elder law attorney in order to discuss their long-term goals, take steps to ensure that their legal affairs are in order, and understand what planning tools are available to them. Every client is different, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that our planning strategies are catered to their individual goals, values, and circumstances, building in the flexibility needed to allow our clients’ estate and long-term care plans to adapt to their changing and evolving needs over time.

At Falcon Rappaport & Berkman, we serve a diverse range of clients in elder law, including:

• Seniors who want to plan and preserve their independence, dignity, and quality of life
• Family members who want to support their loved ones and protect their rights and interests
• Caregivers who are navigating long-term care options for their loved ones following a hospitalization or medical crisis
• Individuals who need assistance understanding the process of qualifying and applying for Medicaid benefits coverage to help them access the home care or long-term care services they need
• Adults who, after experiencing illness, health crisis, or passing of a parent, family member, or loved one, now want to take active steps to engage in advanced elder law planning to avoid encountering difficulties that their loved one may have suffered (due to not having the necessary planning in place)
• Individuals with disabilities or special needs who need assistance with their legal and financial affairs
• Young parents who want to create a contingency plan for the care and financial security of their children, if something unforeseen were to happen
• Professionals and organizations who work with or serve the elderly or aging population, such as health care providers, social workers, financial advisors, and senior living facilities

At Falcon Rappaport & Berkman, we believe it is important that all individuals, regardless of their age, location, background, or socioeconomic status, have access to the latest information regarding updates in elder law that can impact them and their families. Our elder law attorneys are actively involved in our community and perform frequent outreach activities, including educational seminars and other informative community programs, to educate the public by providing information and access to essential planning tools that empower them to understand the legal steps they can take to make informed decisions for their future.

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How Our Elder Law Attorneys Can Help You

Our elder law attorneys have the experience, knowledge, and compassion to help you with any elder law matter, such as:

Advance Directives

Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to express your wishes and preferences for your health care, end-of-life care, and other decisions regarding the management of your future needs, which remain effective in the event that you become unable to communicate or make decisions for yourself. By executing an advance directive now, you can take important steps to exercise control and autonomy over future decisions that others may need to make for you if you later become incapacitated. Our attorneys can counsel you on the different options available to you and help you create, revoke, or change advance directives. We can also represent you as an agent, surrogate (proxy), or a health care provider in a legal matter involving advance directives. Some common advanced directives that are involved in our legal practice include the following:

Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint a person to act on your behalf in financial and legal matters and determine the scope of their legal authority to act on your behalf. While some Powers of Attorney are prepared and signed for specific purposes, as a matter of convenience, most Powers of Attorney prepared with the assistance of an elder law attorney will typically remain effective in the event that you become unable to make your own decisions regarding your assets, income, or other property. Our elder law attorneys can assist you in creating, modifying, or revoking a Power of Attorney, and selecting or limiting appropriate authority to confer to your chosen agent. We can also represent you in a matter in which you are designated as someone else’s agent under a Power of Attorney and advocate for your rights under such appointment.

Health Care Proxy

A Health Care Proxy is a legal instrument that designates another person to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event that you are unable to make these decisions yourself. Because the health care agent, under a Health Care Proxy, can make all manner of health care decisions, including consenting to surgical procedures, examinations or administration of medications, and decisions regarding end-of-life care, such as the withdrawal or continuation of life-sustaining care (life support), prioritization of comfort care measures or hospice care, and the administration or withholding of artificial hydration or nutrition. Our attorneys can counsel you on your options concerning the creation, revocation, or modification of a Health Care Proxy, make recommendations regarding who you may decide to designate as your agent, and explain the legal consequences of these decisions. We may also represent you if you are the designated health care agent or surrogate pursuant to a Health Care Proxy signed by another person to advocate for the decisions you make on behalf of the patient.

Other Advance Directives (such as “DNR/DNI” or “MOLST” forms)

Our attorneys can assist you in understanding, reviewing and collaborating with medical professionals, where appropriate, with other advance directives, such as a “Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate” (“DNR/DNI”) form, or a “Medical Orders on Life-Sustaining Treatment” form (or “MOLST”). Often, when a person is entering a hospital or health care facility, he or she may be asked to complete or sign a DNR/DNI or MOLST form that will dictate to what extent his or her doctors may attempt “heroic” measures in administering life-sustaining or life-saving medical treatment. Some of these documents may require the signature of a treating physician, as well. It is important to fully understand these documents and the impact of signing or not signing these directives, as it may result in extensive or invasive treatment being performed on a person who may suffer from significant health issues and may not wish to endure these types of treatments. Our elder law attorneys can review and explain these documents to you and counsel you on your options so that you can make informed decisions about your own medical treatment. We can also assist you in interpreting and navigating these documents if asked to sign these types of documents in your capacity as a health care agent or surrogate for another person. Our attorneys can also advocate for your expressed wishes to be followed by your medical treatment providers in the event you cannot make your wishes known.

Medicaid Planning and Applications

The Medicaid program is a crucial source of coverage for individuals in need of long-term care services, providing benefits coverage for home-care services in the community, as well as in nursing homes and other residential health care facilities. It offers a range of benefits and different types of services that applicants can utilize to obtain assistance with the performance of their activities of daily living. Medicaid is a complex and often confusing program, with rules and eligibility criteria that frequently change, and as such, clients frequently seek our assistance in navigating the process of applying for Medicaid benefits. Our elder law attorneys can help you understand and qualify for Medicaid and other public benefits programs that can help subsidize the costs of your care, and assist you with the application process, gathering the documentation necessary to demonstrate eligibility, and completing the assessment process that is required to utilize your Medicaid benefits coverage once it is secured. We can also assist you with the renewal or recertification process, Medicaid appeals and Fair Hearings, and understanding the coordination of Medicaid coverage and long-term care insurance.

Guardianships

We can help you seek guardianship of an adult who is incapacitated or has special needs and requires the assistance of a guardian to meet his or her needs, under Article 81 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law, or Article 17-A of the New York Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act. Our attorneys can assist you in determining which of these legal pathways to guardianship is appropriate under the circumstances of your case and can represent you in navigating the complexities of the guardianship process through the New York State court system. In addition to representing you as a Petitioner seeking an order of guardianship, we can also represent you as a Guardian, a Trustee, a Cross-Petitioner, or Interested Party if a loved one is the subject of a guardianship proceeding. Our experienced guardianship attorneys can help you to understand the process of obtaining guardianship, advise you on your rights and responsibilities as a Guardian, and assist with preparing applications to the Court and annual financial accountings if you are appointed Guardian.

Long-Term Care Planning and Consulting

The process of obtaining long-term care can be daunting, especially if you must begin to think about different long-term care options for the first time while also navigating an unexpected health crisis. We can help you plan for your long-term care needs and preferences, and explore the various options and resources available to you, such as long-term care insurance, Medicaid planning, trusts and other asset preservation techniques, home care services, CDPAP, Medicaid waiver programs (including the Nursing Home Transition & Diversion Waiver program, or NHTD), assisted living facilities, independent senior living facilities, nursing homes, home care services, and hospice care. We can also assist you in understanding your options and the next steps in your care planning if you are faced with an unexpected medical emergency, and perform “Medicaid crisis planning” to help you maximize the public benefits to which you may be entitled.

Estate Planning 

Whether you need a simple will, a trust, or more complex estate planning, our attorneys can assist you in understanding what estate planning tools are available and make recommendations regarding what planning options may help you to achieve your long-term personal and financial goals. We can help you create or update a comprehensive estate plan that provides a succession plan for your property, designates executors, trustees and/or guardians (as appropriate), and addresses other important decisions regarding your family in order to ensure your legal affairs are in order, taking into account concerns you may have regarding taxes, debts, funeral arrangements, charitable giving, and other matters that may pertain to your individual estate plan. By curating a personalized estate plan, geared toward advancing your own goals and values, our attorneys can help you achieve peace of mind for the future, provide financial security for your loved ones, and preserve your legacy.

Wills

A “Last Will and Testament”, or a “will”, is a legal document that allows you to express your wishes and instructions regarding the distribution of your property, your funeral arrangements, and the care and custody of your minor or dependent children, after your death. Our attorneys can help you create a will, for the first time, or update or revoke a previous will, in order to ensure that your “Last Will and Testament” reflects how you would like for your estate to be managed, based on your wishes and your individual circumstances.

Trusts 

A trust is a legal planning tool that allows a person to create a separate legal mechanism by which to hold, manage, and preserve assets, income, or other property. Trusts are often used in the context of elder law or estate planning as part of an estate plan to allow for property to be managed by a trustee, for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries, according to your instructions. There are different types of trusts, such as revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts or supplemental needs trusts, testamentary trusts, and charitable trusts, to name a few, and each trust can serve a specific purpose. Our elder law attorneys can educate you on the different types of trusts that are available to you as part of your estate plan and discuss the benefits of each one to determine whether a trust (and which kind) may serve to advance your estate planning goals. We can assist you in creating a trust, funding the trust, and advising you on the ongoing administration of the trust, to ensure that your wishes are followed and that the preservation of your assets is provided for as intended through the creation and funding of the trust. Our attorneys can also guide the Trustee(s) or Beneficiaries named in a trust to ensure that the proper management of the trust assets, distribution of income and principal to beneficiaries, and compliance with fiduciary responsibilities are all followed in accordance with the terms of the trust and all applicable laws.

Asset Protection Planning 

We can help you preserve for you and your loved ones by employing various strategies and tools to protect your assets and income from the risk of loss, liability, or depletion. Through the coordinated use of planning tools such as trusts, annuities, asset transfers, gifting, or exemptions, our attorneys can help you avoid or minimize the impact of taxes, penalties, or estate recovery on your assets and income, allowing you to preserve your wealth for generations to come.

Estate Administration and Probate 

We can help you administer and settle the estate of a deceased person, whether or not they had a Will or trust, and handle the probate or administration process in the Surrogate’s Court. We can also help you resolve any disputes or challenges that may arise during the estate administration or probate, such as will contests, creditor claims, beneficiary disputes, or fiduciary misconduct. If you are named as the beneficiary of a person’s estate or otherwise stand to inherit from a person who is deceased, we can assist you in understanding your beneficiary rights and represent your interests in the context of a court proceeding.

Estate and Trust Litigation

Our attorneys recognize that, in order for the planning steps performed by clients to be effective, the terms of a person’s will, or trust, must be strictly adhered to by those who are entrusted to act as a fiduciary (as an executor or trustee) through the creation of these estate planning documents. Our attorneys can provide guidance to a Trustee or Executor to ensure that they understand their duties as fiduciary and assist them in carrying out their fiduciary obligations and ensure that they are effective in their respective roles.

When a client is the beneficiary or heir of a deceased person’s estate, or the beneficiary of a trust, and the instructions set forth in those instruments are not followed, this compromises the integrity and effectiveness of the legal plans put into place. While these disputes can sometimes be resolved through negotiation, when estate litigation or trust litigation is necessary, our experienced attorneys can provide the advocacy and skill needed to ensure that your rights are protected. Our attorneys can help ensure that the legal directives set in place are properly adhered to in the administration of the trust or estate by advocating for the rights of the beneficiary through estate litigation or trust litigation, as the case may be.

Protect Your Future with Help from an Elder Law Attorney

Planning for the future is essential for securing financial stability and ensuring quality care in later years. FRB’s Elder Law Practice Group provides experienced legal guidance to help seniors and their families navigate complex elder law issues. Contact us today to discuss your needs and find peace of mind in your legal planning.

Locations We Serve

• Long Island
• New York City
• Westchester

Please contact us if you have any questions relating to elder law or other family legal matters.