Elder Law Fundamentals

When it comes to elder law, people are most often concerned about long term care planning for themselves as they age or for their aging parents. 

Many fear losing all their assets to a nursing home, and others need assistance with navigating through the complicated legal waters of Medicaid. 
 
Other fundamental components of elder law include:

• Protecting the at-home spouse’s assets and income
• Representation at elderly services or in court
• Long term care planning
• Addressing concerns about the high cost of nursing home care
• Reviewing long term care insurance plans
• Medicaid planning
• Assistance with the completion of the Medicaid application 
• Helping loved ones stay at home with home care assistance
• Caregiver help
• Planning for disabled individuals

3 Ways to Avoid Probate

There are a number of different ways of holding assets that will avoid probate.

The simplest is probably just joint ownership, such as a piece of real estate held as joint tenants or a bank account held jointly. This type of assets will pass automatically to the other joint owner when the first owner dies – but keep in mind, there will still be a probate at the second death.

Another way to avoid probate is by assets which have 'designated beneficiaries', such as an insurance policy or a retirement plan (such as an IRA). These assets will pass to those beneficiaries when the owner of the asset dies.

Still another way to avoid probate is to hold assets in a revocable trust.