Aside from the preparation of advance directives, my elder law practice encompasses the following:
PLANNING FOR LONG-TERM CARE – MEDICAID
Medicaid planning is the process of making yourself eligible for government benefits that pay for nursing home or long-term care at home, in order to preserve your assets for your family. The risk if this is not done properly is that, instead of taking full advantage of government programs, more of your own funds than is necessary will be spent to pay for these expenses. To engage in this planning:
- We discuss the state of your health and your medical needs
- We discuss your personal and family situation
- We carefully examine your assets, debts, income and expenses
- We examine any long-term care policy you have
- I explain to you the rules of Medicaid eligibility
- I explain the choices available to you
- We devise a strategy
- I carefully draft the documents needed to implement the strategy
GUARDIANSHIP
This is the court process that must be resorted to if a person (referred to as the “alleged incapacitated person“, or “AIP“) is unable to manage his/her own affairs and did not execute sufficient advance directives before becoming incapacitated. The court appoints a guardian and grants the guardian those powers that the court determines are necessary to meet the AIP’s unique personal needs and/or to manage the AIP’s property.
If you seek to be appointed as guardian for such an individual:
- We discuss the physical and/or mental limitations of the proposed AIP
- We discuss the personal and family situation of the proposed AIP
- I observe the proposed AIP to make an in-person assessment of whether he/she needs a guardian
- I prepare the case to persuade the court that the proposed AIP is incapacitated, and of the appropriateness of your appointment as guardian
- I prepare a carefully-drafted Petition to the court
- I cooperate with the court evaluator that the judge appoints to investigate the case
- I represent you at the court hearing
- I prepare a carefully-drafted Judgment and Order for the judge to sign, appointing you as the guardian
- After you are appointed, I prepare all Reports required of you as guardian
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
I am an active member of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section of the New York State Bar Association and of the Committee on Legal Problems of the Aging of the New York City Bar Association.
I invite you to examine the information presented under Advance Directives, Planning for Long-term Care-Medicaid and Guardianship on the Frequently Asked Questions page of this website, and the Glossary of commonly used terms in Elder Law.