Hendersonville Elder Law Attorney

Depending on someone’s age, physical condition, and mental condition, an elder law attorney can help in various ways. Elder law attorneys act as legal representatives for elderly persons and their families. They focus on the specific needs of the elderly and provide various services related to healthcare, retirement, and financial matters.

On a broad level, elder law attorneys help clients plan in three main scenarios:

Planning for Your Golden Years

Once someone reaches age 50 or so, they often have concerns about planning for the future. Families worry about having enough money to live comfortably after retiring. A Hendersonville elder law attorney can discuss legal and financial strategies that help people get the most from their private assets and public benefits like Social Security and Medicare. This type of planning goes above and beyond traditional estate planning because it factors in future costs during retirement.

After a Debilitating Physical or Mental Diagnosis

Once someone’s physical or mental health begins to decline, they must focus on long-term care planning. Physical disability, dementia, and Alzheimer’s typically require moving to a nursing home or setting up comprehensive in-home care. In either case, families who do not have insurance must pay more than $75,000 per year—and the price keeps increasing—for long-term nursing care. The senior(s), often with the help of a family member, find a way to protect assets and pay for necessary care in the most tax-efficient way.

During a Healthcare Crisis

Although planning ahead is best, sometimes this doesn’t happen, and families need legal help amid a crisis. For example, a spouse or parent suffers a stroke and must live in a nursing home to get care, or a spouse dies, leaving their partner unable to care for themselves, so they need to relocate to an assisted living facility. The lack of medical directives sometimes also requires an elder law attorney to get involved. Regardless of the exact situation, a Hendersonville elder law lawyer can help manage the situation and find the right solution for their client and their family.

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Parents are generally legally required to financially support their child until the child reaches the age of 18. However, in some cases this requirement may be extended to age 20 if the child has not yet graduated from high school. Parents are sometimes relieved of their support obligation if a child is legally emancipated before they reach age 18 or if they join the military before their 18th birthday. If the parent is in arrears when their child reaches the age of 18, they will be required to continue making payments in the same amount of the order until the arrears are paid.

Generally, parents who have an open child support enforcement (CSE) case are not required to go to court to terminate child support. However, those who are not the subject of a CSE case generally must file a motion with the court to terminate the order upon the child reaching the age of 18.

Parents who create their own child support agreement together can also make a determination to extend child support until their child graduates from college or can create provisions involving the continued support of a disabled child after the age of 18. Official, written agreements between the parents are legally binding.

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Elder law attorneys help clients in specific ways, some of which might not fall under the categories listed above. Here are some examples of specific tasks that might prompt you to hire an elder law lawyer in Hendersonville:

• Estate planning, drafting wills, and creating trusts to protect assets
• Establishing medical and financial powers of attorney
• Seeking guardianship or conservatorship
• Helping to receive and manage Medicaid/Medicare
• Financial planning with retirement benefits, including VA benefits for military families
• Protecting clients who fall victim to age discrimination
• Protecting elder clients who have been abused or neglected
• Securing housing
• Long-term care planning and financing
• Disability planning
• Setting up medical directives

You might face other challenges not mentioned above. Regardless of your situation, it’s best to consult a Hendersonville elder law attorney to guide you on the best course of action for you and your family.

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Planning ahead is best when it comes to financial issues, long-term care, and other issues that fall under the umbrella of elder law. However, sometimes physical or mental illness sets in before making a plan, and the elders we love cannot act or make decisions.

A family member or other trusted individual can step in when incapacity occurs, which typically requires involving the court to determine who will manage a person’s personal and financial matters. A Henderson elder law attorney can help when families face a crisis after a loved one can no longer decide for themselves.

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Many seniors in the United States receive Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. However, each of these programs has specific criteria for qualification. One of the biggest benefits of hiring an elder law attorney is their knowledge of the laws that impact seniors and the benefits for which seniors might be eligible. Letting an elder law lawyer in Hendersonville, NC review your case could help you and your family save money in the long run, allowing a better quality of life for you or the elder you love and protecting assets for generations to come. Elder law attorneys understand how to apply the law to their client’s cases to seek the best possible outcome.

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