When you are considering hiring an elder care attorney for you or your loved one, it is important that you ask any attorney you are considering questions to understand their knowledge of this particular area of the law. The Zapor Law Office, PC encourages you to schedule an initial consultation with an elder care attorney and ask the following questions:

1. What makes elder law unique?
Elder law is part of the estate planning umbrella, but it involves many other aspects of the law than estate planning. Elder law encompasses legal services to help individuals deal with Medicare and Medicaid issues, healthcare and long-term care arrangements and retirement benefit. An experienced elder care attorney will have a good understanding of a variety of laws and how they interact. He or she can also help with the decision-making process and in identifying trusted individuals who can serve as your representative for healthcare decisions, your finances and your estate.

2. What do I need to do?
Elder law may involve many difficult decisions, such as what you want to have happen to your property after you pass away, who should make healthcare decisions on your behalf, how you plan to provide for your family in case of long-term disability and who should take care of your financial and medical needs if you are unable to do so for yourself. You will likely be asked to think through some of these difficult concepts while receiving helpful tips and guidance on making these difficult decisions.

Also, since elder law often involves insurance and financial issues, you may need to gather documentation so that your lawyer can properly advise you. As an experienced elder care lawyer, Rose Mary Zapor can carefully walk you through the planning process.

3. What services do you provide?
Not all elder care lawyers provide the same legal services. Some focus primarily on estate planning while others focus more on Medicare and Medicaid issues. Some elder care firms may provide asset protection strategies and provide comprehensive trusts. Be sure that you discuss your legal issue in depth with prospective lawyers to ensure that they will actually be able to handle your legal matter.

4. How much of your practice is elder law?
While many attorneys provide general legal services in a variety of areas, elder law is a subspecialty and niche area of the law. You may prefer to work with a lawyer who spends most of his or her time practicing elder law.

5. How long have you practiced elder law?
You want to select an elder care lawyer who will understand the legal issues involved in your case, the laws that apply to your case and the strategies that you may be able to use to bring about the best outcome for your case. Be sure that your lawyer has adequate experience with elder law and that you are not paying him or her to learn on your dime.

6. Are you familiar with my specific legal issue?
If you are dealing with a complex legal issue, you will want to be sure that your lawyer can handle it. Provide a basic description of your legal issue to ensure it is something your prospective lawyer can help you with.

7. Will you personally handle my case?
Some firms hand off cases for paralegals and other less trained personnel to handle. Be sure you know who will personally be working on your case.

8. How do you charge?
Elder law attorneys may charge differently for their services. Some may charge a flat rate for a particular service while others charge an hourly rate. Still others may combine these options and charge a flat rate for certain services and then add an hourly rate if the job took longer than expected. This information should be clearly spelled out in your written fee agreement. Also, be sure you understand what you are being charged for, such as every phone call, email and other communication.

9. How can I avoid probate?
Probate is often a long and time-consuming process; so many people try to avoid it. We can discuss some probate avoidance strategies such as using payable on death accounts, trusts and beneficiary designations that can help you avoid unnecessary probate proceedings.

10. Can you help me prepare for a disabled child or adult?
If you are concerned about planning for a disabled child or adult, discuss this issue with an elder law attorney. You may be able to establish a special needs trust to provide for their needs without jeopardizing their public benefits.

If you like to know more information about hiring an elder care attorney, elder law, or tips on how to establish a solid plan for later life, visit zaporelderlaw.com.

Rose Mary Zapor
zaporelderlaw.com