We Help People and Families in Harrisburg Find Peace and Security Through Estate Planning
At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our Harrisburg estate planning lawyers are committed to helping clients put the best structure in place to protect their rights and their interests. A comprehensive estate plan can help to ensure that you, your finances, and your family are protected. If you have any questions about estate planning, we are here to help. Contact us today for a fully confidential, no-obligation consultation with a top-tier Harrisburg estate planning lawyer.
We Provide a Full Range of Estate Planning Services in Harrisburg, PA
Keystone Elder Law P.C. is a boutique estate planning and elder law firm devoted to protecting the rights of middle class families. It is our goal to help clients safeguard their finances and their future. We handle all aspects of estate planning. Along with other types of estate planning services, our Harrisburg attorneys have experience with:
- Wills: We are proud to craft customized wills that reflect the specific wishes of our clients. You need a will that ensures that your assets are distributed according to your preferences. Our Harrisburg estate planning attorneys will help you get peace of mind with a proper will.
- Powers of Attorney and Living Wills: Estate planning is about more than deciding who gets to inherit what. We have extensive experience with powers of attorney (POA) and living wills. Our services include drafting detailed documents that specify your preferences for medical care and financial management in the event of incapacity.
- Middle Class Asset Protection: Proactive asset protection is a must for middle class families. Our asset protection strategies are tailored to safeguard the estates of middle-class families from the high costs of long-term care and other financial risks
- Medicaid Planning: Keystone Elder Law provides comprehensive Medicaid planning services to help you navigate the eligibility criteria and protect your assets while securing needed health care benefits. If you have any questions or concerns about Medicaid planning, our Harrisburg estate planning lawyers are here as a resource.
- Long Term Care Planning: The cost of long-term care is extraordinarily high. A single year in a private room in a nursing home can run well in excess of $100,000. A long-term care plan is crucial to ensure that your family—and your finances—are best protected from the risks of long-term care costs.
- Life Care Planning: Keystone Elder Law offers life care planning services that integrate health, legal, and financial planning to cover all aspects of aging. Our life care plans are designed to adapt to life ever-changing needs. If you have any questions about life care planning, our Harrisburg estate planning lawyers are more than ready to help.
- Probate and Estate Administration: We have experience with probate law and estate administration more generally. Indeed, our Harrisburg estate planning attorneys are committed to simplifying the probate process—guiding executors and beneficiaries through the legal requirements and ensuring that an estate is settled in an efficient manner.
You Need a Customized Estate Plan
Estate planning should not be one-size-fits-all. The estate plan that works well for someone else in Dauphin County may not be the right option for your family. It is imperative that you have a customized estate plan. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., we always invest time, resources, and attention to detail to help ensure that clients in Harrisburg have the absolute best structure in place.
Why Trust Our Harrisburg Estate Planning Lawyer
Estate planning is complex. You and your family do not have to figure out everything on your own. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., we work proactively to help to shield middle class families from the cost of getting older. Our client testimonials show what we can do for you and your loved ones. Among other things, our Harrisburg estate planning lawyers are ready to:
- Listen to your story and answer your estate planning questions:
- Help you gather and prepare all documents, records, and information;
- Handle the estate planning paperwork; and
- Develop a comprehensive strategy to help you put the right plan in place.
Contact Our Harrisburg Estate Planning Attorneys Today
At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our Harrisburg estate planning lawyers provide cost-effective, reliable services to middle class families. If you have any questions about estate planning, we are here to help. Contact us today for a confidential, no-obligation consultation. We provide estate planning services in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and throughout the surrounding area in Pennsylvania.
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REGISTER HERE for LONG-TERM CARE PLANNINGPower of Attorney
A Power of Attorney can be used to give another person the right to sell a car, home, or other property in the place of the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another person to sign a contract for the maker of the Power of Attorney (the person who makes a power of attorney is called the “principal”). It can be used to give another person the authority to make health care decisions, do financial transactions, or sign legal documents that the principal cannot do for one reason or another. With few exceptions, Powers of Attorney can give others the right to do any legal acts that the makers of the Powers of Attorney could do them themselves. A General Power of Attorney gives the “power of attorney Agent” or simply “Agent” (the legal name of the person who is authorized to act for the principal) very broad powers to do almost every legal act that the principal can do. When Elder Law Attorneys draft general Powers of Attorney, they still list the types of things the Agent can do but these powers are very broad. People often do general Powers of Attorney to plan ahead for the day when they may not be able to take care of things themselves. By doing the General Power of Attorney, they designate someone who can do these things for them.
Normal Powers of Attorney terminate if and when the principal becomes incompetent. Yet many people do Powers of Attorney for the sole purpose of designating someone else to act for them if they cannot act for themselves. It is precisely when persons can no longer do for themselves that a Power of Attorney is most valuable. To remedy this inconsistency, the law created a Durable Power of Attorney that remains effective even if a person becomes incompetent. The only thing that distinguishes a Durable Power of Attorney from a regular Power of Attorney is special wording that states that the power survives the principal’s incapacity. Even a Durable Power of Attorney, however, may be terminated under certain circumstances if court proceedings are filed. Most Powers of Attorney done today are durable.
Yes. At the time the Power of Attorney is signed, the principal must be capable of understanding the document. Although a Power of Attorney is still valid if and when a person becomes incompetent, the principal must understand what he or she is signing at the moment of execution. That means a person can be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease or be otherwise incompetent sometimes but as long as they have a lucid moment and are competent at the moment they sign the Power of Attorney, it is valid even if they do not remember signing it at a later date. At the time it is signed, the principal must know what the Power of Attorney does, whom they are giving the Power of Attorney to, and what property may be affected by the Power of Attorney.
Any competent person eighteen years of age and older can serve as an agent. Certain financial institutions can also serve. There is no course of education that agent must complete or any test that Agent must pass. Because a Power of Attorney is such a potentially powerful document, agents should be chosen for reliability and trustworthiness. In the wrong hands, a Power of Attorney can be a license to steal. It can be a big responsibility to serve as an agent.
For Medicaid
Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician appointments, therapy, blood tests, x rays, medical procedures and hospitalization. Medicare will sometime pay for rehabilitation in a long-term care facility for a period of 20 to 100 days, but not longer. In long-term care, Medicaid covers the cost of ongoing support services for daily functioning, such as room and board in a nursing home.
Medicaid is a federal program that is overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In Pennsylvania, Medicaid is called Medical Assistance and is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
In Pennsylvania, Medicaid funds are not available to pay for assisted living or personal care.
For Medicaid to pay for care in a nursing home, an individual recipient must be determined to need a nursing home level of care by a physician and the local Office of Aging. An individual whose income is not greater than three times the poverty level may keep up to $8,000 of total resources, but may otherwise keep only $2,400. The cash value of life insurance counts as a resource, but one car and a residential home does not count as a resource.
What an amazing team you have!!! Taking charge and getting things done, but also being so understanding and compassionate