Understanding Elder Law
Elder law is a specialized legal practice dedicated to addressing the unique legal challenges faced by seniors and their families. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our experienced attorneys provide comprehensive guidance on a wide range of issues, from long-term care planning and Medicaid planning to estate planning and guardianship. Our goal is to help you maintain your independence and financial freedom as you age.
Navigating the complexities of elder law requires a deep understanding of the legal landscape and the ability to tailor solutions to each client’s specific needs. Our attorneys are well-versed in the intricacies of Medicaid, a means-tested program that can help cover the costs of nursing home care. We assist clients in qualifying for Medicaid while protecting their assets through strategic planning.
In addition to Medicaid planning, we offer services in estate planning, including the creation of wills, advance health care directives, and durable powers of attorney. These legal instruments ensure that your wishes are respected and your assets are distributed according to your preferences. With our expertise, you can face the future with confidence, knowing that your legal and financial interests are safeguarded.
Guiding Nursing Home Planning, Choices, and Future Care
A significant number of Pennsylvanians will encounter the need for long-term care as they age past 65, underscoring the need for early and deliberate planning. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our first step is to help you understand the array of long-term care options available in Harrisburg. From in-home care services to full-time nursing facilities, each choice carries different implications for your health, your finances, and your family’s future. Advanced Medicaid planning can assist you or your family member in qualifying for Medicaid after entering a nursing home, thereby preserving family finances and enabling a smoother application process.
Every individual’s situation is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work for long-term care planning. Our attorneys listen to your concerns, evaluate your financial position, and tailor a legal strategy that addresses your specific needs. Whether it’s drafting wills, establishing trusts, or navigating the rules of Medicaid eligibility, our support is personalized to provide you with the most effective plan.
When you’re ready to begin the process of long-term care planning, Keystone Elder Law P.C. is here to help navigate the course.
Meet Your Harrisburg Long-Term Care Planning Lawyer
Choosing a Harrisburg long-term care planning attorney is a decision to partner with someone who actively prepares for your future. Our attorneys dedicate themselves to crafting a long-term care plan that caters to the specifics of your lifestyle, health, and financial standing, ensuring that it aligns precisely with your personal objectives. Engaging a Harrisburg Medicaid planning lawyer can help navigate the complexities of the Medicaid application process, ensuring you can access benefits while protecting your assets.
Our attorneys at Keystone Elder Law P.C. stand out for their in-depth expertise in long-term care planning, grounded in a thorough understanding of the relevant local, state, and federal laws. Our familiarity with Harrisburg’s specific regulations allows us to skillfully navigate you through the planning process, addressing any complexities with informed confidence.
Building a relationship of trust is crucial, especially when it comes to the sensitive matter of long-term care. Our attorneys commit to earning your trust through direct communication, ensuring they are always within reach to respond to your inquiries and resolve your concerns promptly and clearly.
Understanding the Financials
Continuous nursing home care in Pennsylvania can reach $13,000 monthly. A Harrisburg long-term care planning attorney plays a pivotal role in navigating the financial complexities of your care. We analyze your assets, income, and expenses to create a sustainable plan that maximizes the use of available resources and benefits. Our expertise extends to advising on the legalities of Medicaid planning and the implementation of trusts, ensuring your financial stability without compromising your eligibility for assistance.
This is particularly important where the cost of long-term skilled nursing care can rapidly drain savings, and the rules of Medicaid can result in the loss of a family home to estate recovery. Our attorneys provide strategic advice to protect your assets, possibly through the use of trusts or other legal instruments, which must be established well in advance of their need. In cases where an individual is unable to manage their affairs due to medical conditions or other circumstances, a guardianship proceeding may be necessary to appoint someone to handle their financial and medical matters. With our guidance, you can structure your estate in a way that aligns with your long-term care objectives while securing your financial legacy.
Asset Protection Strategies
Asset protection is a critical component of elder law, designed to shield your life savings from the high costs associated with long-term care and serious illness. Without proper planning, the expenses of nursing home care can quickly deplete your financial resources. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., we specialize in developing comprehensive asset protection strategies that preserve your wealth while ensuring you qualify for necessary public benefits like Medicaid.
Our experienced attorneys employ a variety of legal tools and strategies to protect your assets. This may include the creation of trusts, careful beneficiary designations, and other estate planning documents. These measures are tailored to your unique situation, ensuring that your assets are not only protected but also distributed according to your wishes.
Proper planning is essential to maintaining your financial stability and securing your legacy. By working with our knowledgeable attorneys, you can implement an asset protection plan that aligns with your long-term care needs and provides peace of mind for you and your family.
Medicaid Planning and Eligibility
Medicaid planning is a vital aspect of elder law, aimed at helping individuals qualify for Medicaid benefits to cover the costs of long-term care. Medicaid is a means-tested program, meaning that eligibility is based on financial need. Without proper planning, individuals may have to spend down their assets to qualify for benefits, potentially jeopardizing their financial security.
At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our experienced Medicaid planning attorneys guide clients through the complex Medicaid application process. We assist in preparing the necessary documents, restructuring financial assets, and developing a plan to ensure eligibility for benefits while protecting your assets.
Our attorneys understand the nuances of Medicaid rules and regulations and can provide strategic advice to help you navigate this challenging process. With our support, you can achieve the proper planning needed to secure Medicaid benefits, ensuring that your long-term care needs are met without compromising your financial future.
By addressing these critical aspects of elder law, asset protection, and Medicaid planning, Keystone Elder Law P.C. offers a comprehensive approach to long-term care planning. Our goal is to provide you with the legal expertise and personalized support needed to face the future with confidence and security.
Plan your future with a Harrisburg Long-Term Care Planning Attorney
In Harrisburg, comprehensive long-term care strategies crafted with legal expertise go beyond fundamental planning. Our attorneys delve into intricate legal instruments, from advance directives to estate preservation, ensuring your care strategy is robust and personalized. Our law firm’s unique approach to estate planning integrates a financial overview strategy, addressing both economic and noneconomic factors in our comprehensive planning process. We tackle the nuances of elder law to protect your assets while providing for potential long-term needs. Each plan is meticulously tailored, considering not just immediate care requirements but also future health changes, family dynamics, and financial shifts. Life care planning provides comprehensive support for families managing the complexities of caring for elderly loved ones, encompassing legal, financial, and care coordination services to ensure peace of mind. Call today for a free consultation.
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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
Empowering Clients with Holistic Planning at
Keystone Elder Law
At Keystone Elder Law, we believe that the physical, social, legal, and financial considerations of our clients all intertwine. We utilize an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate each area, which allows for the creation of a plan that addresses the concerns of the individual as a whole as well as the family. To this end, our model of practice includes a Care Coordinator (usually a nurse or social worker), whose expertise complements our team of attorneys.
When the road of life is smooth, decisions about legal and financial matters are easy to push aside for “a rainy day.” Planning ahead, however, will allow for more options as you view the map of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Don’t let a crisis limit your choices or derail your plans.
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