Elder Law Attorney

Turn to an Experienced Elder Law Resource in Alexandria

As our society grows older, the need for comprehensive advice about the legal objectives of senior citizens grows more important. The relatively new field of elder law attorney combines experience in estate planning, disability planning, tax law and probate to help older people enjoy their retirement with the greatest possible comfort and security.

Contact Pirsch & Associates in Alexandria to learn how the advice of an experienced elder law attorney can help you and your family meet the practical challenges that old age can present.

Middle-Aged People Stand to Benefit Most From Early Elder Law Advice

Once you start approaching the age of 60, you’re old enough to visualize some of the hard realities and expenses that old age might throw at you. You might well have an elderly parent living through the same challenges. Middle age is an excellent time to start addressing your own elder law attorney needs. You’re starting to understand what they might involve, and you’re young enough to have plenty of options for dealing with them.

Will You Be Eligible for Medicaid for Long Term Care?

Medicaid is a means-tested benefit that’s well worth planning for. If your net worth exceeds, say, $8-10 million, you probably don’t need to protect your Medicaid eligibility, because you’ll be able to afford whatever you might eventually require in terms of long term care if you are too disabled to care for yourself.

If you are in the middle class, however, worth perhaps several million or less, you might later find yourself in the awkward situation of ineligibility for Medicaid while facing annual care expenses of $150,000 or more — probably more than you can comfortably afford.

If you are worried about paying for longer term care for Medicaid planning while you’re in good health can help you transfer assets outside of the five-year IRS look back period for any transfers outright or into trust. Sound Medicaid planning can help most families take full advantage of the success they achieved during their working years.

Advice About Guardianships and Conservatorships, How to Avoid Them and When to Use Them

Sooner or later, everyone gets old. People fortunate enough to have avoided cancer or heart disease grow increasing vulnerable to stroke, dementia or the loss of responsible judgment as they grow older. Elder law attorney Elizabeth Pirsch can advise families with an elderly parent about the guardianship process and how it can protect vulnerable people in areas from asset management to physical care.

Sound estate planning can often avoid the need for guardianship and conservatorship proceedings in probate court, but sometimes it’s hard to tell when you need to intervene for the protection of an older loved one with declining faculties. In some cases, a legal finding of incompetence might be the only way to protect a vulnerable parent. Our advice can help you find the answer to this difficult decision.

For dependable elder law attorney advice, estate planning, or guardianship, contact an experienced lawyer at Pirsch & Associates in Alexandria, Virginia.