Robert Lambert, Valdosta Today Legal Contributor
It seems that no matter where I go, or who I talk to, people are intrigued by my Elder Law practice. Invariably I am ask: What is Elder Law? While most people are familiar with traditional estate planning attorneys that provide wills, power of attorney’s and trust, many are unaware of how the Elder law attorney differs. I think the best way to describe the difference is this: Estate planning attorney’s focus on your assets and how they are distributed after you die. While Elder lawyers do estate planning as part of their services, an Elder law attorney’s focus is on your assets from the time you become our client until you die. So the Elder law attorney has a dual focus–assets protection while the senior is aging and asset distribution after the senior dies. It probably makes sense.
But what makes me different from all the estate planning attorneys, from all the elder lawyers in south Georgia (and there are only a hand full of us) is that I do Life Care Planning for my Clients. Now here is where it really gets interesting in my discussion with seniors: “What in the world is Life Care Planning?”
First, you will notice that when I described Estate Planning and Elder law above, I kept using the word “asset”. Traditional estate planning attorney’s and traditional elder law attorneys have an “asset” focus to their planning where as with the life care planning I am doing for my clients, it is an “elder-centered” focus. In other words, we focus on the health care, long term care and housing needs of the aging senior. Just think about it: Most of you go to the estate planning attorney who prepares your documents and is done; or the traditional elder law attorney who prepares your asset protection documents and is done. While you may also have a client maintenance agreement with that attorney, which allows for the attorney to make needed changes to the documents when the laws changes for a minimum yearly amount, those plans do nothing for planning, adjusting, monitoring or advocating for the needed personal changes that occur in an aging seniors life. This is what a life care plan does.
I employee a team of professionals: Register nurses, social workers, benefit specialists and other to help you navigate the maze of our heath care system and help you find, get and pay for good quality of care. We utilize the Elder Law Continuum which helps us determine where the functional limits of our client’s are today, and what needed changes should be implemented to go along with those changes.
The whole concept is that the care of an older person can be planned. That care need does not reach a certain point and never change–it constantly changes making it necessary to make changes to the care plan, financial plan and legal plan. So with our life care plans, you get all the services of estate planning, Medicaid planning and asset protection along with the professional efforts, guidance and help of our elder care coordinators.
Perhaps you are an aging couple who are trying to stay at home and not burden your children. The life care plan gives you the resource and personal coordinator to go to ask for help and even attend the doctor with you if needed.
Perhaps you are an adult child of aging parents and you live out of state, or have a very busy life yourself and are feeling guilty about what to do with your aging parents. The life care plan is the solution. The Elder Care Coordinator becomes your eyes and ears to drop in on your parents, find much needed home health resources or alternate housing options as well as the many community resources that are available.
Perhaps you are an Employer and your employees are losing time from work trying to care for their aging parents. You might want to invite me to your work site to provide a seminar on Life Care Planning.
If any of you have questions or would like to know more about life care planning, please contact my office at 229-292-8989 or visit our website at www.legaladviceforsenior.com. I regularly schedule free seminars on Life Care planning as well as Estate and Medicaid planning for churches, civic groups and even groups of neighbors. We are planning our next seminar here in the office for early January. Call if you would like to get on the list. You can like us on face book at Robert L. Lambert, Jr., P.C. and follow our daily blogs, and get our monthly newsletter.
