Certified Elder Law Attorney, National Elder Law Foundation
Member, NAELA Council of Advanced Practitioners
Charter Member, Academy of Special Needs Planners
National Social Security Advisor
Evan H. Farr, CELA, CAP — Elder Law, Estate Planning & Medicaid Asset Protection Attorney
Personal Statement: Why I Practice Elder Law
When I started the Farr Law Firm in 1991, my focus was traditional estate planning. Like many estate planning attorneys, I helped clients prepare Wills, Revocable Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Medical Directives so they could avoid probate, plan for incapacity, and ensure that their assets passed according to their wishes.
I enjoyed that work, and I took pride in designing estate plans carefully tailored to each client’s family, circumstances, and goals.
But over time, something began to bother me.
I realized that I could create what I considered the perfect Revocable Living Trust. It could be expertly drafted, fully funded, avoid probate completely, and work together with carefully drafted Powers of Attorney and Advance Medical Directives to provide excellent incapacity planning.
The estate plan could accomplish everything it was designed to accomplish.
Yet my clients could still lose everything they had spent a lifetime building.
More and more clients were coming to me with stories about exactly that happening to their parents, relatives, and friends — people who had done what they thought was proper estate planning and nevertheless saw much of their life savings consumed by the cost of long-term care.
Why?
Because traditional estate planning focuses heavily on what happens when a person dies. It often does not adequately address what can happen during the years before death, particularly when someone needs nursing home care, assisted living, memory care, or extensive care at home.
A client could have an excellent Revocable Living Trust, a fully funded estate plan, and complete probate avoidance, yet still spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on long-term care.
The trust had not failed.
It simply was not designed to solve that problem.
That realization fundamentally changed the direction of my practice and the Farr Law Firm.
I came to understand that avoiding probate, while important, was only one part of a much larger planning picture. Families were not simply asking how to transfer their assets after death. They wanted to protect their independence during life, preserve their retirement savings, prepare for incapacity, avoid becoming a financial burden on their loved ones, protect assets from the potentially catastrophic cost of long-term care, and leave a meaningful legacy for future generations.
That led me to devote my practice, and the Farr Law Firm, to Elder Law, long-term care planning, Medicaid Planning, Veterans Benefits Planning, asset protection, incapacity planning, Special Needs Planning, and comprehensive Estate Planning.
Over the years, we developed what we now call the Four Levels of Planning — a comprehensive approach recognizing that every family has different goals, risks, assets, and planning needs.
Along that journey, we also developed several proprietary planning tools designed to address problems that traditional estate planning frequently overlooks, including the Living Trust Plus® Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, the Living Trust Plus® Veterans Asset Protection Trust, the Living Trust Plus® Income Retention Trust, the 4-Needs Advance Medical Directive®, and the Long-term Care Directive®.
Today, the mission of the Farr Law Firm remains simple: to help families protect what matters most — not only after death, but throughout life.
Choosing the Best Elder Law Attorney or Estate Planning Attorney for Your Family
When you’re searching for the best Elder Law attorney, best Estate Planning attorney, or best Medicaid Planning attorney for your particular situation, experience and credentials matter. But credentials alone do not tell the whole story.
Who other attorneys rely on for education matters. Who other lawyers trust enough to refer clients to for sophisticated Elder Law, Medicaid Planning, Estate Planning, Special Needs Planning, or asset protection matters matters. Who national reporters turn to when they need authoritative commentary from an Elder Law attorney or Estate Planning attorney matters. So does whether the attorney has spent decades actually working with families facing incapacity, nursing home expenses, Medicaid eligibility, complex trusts, probate, and the practical realities of aging.
There is no single “best elder law attorney” or “best elder care attorney” who is the best choice for every family. But when evaluating an Elder Law or Estate Planning attorney, important factors include:
- Years of experience practicing Elder Law and Estate Planning;
- Advanced Elder Law credentials;
- Depth of experience with Medicaid Planning and Medicaid Asset Protection;
- Experience with long-term care planning and incapacity planning;
- Experience designing and administering trusts;
- Special Needs Planning experience;
- Authorship of books, treatises, and professional articles;
- Teaching other lawyers through Continuing Legal Education programs;
- Leadership in professional Elder Law and Estate Planning organizations;
- Independent professional recognition;
- Recognition by national media as a subject-matter expert; and
- The ability to integrate Estate Planning, asset protection, incapacity planning, and long-term care planning into one coordinated plan.
Evan Farr’s professional career includes each of these forms of experience and recognition.
Meet Evan Farr, Certified Elder Law Attorney
Evan H. Farr is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and nationally recognized Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Medicaid Asset Protection, and asset protection attorney serving clients throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
For more than three decades, Evan has helped individuals and families address the legal and financial challenges associated with aging, incapacity, long-term care, Medicaid eligibility, Special Needs Planning, asset protection, probate, trust administration, and estate administration.
Evan is one of fewer than 600 Certified Elder Law Attorneys in the country and one of approximately 100 members of the NAELA Council of Advanced Practitioners, selected for this distinction by fellow members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
He is also a Charter Member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners.
A four-time Best-Selling Author in the fields of Elder Law and Estate Planning, Evan is the creator of the Living Trust Plus® Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, Living Trust Plus® Veterans Asset Protection Trust, and Living Trust Plus® Income Retention Trust, as well as the Long-term Care Directive®.
He is also the founder of the Academy of Living Trust Plus® Practitioners, whose members include attorneys from across the country.
Evan Farr Quoted in National Media as an Elder Law and Estate Planning Expert
When national reporters need commentary about Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, long-term care, caregiving, incapacity, inheritance, and retirement-related legal issues, Evan Farr is frequently among the experts they turn to.
Evan is frequently quoted or featured by major national publications including U.S. News & World Report, The Associated Press, Kiplinger, Investopedia, Parade, the New York Post, Financial Planning, Yahoo Finance, MSN, Next Avenue, Moneywise, Care.com, and GoBankingRates.
His national media commentary has addressed subjects including:
- Estate Planning documents retirees should have;
- Advance Medical Directives;
- Health Care Powers of Attorney;
- Medicaid Planning;
- Medicaid Asset Protection;
- Nursing home costs;
- Assisted living costs;
- Long-term care planning;
- Caregiving and its financial consequences;
- Equal versus equitable inheritances;
- Family conflict over inheritances;
- Testamentary capacity;
- Dementia and Estate Planning;
- Retirement risks;
- The Great Wealth Transfer;
- Asset protection; and
- Protecting family savings from long-term care expenses.
Evan has also written articles for, been quoted by, or been cited as an expert by The Washington Post, Newsweek, Trusts & Estates Magazine, Estate Planning Journal, Estate, Tax and Personal Financial Planning, The Practical Lawyer, Northern Virginia Magazine, Attorney at Law Magazine, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association.
His television and radio appearances have included WTOP Radio, Fairfax County Government Channel 16, Probate Nation, and other programs discussing Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, and long-term care issues.
See Evan Farr’s Media Appearances and Articles Quoting Evan Farr
More Than Three Decades of Elder Law and Estate Planning Experience
Evan has practiced law since 1987 and founded the Farr Law Firm in 1991.
His work encompasses:
- Elder Law;
- Estate Planning;
- Medicaid Planning and Medicaid Asset Protection;
- Asset Protection;
- Veterans Benefits Planning;
- Long-Term Care Planning;
- Incapacity Planning;
- Special Needs Planning;
- Probate;
- Trust Administration;
- Estate Administration;
- Retirement Planning; and
- Planning for business owners and real estate investors.
Evan’s approach integrates legal planning with the practical realities of aging, incapacity, long-term care, family caregiving, retirement, and asset preservation.
Rather than treating Estate Planning as simply the preparation of Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Medical Directives, Evan and the Farr Law Firm focus on coordinating Estate Planning, incapacity planning, long-term care planning, and asset protection so that the different parts of a client’s plan work together.
Advanced Medicaid Planning and Medicaid Asset Protection Experience
Medicaid Planning is one of the most complex areas of Elder Law.
Families facing nursing home care or other long-term care expenses frequently encounter complicated rules involving assets, income, transfers, trusts, real estate, retirement accounts, spouses, exempt assets, Medicaid eligibility, and estate recovery.
Evan has devoted decades of his practice to Medicaid Planning and Medicaid Asset Protection for families in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
This work includes both advance planning for families who want to protect assets before a long-term care crisis arises and crisis Medicaid Planning for families already facing nursing home care or other substantial long-term care expenses.
The objective is not simply to obtain Medicaid eligibility. Proper Medicaid Planning must also consider quality of life, the needs of a spouse, future care, family circumstances, tax consequences, estate planning objectives, and the preservation of assets to the greatest extent permitted by law.
Creator of the Living Trust Plus® Asset Protection Trust
Evan is the creator of the Living Trust Plus® Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, Living Trust Plus® Veterans Asset Protection Trust, and Living Trust Plus® Income Retention Trust.
The Living Trust Plus® grew directly out of Evan’s realization that traditional Revocable Living Trust planning, while extremely valuable for probate avoidance and incapacity planning, does not protect the settlor’s assets from long-term care costs or Medicaid eligibility rules.
The Living Trust Plus® was developed to provide a different form of trust-based planning for clients concerned about protecting assets during life while still accomplishing important Estate Planning and probate-avoidance objectives.
The Living Trust Plus® planning system is licensed to attorneys in multiple states. Evan founded the Academy of Living Trust Plus® Practitioners to provide education and support to attorneys using the Living Trust Plus® system.
Farr Law Firm is the exclusive provider of the Living Trust Plus® throughout Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, suburban Maryland, and the Fredericksburg region.
Creator of the Long-term Care Directive® and 4-Needs Advance Medical Directive®
Evan is also the creator of the Long-term Care Directive®.
Traditional Advance Medical Directives frequently focus on medical decision-making and end-of-life care. Evan developed the Long-term Care Directive® because decisions concerning where and how a person receives long-term care can be just as important to quality of life as decisions involving medical treatment.
The Long-term Care Directive® is incorporated into the Farr Law Firm’s 4-Needs Advance Medical Directive®, which addresses health care decision-making, end-of-life choices, long-term care preferences, and related incapacity-planning concerns.
These documents reflect the Farr Law Firm’s broader philosophy that incapacity planning should address the realities clients and their families actually encounter, not merely satisfy basic document-preparation requirements.
Nationally Recognized Elder Law and Estate Planning Author
Evan is a four-time National Best-Selling Author in the fields of Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, asset protection, probate, and long-term care planning.
His books include:
- Protecting Your Assets from Probate and Long-Term Care: Don’t Let the System Bankrupt You and Your Loved Ones, Second Edition, published June 2026;
- How to Protect Your Assets from Probate PLUS Lawsuits PLUS Nursing Home Expenses with the Living Trust Plus®, Third Edition;
- Nursing Home Survival Guide, providing information and guidance to families confronting nursing home care and other long-term care decisions; and
- Protect & Defend, co-authored with other leading attorneys from across the country.
Learn more about Evan Farr’s Elder Law and Estate Planning books
Author of Elder Law and Asset Protection Legal Treatises
In addition to his consumer books, Evan has authored dozens of professional and scholarly articles for attorneys and other legal professionals.
His publications include two legal treatises originally published by ALI-ABA and now available through the American Law Institute:
- Planning and Defending Asset Protection Trusts; and
- Trusts for Senior Citizens.
His scholarly writing has addressed Elder Law, trusts, asset protection, Medicaid Planning, senior-citizen planning, and related legal issues.
See Evan Farr’s Scholarly Treatises and Legal Publications
The Elder Law Attorney Other Attorneys Turn to for Education
One important measure of an attorney’s knowledge is whether other attorneys rely on that attorney to teach them.
Evan is a nationally recognized educator of Elder Law and Estate Planning attorneys and other legal professionals. Over the course of his career, he has taught hundreds of hours of Continuing Legal Education programs to thousands of attorneys throughout the United States.
Organizations for which Evan has taught include:
- the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys;
- the American Law Institute-American Bar Association;
- the National Constitution Center;
- myLaw CLE;
- the National Business Institute;
- the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys;
- the Virginia Bar Association;
- Virginia Continuing Legal Education; and
- the District of Columbia Bar.
His Continuing Legal Education programs have addressed Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Medicaid Asset Protection, trusts, incapacity planning, Special Needs Planning, legal ethics, and related issues.
Evan’s work educating other lawyers reflects an important part of his professional career: not simply practicing Elder Law and Estate Planning, but helping other attorneys understand and apply these complex areas of law.
See Evan Farr’s Continuing Legal Education programs for attorneys and legal professionals
Third-Party Recognition as a Leading Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorney
Evan has received extensive independent professional recognition for his work in Elder Law and Estate Planning.
He has been named by Super Lawyers as one of the top 5% of Elder Law and Estate Planning attorneys in Virginia every year since 2007 and in the Washington, DC metropolitan area every year since 2008.
Since 2011, Evan has also been regularly named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top attorneys in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and by Northern Virginia Magazine as one of the top attorneys in Northern Virginia.
He has also been recognized by Virginia Lawyers Weekly among its “Leaders in the Law.”
Evan has received the highest possible AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell since 2012 and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2013.
These independent recognitions provide another objective measure for families comparing Elder Law attorneys and Estate Planning attorneys in Virginia, Maryland, and the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Leadership Among Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorneys
Evan has served in numerous leadership positions in Elder Law organizations and local and statewide bar associations.
His leadership positions have included:
- President of the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys;
- Chair of the Virginia Bar Association Elder Law Section;
- Chair of the Fairfax Bar Association Elder Law Section;
- Co-Chair of the Fairfax Bar Association Wills, Trusts & Estates Section; and
- Founding Chair of the Fairfax Bar Association Law Practice Management Section.
These leadership roles complement Evan’s work as an Elder Law attorney, Estate Planning attorney, Medicaid Planning attorney, author, lecturer, and educator of other lawyers.
Founder of Everything Elder Law and Author of More Than 1,700 Elder Law Articles
Evan is the creator of the award-winning blog Everything Elder Law.
Since 2005, he has written and published more than 1,700 original articles addressing Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Medicaid Asset Protection, long-term care, caregiving, retirement planning, Veterans Benefits, Special Needs Planning, incapacity planning, probate, and other issues affecting older adults and their families.
This extensive body of educational material reflects Evan’s longstanding emphasis on helping families understand complex legal and financial issues before they are forced to make important decisions during a crisis.
Financial Planning and Retirement Planning Experience
Evan’s work also extends into financial and retirement planning.
He is a National Social Security Advisor and holds a Series 65 license, having passed the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination.
Evan is also the owner of Lifecare Financial Services, LLC, which he founded in 2006 to provide clients with coordinated financial planning, retirement planning, long-term care planning, insurance planning, and related financial strategies that align with their Estate Planning and asset protection goals.
He is affiliated with Avior Wealth Management.
This financial background complements Evan’s Elder Law and Estate Planning work by allowing legal planning to be considered in the broader context of retirement income, investment assets, insurance, long-term care expenses, and financial security.
Asset Protection and LLC Planning for Business Owners and Real Estate Investors
Evan also advises clients concerning entity formation and related asset protection planning, particularly the use of LLCs and asset protection trusts.
For business owners, real estate investors, and families with substantial assets, Estate Planning and asset protection frequently overlap.
Effective planning can require coordination among business entities, trusts, ownership structures, liability protection, Estate Planning documents, and long-term care planning.
Education
Evan received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984.
He received his law degree from the College of William & Mary in 1987.
A Comprehensive Approach to Elder Law, Estate Planning, and Long-Term Care Planning
Evan Farr and the Farr Law Firm use a holistic and often proprietary approach to Elder Law, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, asset protection, incapacity planning, and long-term care planning.
The firm’s work is centered on preserving dignity, quality of life, independence, and financial security.
For clients concerned about long-term care expenses, this frequently includes lawful Medicaid Planning and asset protection strategies designed to preserve assets while helping clients obtain appropriate benefits for nursing home care, assisted living, or home-based care.
For clients planning well before a crisis, the emphasis is broader: coordinating Estate Planning documents, trusts, asset ownership, incapacity planning, long-term care planning, and asset protection so that the different pieces work together rather than in isolation.
The objective is not simply to prepare legal documents.
It is to create a coordinated plan for life, incapacity, long-term care, asset protection, and eventual estate administration.
Personal Background
A native of Northern Virginia, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife, Jeannie, who manages the non-legal operations of the Farr Law Firm, as well as their children, grandchildren, and their menagerie of furry critters.
Evan is also a Reiki Master and founder of the nonprofit ROSE — Reiki Outreach Services for Elders — whose mission is to bring the gentle healing power of Reiki to elders in their communities.