Most seniors spend a lifetime building a home, savings, and a family legacy. One unplanned health event can put all of that at risk.
The Farr Law Firm is a specialty Elder Law and Estate Planning firm that helps seniors preserve what they have built. Our work combines legacy planning, asset protection, and long-term care planning under one roof.
Estate Planning Attorneys for Seniors Across the DC Metro Region
Our firm focuses on seniors, their adult children, and families facing aging-related legal decisions. We serve clients throughout Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia with offices in: Fairfax, VA; Fredericksburg, VA: Rockville, MD; Annapolis, MD; and Washington, DC.
Many of our clients come to us through referrals from friends, coworkers, family members, financial advisors, accountants, care managers, or other attorneys who know of us or who have listened to Evan Farr’s legal education teachings. Others find us after reading one of Evan Farr’s four best-selling books on Estate Planning, Elder Law, and senior legal planning. Others find us via our website and our hundreds of 5-star reviews across Google, Avvo, Yelp, Facebook, etc. Nowadays, lots of people find us via AI chat engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and others. More often than not, people hear about us via more than one of these methods.
Our Elder Law Estate Planning services help older adults who want to plan ahead and families facing urgent care decisions right now. Common clients include seniors age 65 and above, married couples with one spouse possibly facing the need for long-term care, and adult children managing a parent’s legal, medical, or financial affairs.
Caregivers, executors, and trustees often need legal advice on behalf of someone else. We give caregivers the same care, information, and respect we give to the senior client, because they are the ones carrying out the plan day to day.
Estate Planning Services for the Unique Needs of Seniors
A successful Estate Plan for a senior may look very different from an Estate Plan for a young couple or an Estate Plan for clients in their prime earning years. All good Estate Plans address who gets what when you die and who makes decisions for you when you die and if you become incapacitated during your lifetime. But successful Estate Planning for seniors must go a step further and consider and address the higher potential for physical disability, cognitive decline, long-term care costs, and potential Medicaid eligibility, not just who inherits what and who makes decisions. This is where many Estate Planning law firms fall short because many Estate Planning firms treat people of all ages the same, without giving any regard to the fact most seniors have different planning needs and different concerns than younger and middle-aged adults.
Every Estate Plan we build starts with the core documents that seniors need to keep control of their affairs. These core documents are a Financial Power of Attorney, our proprietary and highly customized 4-Needs Advance Medical Directive® (which includes a Medical Power of Attorney and a Long-term Care Directive), a last will and testament, and typically either a revocable living trust or an irrevocable Living Trust Plus® Asset Protection Trust.
Living Trust Plus® for Asset Protection and Medicaid Eligibility
The Living Trust Plus® is Evan Farr’s proprietary Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. It is the only type of self-settled asset protection trust that protects your assets from probate PLUS lawsuits PLUS nursing home expenses.
More than 50 attorneys across the country use Evan Farr’s Living Trust Plus® through the Academy of Living Trust Plus® Practitioners.
Medicaid Planning and Other Long-Term Care Strategies
Nursing home costs in Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland, and Washington, DC, can exceed $16,000 per month. Without a plan, a single long-term care stay can wipe out a lifetime of savings within two to three years.
Our Medicaid Planning strategies help seniors qualify for benefits while protecting the home and savings the family has worked a lifetime to build. We handle both proactive Medicaid planning and crisis Medicaid Planning when a loved one is already receiving, or close to receiving, the nursing home level of care, whether at home or in a nursing home. We also help clients with proactive long-term care planning through Evan Farr’s financial services company, Lifecare Financial Services, which specializes in financial and insurance solutions related to estate planning and elder law, tailored to your financial peace of mind and long-term security.
Veterans Aid and Attendance Planning
Many senior veterans and surviving spouses qualify for Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits but never apply, often because they are not aware of the benefit. Additionally, the paperwork is long, the rules on income and assets are strict, and one small mistake can cause a denial.
Our attorneys help eligible families access this tax-free monthly income benefit to help pay for home care, assisted living, or nursing care. Aid and Attendance benefits are often the difference between staying at home with help versus being forced into a facility too soon, and can also allow someone to remain in an assisted living facility longer so they don’t wind up forced to go into a nursing home.
Special Needs Planning for Adult Dependents
Seniors who have a disabled child or dependent need a special plan that does not disqualify that loved one from government benefits. A Special Needs Trust lets you leave an inheritance without cutting off SSI or Medicaid eligibility.
This planning becomes urgent as the parent ages, because the disabled child’s lifetime care now has to survive the parent’s death. We build these trusts as part of the overall senior estate plan.
Trust Administration, Estate Administration, and Legal Issues After a Loved One Passes
When a senior passes away or becomes incapacitated, the family is often left to handle complex legal issues on their own. Our firm provides trust administration, estate administration, probate representation, and fiduciary services so you do not have to figure it out alone.
Probate law in Virginia, Maryland, and DC is full of deadlines and paperwork that can trip up even careful executors and administrators. We walk trustees and personal representatives through every step, from inventory to final distribution and tax returns.
We also handle estate law questions that come up between family members, such as how an inheritance should be divided, how to handle a contested will, or how to close a parent’s business. Our goal is to finish the work correctly while keeping the family relationships intact.
How a Senior Estate Plan from Our Firm Can Help You
Effective Estate Planning for seniors can help you:
- Preserve your home and savings for your spouse, children, and grandchildren
- Plan for nursing home, assisted living, or in-home care costs
- Maintain Medicaid and veterans benefits eligibility when care is needed
- Avoid unnecessary spend-down of retirement and non-retirement assets
- Coordinate Estate Planning with Incapacity Planning and life care planning
- Reduce legal issues and family conflict after a loved one passes
- Keep dignity and quality of life at the center of every decision
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I find an Estate Planning attorney for seniors who specializes in Elder Law?
Look for an attorney who is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) through the National Elder Law Foundation. You can also check for membership in the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).
When should a senior hire an Elder Law attorney?
The best time is before a health crisis, ideally around age 60 to 65 or at retirement.
An experienced Elder Law attorney can still help even when a loved one is already in a nursing home or needing the nursing home level of care at home. We provide both proactive planning and crisis Medicaid Planning.
What is the difference between Elder Law and Estate Planning?
Estate Planning focuses on what happens to your assets after you pass away. Elder Law covers the legal issues that come up while you are still alive, including Medicaid eligibility, long-term care, disability and special needs planning, guardianship and conservatorship, and veterans benefits.
Most seniors need both, which is why our firm combines them into one integrated plan.
What are common mistakes to avoid in senior Estate Planning?
The most common mistakes are waiting too long, using a generic online template, and failing to plan for long-term care costs. Another frequent error is leaving assets outright (such as through beneficiary designations or a last will and testament) to a disabled child, which can disqualify them from SSI or Medicaid.
Our experienced attorneys here at the Farr Law Firm, P.C., catch these issues before they become expensive problems.