What Elder Law Covers
Elder law coordinates the legal, financial, and care-planning issues that often arise with aging, disability, incapacity, and long-term care. It includes estate planning, powers of attorney and advance directives, Medicaid and Veterans pension planning, guardianship and conservatorship, Special Needs Trusts, and estate and trust administration.
At Farr Law Firm, these subjects are organized through four primary Lifetime Protection Planning Levels®. The appropriate level depends on health, care needs, family circumstances, assets, and timing.
Level 1: Incapacity Planning
Level 1 is “Incapacity Planning” — done to avoid the disastrous legal and financial consequences that often accompany incapacity. Level 1 Incapacity protection lays the foundation for all of our higher levels of planning and is often the starting point for new clients because it provides the simplest, quickest, and least costly way to become a client of the Farr Law Firm.
Level 2: Estate Planning
Level 2 is “Estate Planning” — planning for the orderly distribution of your assets at death through Wills, Trusts, and other legal mechanisms. Learn more about estate planning for seniors.
Level 3: Advance Asset-Protection Planning
Level 3 is our proprietary Living Trust Plus® Asset Protection Trust, designed to protect your assets from probate PLUS lawsuits PLUS the disastrous financial consequences of nursing home care. The Living Trust Plus® provides general asset protection immediately upon funding and Medicaid asset protection five years after funding. You are a candidate for Level 3 Planning provided you are living independently and have no significant health problems that are likely to require nursing home care within the next five years. For more information about Living Trust Plus®, learn more about the Living Trust Plus®.
Level 4: Benefits-Focused Asset Protection and Life Care Planning
Level 4 is our Benefits-Focused Asset Protection, which provides comprehensive Medicaid Asset Protection and Life Care Planning for a year at a time, including completion and filing of the Medicaid application and all documents and actions required to obtain Medicaid. If appropriate, Level 4 includes Veterans Benefits Planning and the filing of a Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension application at no charge. Under Level 4, the Farr Law Firm is on retainer to provide all necessary and appropriate asset protection planning and research, asset protection documents; asset protection strategies, advice, and expertise; and all other services necessary to achieve the appropriate and desired goals. Level 4 includes unlimited consultations between you and our attorneys and staff as necessary to design and implement an asset protection plan consistent with your needs, goals, and desires, and to carry out the plan to completion prior to our filing for Medicaid and/or Veterans Pension benefits. Learn more about Medicaid planning and asset protection and VA Aid and Attendance planning.
Additional Elder Law Services
Add-on Elder Law Services: In addition to the Four Levels of Lifetime Protection Planning described above, there are several situations that necessitate additional methods. For example, if you have a beneficiary with Special Needs, you should generally add a Special Needs Trust to your Level 2 or Level 3 Planning. If you have an extremely high net worth, we may recommend that additional trusts be added to Level 2 or Level 3 to minimize estate taxes, accomplish charitable goals, or both; examples of additional tax-avoidance trusts we offer include Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, and Charitable Lead Trusts. If you have significant wealth inside of a Qualified Retirement Plan, beneficiary-designation trust planning may be appropriate. Retirement-account rules and the available distribution periods should be evaluated under current law.
Other Elder Law Services: In addition to the Four Levels of Lifetime Protection Planning described above and the add-on services, we also offer the following Elder Law Services:
Special Needs Planning: Assisting families of special needs children with specialized Estate Planning, including the creation of Special Needs Trusts. Click here for more information about Special Needs Planning.
Trust and Estate Administration: Assisting with orderly administration and distribution of a decedent’s trust and/or estate. Click here for more information about Trust and Estate Administration.
Guardianship & Conservatorship: When necessary, we assist clients in connection with obtaining guardianship and conservatorship for adults of all ages with special needs and for incapacitated elders. Learn more about guardianship and conservatorship.
When to Consult an Elder Law Attorney
Families often seek advice after a diagnosis, hospitalization, move to assisted living, nursing-home admission, death, or sudden loss of decision-making capacity. Earlier planning generally provides more options, but crisis planning may still be available. A review should identify who can make decisions, how care will be paid for, which documents control each asset, and how the plan affects a spouse or beneficiary with a disability.