Planning For Comfortable Retirement Years

If you are someone that cares for an aging loved one, parent, or spouse, then you are probably attuned to the challenges that people go through as they get older. Issues such as housing, health care, financial stability, and long-term assistance may come to mind. Understandably, these types of topics can feel overwhelming, but with help from an elder care lawyer who is trained to help you, the tricky waters of planning for the future can suddenly feel much smoother and more tolerable to get through. After all, taking the time now to plan for getting older can be what ultimately makes your or your loved one’s retirement years just that much more comfortable. 

An elder law lawyer, similar to a property lawyer families trust at Silverman Law Office, PLLC, can assist family members in exploring options for their senior loved one’s situation and make a plan for what may happen in the future, particularly if they have a debilitating condition that requires long-term care. The area of elder law consists of many fields, where elder lawyers can help you with:

  • Estate planning
  • Preparing for or avoiding probate
  • Long-term care placement in a nursing home or senior living community
  • Administration of trusts and estates
  • Elder fraud and abuse
  • Social security and Medicare applications and appeals
  • Transfer of assets to prevent financial hardship when senior person is placed into nursing home facility 

Families are often divided on the kind of care they want for their senior parents. They are likely to have strong emotions influencing their decisions one way or another, so a lawyer can provide objective advice based on laws and their individual circumstances. Many senior people prefer to remain in their home, but that may not be the best situation. Your lawyer can provide you with all the options possible to ensure that the path for your senior loved one’s care is planned for and protected. A lawyer can review with you what kind of care may be needed, if the person can remain in their home, or may have to move into an assisting living community. Then they will go over the steps to take to protect assets for an estate while providing funds needed for if or when a senior loved one needs care. 

A lawyer understands that families may be worried about assets and property of an estate, and how they can best go about protecting them as a senior relative ages. When parents start to have a declined health or overall slow down, they are vulnerable to being taken advantage of by people with ill-intentions. By having legally-binding documents that safeguard assets from dishonest people is essential. Your lawyer can also report criminal activity or fraud to halt any further incidents from happening. 

If you think you may need to start planning for your aging loved one’s future, you can do so with support from an elder law lawyer. Not everyone will have your relative’s best interest in mind, but you likely do, so taking action now can make all the difference in how comfortably your senior loved one enjoys their retirement years.