Articles

As professional planners and counselors to our clients, we know a great deal about planning ahead and anticipating future needs.  As an almost steadfast rule, however, we do not truly practice what we preach.  In most cases, we put off our own family’s planning in favor of the work we do for our clients.  This […]

Introduction In a course on the “Essentials of Elder Law,” there can be no more a fundamental, core issue than that of end-of-life health care decision making. The right of a person to manifest his or her own health care destiny does not come from words in the constitutions of either Florida or of the […]

When Rose Baker first came to my elder law attorney office, she had been married to her husband, Joe, for 59 years. They lived their lives together in Massachusetts and retired to South Florida in 1992. When I came out to greet Mrs. Baker in the reading room (we don’t have a “waiting” room), her […]

The Florida Bar Elder Law Section Meeting Draft for practice. Don’t worry about being superfluous. “Schiavo” provision Religious or moral objection 7-day transfer provision Shield of Liability Enumerate important, controversial or oft-used rights even when granted by statutory default. For example: “Access to my Records: My Surrogate shall have all authority to access all of […]

Summary More than a year after full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), this article summarizes the ACA’s fundamental consumer components and covers the state of the law, what has been learned over the last year, and how it affects the Special Needs and Elder Law practice. The ACA changes the […]

The Small Print: This is an article on a fast-changing and complicated area of the law. The reader should not rely upon any information in this article as legal advice relative to a specific person or issue but rather should consult qualified counsel for up-to-date and customized advice and information. I. An Introduction to the […]

Provisioning the Caregivers: Caregivers who are armed with good information on how to locate, maintain and finance long-term care are more successful in achieving a higher quality of life for their loved ones. Multidisciplinary Action: No one professional can develop the caregiving battle plan. A collaboration of professionals is necessary but traditional referral relationships are […]

You, as a competent adult, have the right to make your own health care decisions. But how can you make your own decisions if you become incapacitated? This is where legal documents, including living wills, Health Care Surrogate Designations, Health Care Power of Attorneys, and Health Care Advance Directives, come in. These documents should put […]

When meeting an Elder Law Lawyer for the first time it is hard to know what you need to know. We assembled the most important questions here.   1. Can my loved one sign legal documents even with dementia? Can my loved one sign legal documents even with dementia?  It depends. (How’s that for a […]

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities can be very expensive but there are ways to make your long-term care dollars stretch. There are three primary methods of paying for nursing homes or assisted living facilities: Private-paying with ones own dollars; Using insurance that covers some or all of the cost of long-term care and Need-Based […]