ELDER LAW
David K. Lauritzen, P.C. specializes in the area of Elder Law.
This area of practice focuses on advising and assisting older clients
and, to a lesser extent, helping the families of older persons in a number
of different areas, which impact the elderly. The purpose of this advice
and assistance is to help the older client to accomplish his/her specific
objectives and to maximize and preserv4e his/her assets and estate. There
are several different ways in which an older person’s assets and
estate can be reduced during life or at the time of his/her death, including,
but not limited to, poor retirement planning, poor asset management, medical
costs, long-term care costs, income taxes, estate taxes, inheritance taxes,
probate costs, attorneys’ fees, litigation costs and certain other
contingencies.
An attorney and client should make appropriate decisions regarding medical costs, long-terms care, retirement and tax elections and make sure the client’s planning instruments and other documents are drafted and/or modified to implement those decisions. In addition to the planning documents, specific language addressing retirement issues would be considered.
While Elder Law includes areas of legal practice in “Estate Planning,” it also includes several other significant areas including public benefits, administrative law, health care decisions, retirement issues, housing, insurance, consumer fraud and other issues regarding capacity.
The National Academy of Elder Law Foundation lists thirteen (13) different categories of legal knowledge and issues, which the Foundation expects specialized attorneys to understand. These thirteen (13) categories include: Health and Personal Care Planning, Pre-Mortem Legal Planning, Fiduciary Representation, Legal Capacity Counseling, Public Benefits, Insurance Matters, Resident Rights Advocacy, Housing counseling, Employment and Retirement Advice, Income, Estate and Gift Tax Advice, Tort Claims Counseling, Age/Disability Discrimination and Litigation and Administrative Advocacy. Seeking the advice of an attorney with experience is a must since there are so many variables and issues to consider.
