Questions & Answers When Looking For an Elder Law Attorney
Elder Law Attorneys are a very specialized field dealing with the legal problems that affect the elderly. It is important for attorneys dealing with the elderly to have an understanding of the laws that may have an impact on a given situation, to avoid future problems.
Elder Law encompasses many different fields of law. Most Elder Law attorneys do not specialize in every one of these areas. So when an attorney says he/she practices Elder Law, find out which of these matters he/she handles. You will want to hire the attorney who regularly handles matters in the area of concern in your particular case and who will know enough about the other fields to question whether the action being taken might be affected by laws in any of the other areas of law on the list. Some of these include:
- Preservation/transfer of assets seeking to avoid spousal impoverishment when a spouse enters a nursing home.
- Medicaid and Medicare claims and appeals.
- Social security and disability claims and appeals.
- Supplemental and long term health insurance issues.
- Disability planning, including use of durable powers of attorney, living trusts, "living wills," for financial management and health care decisions, and other means of delegating management and decision-making to another in case of incompetency or incapacity.
- Conservatorships and guardianships.
- Estate planning, including planning for the management of one's estate during life and its disposition on death through the use of trusts, wills and other planning documents.
- Probate.
- Administration and management of trusts and estates.
- Long-term care placements in nursing home and life care communities.
- Nursing home issues including questions of patients' rights and nursing home quality.
- Elder abuse and fraud recovery cases.
- Housing issues, including discrimination and home equity conversions.
- Age discrimination in employment.
- Retirement, including public and private retirement benefits, survivor benefits and pension benefits.
- Health law.
- Mental health law.
Questions To Ask ...
Ask lots of questions before selecting an attorney. It is not unusual to speak first to a secretary, receptionist or office manager during an initial call or before actually meeting with the attorney. If so, ask this person your questions.
- How long has the attorney been in practice?
- Does his/her practice emphasize a particular area of law?
- How long has he/she been in this field?
- What percentage of his/her practice is devoted to elder law?
- Is there a fee for the first consultation and if so, how much is it?
- Given the nature of your problem, What information should you bring with you to the initial consultation?
The answers to your questions will assist you in determining whether that particular attorney has those qualifications important to you for a successful attorney/client relationship. If you have a specific legal issue that requires immediate attention, be sure to inform the office of this during the initial telephone conversation.
Once You Have Found An Attorney
When you have found an appropriate attorney, make an appointment to see him/her. During the initial consultation, you will be asked to give the attorney an overview of the reason you are seeking assistance, so be sure to organize and bring all the information pertinent too your situation.
After you have explained your situation, ask:
- What will it take to resolve it?
- Are there any alternative courses of action?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of each possibility?
- How many attorneys are in the office?
- Who will handle your case?
- Has that attorney handled matters of this kind in the past?
- If a trial may be involved, does he/she do trial work? If not, who does the trial work? If so, how many trials has he/she handled?
- Is that attorney a member of the local bar association, its health advocacy committee, or trust and estates committee?
- Is that attorney a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys?
- How are fees computed?
- What is his/her estimate of the cost to resolve your problem and how long will it take?
Fees
There are many different ways of charging fees and each attorney will choose to work differently. You will also want to know how often he/she bills. Some attorneys bill weekly, some bill monthly, some bill upon completion of work. If you don't understand, ask again. It is very important that you feel comfortable in this area.
Some attorneys charge by the hour with different hourly rates for work performed by attorneys, paralegals and secretaries. Other attorneys charge a flat fee for all or part of the services. This is not unusual, for example, if you are having documents prepared. Your attorney might use a combination of these billing methods.
Most attorneys will charge you out-of-pocket expenses which typically include charges for copies, postage, messenger fees, court fees, disposition fees, long distance telephone calls and other such costs.
The attorney may ask for a retainer. This is money paid before the attorney starts working on your case. It is usually placed in a trust account and each time the attorney bills you, he/she pays himself or herself out of that account. Expenses may be paid directly from the trust account. The size of the retainer may range from a small percentage of the estimated cost to the full amount.
This information is based on the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys website: www.naela.org.
For a free copy of the association’s brochure, Questions and Answers When Looking For An Elder Law Attorney, send a stamped self-addressed business sized envelope to:
NAELA Q & A
1577 Spring Hill Road, Suite 220
Vienna, VA 22182