BackSelecting an Alabama Elder Law Attorney
Major Bashinsky, Estate, Elder Law and Tax Attorney.
For more information, he can be reached at 205-313-0999, or visit his website: www.bashinsky.com.
Legal problems that affect the elderly in Alabama are growing in number. Our laws and regulations are becoming more complex. Actions taken by older people with regard to a single matter may have unintended legal effects. It is important for attorneys dealing with the elderly to have a broad understanding of the laws that may have an impact on a given situation, to avoid future problems. An attorney's membership in the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) is a good indication that the attorney devotes a significant amount time to handling our elders' legal issues. NAELA's website is www.naela.com.
Unfortunately, this job is not made easy by the fact that Elder Law encompasses many different fields of law. Some of these include:
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 and administration and management of trusts and estates
- Tax considerations: federal and state income, estate and gift consequences
- Medicaid eligibility and preservation of a family's assets
- Conservatorships and guardianships
- Long-term care planning
- Retirement benefits and distributions, including 401(k)'s and IRA's
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. For example, if you are going to rewrite your will and your spouse is ill, the estate planner needs to know enough about Medicaid to know whether it is an issue with regard to your spouse's inheritance.
Attorneys who primarily work with the elderly bring more to their practice than an expertise in the appropriate area of law. They bring to their practice a knowledge of the elderly that allows them and their staff to ignore the myths relating to aging and the competence of the elderly. At the same time, they will take into account and empathize with some of the true physical and mental difficulties that often accompany the aging process. Their understanding of the afflictions of the aged allows them to determine more easily the difference between the physical versus the mental disability of a client. They are more aware of real life problems, health and otherwise, that tend to crop up as persons age. They are tied into a formal or informal system of social workers, psychologists and other elder care professionals who may be of assistance to you. All of these things will hopefully make you more comfortable when dealing with them and ease your way as you try to resolve your legal problem.