Do you know what elder law means? Most New Jersey families do not. Elder law is a subspecialty of estate law. The main difference is that elder law serves older Americans while estate planning answers the needs of the whole family and the estate.
Do you need elder law assistance? Many families have yet to learn the value of elder law advocacy combined with traditional estate planning. Most senior citizens can benefit from professional guidance when creating a plan to protect their assets, health, lifestyle and family members.
What do elder law advocates do?
Generally, they protect elders from the effects of adverse life events while helping them preserve the assets obtained in their lifetime. They also offer guidance in creating or updating a plan with elder law documents addressing:
- Advance healthcare directives. To guide family members, caregivers and medical professionals in the care elders need and want as they age.
- Powers of attorney. To ensure that elder financial affairs remain secure when they can no longer address their finances themselves.
- Long-term care planning. To minimize taxes and other economic hardships that eat away at the funds needed to pay for long-term care.
- Medicaid planning. To ensure that any assets held by elders do not disqualify them from public assistance programs like Medicaid.
- Trust planning. To further protect elder assets from taxes and other financial hardships while providing for their heirs and beneficiaries.
Elder law advocates are unique (compared to other estate professionals) because they understand the economic and medical issues affecting senior citizens. If you are an aging resident or want to protect your elder from hardships, we recommend increasing your knowledge of New Jersey estate planning and elder law.
