Florida Elder Law
Making the right decisions for the people you love requires education and information about what your family would experience if you faced extended long-term care needs. Preparing for these costs can help preserve your money, assets, and income for potential long-term care services while you are still living, not just asset distribution and tax advantages for family members after your death.
If you or a loved one are making financial decisions on behalf of a senior, you may be unaware of complex laws that have legal consequences. Our experienced Florida elder law attorney, Chioma Deere, in Palm Beach County, FL, can help you navigate long-term care costs without jeopardizing assets or eligibility for Medicaid benefits.
Life Care Planning (Florida Long-term Care)
People are living longer, and families are finding that long-term care expenses can risk ongoing financial success. Fortunately, you can prepare for these costs by assessing your estate and reorganizing assets. Long-term care planning prepares you for the high cost of different health care services, such as in-home and nursing home care. Rising prices may greatly impact your savings, retirement funds, and assets you plan to pass down to your family.
At Deere Law Firm, we create a Life Care Planning strategy based on the resources you currently have and determine if public benefits programs may help cover the costs of care. It can prepare caretakers for guardianship of elderly family members if they are unable to make financial and medical decisions or make plans to provide for adult children with special needs who may rely on them for support. At Deere Law Firm, we educate and empower you to make decisions about finances, medical preferences, and caretaking options. Collaborating with us helps you determine the level and quality of health care services available should you need in-home or nursing home care in areas like West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Lake Worth, Wellington, Boynton Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, and Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Special Needs Planning
Planning for special needs in Florida is important for anyone who has a disability or who has a family member with a disability who will need long-term or ongoing care. This type of planning protects everyone involved to help ensure that a disabled person's needs are met, their government benefits are preserved, and the proper financial and legal protection is in place.
Medicaid Planning in Florida
Medicaid is a federal and state program with rules that vary from state to state. You'll want an elder law attorney familiar with Florida's Medicaid rules. Don't worry that you don't meet the household income or asset level to qualify for care. There are legal strategies that create a proactive plan to qualify for benefits when you need them. Utilizing Medicaid proactive planning, Deere Law Firm evaluates your current financial resources and determines the best way to preserve assets from being used to pay for medical costs. Because Florida Medicaid has a five-year lookback period, we want to begin planning at least five years before the need for benefits.
Florida Asset Protection
Deere Law Firm can develop a trust to protect your assets. There are many types of trusts that serve a variety of purposes, including sheltering assets from creditors and lawsuits, reducing tax liability, saving for retirement, and passing your wealth to the next generation.
An asset protection trust can be designed to prepare for your potential health care needs by transferring assets into the trust and reducing the countable assets used to determine Medicaid eligibility. It can also provide protection from the Medicaid recovery program, which is the state’s attempt to collect on previous health care costs after your death.
GUARDIAN ADVOCATE
Guardian Advocacy is a legal process through which parents, family members, or friends of individuals with a developmental disability can obtain the legal authority to act on a loved one’s behalf. If you need to seek guardianship, Deere Law Firm can support you through the guardian advocacy proceeding. We gather the necessary documents and diagnoses to meet state criteria and represent you in court to ensure the process goes as smoothly and quickly as possible.
What is Medicaid Crisis Planning?
Unexpected accidents and illnesses may prevent you from being proactive about long-term care costs. If you find yourself in a crisis and a move to nursing home care is imminent, your options are much more limited for care. But Deere Law Firm offers professional advice and guidance throughout the Medicaid qualification process for the best possible outcome. With our help, you can focus on helping your loved ones through a challenging time.
CALL US TODAY TO HELP WITH ELDER LAW AND LIFE PLANNING
At Deere Law Firm, we provide wills, trusts, estate planning, elder law, and probate services tailored to today’s digital age. We partner with you to create customized and thorough estate plans to protect you, your assets, and your loved ones. If you need long-term care planning, Medicaid planning, special needs planning, or guardianship, visit us at our Palm Beach office location or email us at
info@deere-law.com. Our firm serves Palm Beach and surrounding areas, such as West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Lake Worth, Wellington, Boynton Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, and Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Call us today at (561) 515-4376
1645 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd, Suite 1200, West Palm Beach, FL 33401