Elder Law Lawyer Bergen County, NJ
With life expectancy continuing to rise, it’s important to speak to an elder law lawyer in Bergen County, NJ soon. A lawyer can assist you with long-term care planning and protect your future. Here are some common myths about long-term care planning that you shouldn’t believe.
If You Use Medicaid to Pay for Long-term Care, You Can Lose Your House
Some people are reluctant to use Medicaid to cover the costs of long-term care because they think they will lose their home. If you or your spouse continue to live in the house while you’re using Medicaid, your home can’t be taken away from you. However, the state may try to file a claim against your estate after you die to recoup the costs of long-term care.
Medicare Always Pays for Long-term Care
Many individuals 65 and older use Medicare to cover the costs of healthcare. However, unlike popular belief, it will not pay for long-term care. Medicare is intended to cover the costs of short-term care, like rehabilitation.
It’s Too Late to Begin Long-term Care Planning
Seniors who already have health problems and use services like nursing home care may assume that it’s too late to think about long-term care planning. The good news is that this isn’t true. While an elder law lawyer in Bergen County, NJ would advise you to start long-term care planning early, there are still various ways to start later. For instance, you may consider paying off your mortgage and then converting a non-exempt asset into an exempt one.
If You Have Family, You Don’t Need Long-term Care Planning
It’s not wise to assume that your family members will be able to take care of you full-time should you come down with a serious illness. They might move far away or be too busy with work and family obligations. Additionally, being a caregiver can be extremely stressful. You don’t want to put that kind of burden on your family members. If you start planning for long-term care, it will be better for everyone.
Your Savings Can Cover Long-term Care Costs
If you’ve made a good living most of your life and have substantial savings, you might think that you can cover the cost of long-term care yourself. However, if you come down with a severe illness or injury, it can eat up a large portion of your savings. It’s a better option to invest in long-term care planning right now.
To find out more about long-term care planning, contact an elder law lawyer in Bergen County, NJ from Kaplan Law Practice today.
How Else Can An Elder Law Lawyer Help Me?
While most people typically think of an elder law lawyer as just dealing with medicare and medicaid, this isn’t the case. There are many other areas that our loved ones need legal support and protection. An elder law lawyer can help you with necessities such as estate planning, unpleasant and painful situations such as elder abuse, and challenges such as workplace discrimination. For the best outcome, you will want to hire an experienced elder law lawyer Bergen County, NJ community members trust. Call Kaplan Law Practice, LLC now to set up a free and confidential consultation to talk about how we can support you in your time of need.
Estate Planning
It is hard to think about, but we will all die one day. While dying is the end of one life, it leaves many challenges for those that remain unless there are good directives for loved ones to follow. Estate planning is essential for making sure that your assets are given to those you care about most. If you do not have a well written will in place, the courts may end up deciding how your estate is divided. You may assume that because you are married, or have children, that they will receive your inheritance, but this isn’t always the case. A business partner or extended family member may come in and contest that they should receive a share of your estate. Furthermore, not having a plan can lead your family and friends to bicker over who gets what. But you can remove all of that hassle by sitting down with a lawyer, who will help you create a will that will stand up in a court of law and give you the power of deciding where your assets go.
Fighting Ageism
When we think of discrimination, race and gender often come to mind first. Yet with an increasingly large portion of the workforce growing older, ageism is on the rise. If you believe you have been passed up for a promotion, receive a worse workload because of your age, were or let go of your position because of your age, you can seek damages from your employer. Speaking with a knowledgeable elder law lawyer in Bergen County, NJ from a firm like Kaplan Law Practice, LLC can help answer your questions about whether you have been discriminated against. Many times there is a pattern and you can document discrimination through emails, recordings, and other means. A lawyer will ask you questions and gather evidence of the discrimination to support your case.
Elder Abuse
Our elders are often an overlooked portion of the population that suffers from abuse because they rely on others for their care. Abuse doesn’t only take place in a nursing home, although it certainly can. Elders can suffer from abuse in their home from family members, friends, and providers they rely on. If you think you or a loved one is being abused, don’t wait any longer. Sit down with a Bergen County, NJ elder law lawyer Kaplan Law Practice, LLC today to discuss your case and protect your loved one in a time of need.
If you need an elder law Lawyer in Bergen county NJ and you haven’t considered Kaplan Law Practice it’s time you did. For most people, life expectancy keeps getting longer. Because there are often more health challenges as you age, you’ll want to be as sure as you can be that ill health expenses can be handled without devastating your estate and your family with huge expenses. And in fact, elder law really began as a specialty with the average length of life began to increase significantly.[1]
Long Term Care
The real issue often becomes both the cost and the availability of long-term care. Let’s start with a definition of long term care. First of all, understand there is no exact definition. It depends on where you live and the definition used by any insurance you may have. It’s often contrasted with short term, which again has no specific definition.
Mostly though your common sense will help you figure this out. If for instance you need an in-home nurse for months or you move to some sort of a medical facility for months or even until you die, you’re dealing with a long term card.
How an Elder Care Lawyer Will Benefit You
The best reason in the world to consult with an elder care attorney is so they can help you understand the various laws around Medicare, Medicaid, your current health insurance, and the possibility of procuring long-term care insurance.
Unfortunately there is a ton of confusing information, misunderstanding and myths about elder care. It’s complex and it’s easy to make a mistake. You want to talk with a respected practitioner of Elder Law Lawyer Bergen County NJ. The Kaplan Law practice considers elder law one of its special practice areas.
Medicaid
Medicaid is probably the most misunderstood benefit for seniors there is. The program is run by your state, in this case New Jersey. It’s administered by the county you live in and its available to all who qualify.
Probably the most important program provided for the elderly through Medicaid is what’s known as ‘institutional Medicaid.’ This provides general health coverage and coverage for nursing home services.
Although you can apply for Medicaid without a lawyer, one with experience in Medicaid like the Kaplan Law practice can often help protect your assets when using these benefits. Generally, they will help you in four areas:
- Analysis of your assets
- Review of any existing estate plan
- Suggesting the use of trusts and other instruments of planning to reduce your liability.
- The use of special and supplemental trusts to protect the disabled
How to Get Started
In a very real sense it’s never too early to get started with planning when it comes to elder law issues.
The easiest way to begin is to fill out the ‘Begin your case evaluation’ you’ll find on the right hand side of most of the pages on our web site. If you prefer, you’ll also find our phone numbers above that form. Or you can go to our contact page which also has the Begin your case evaluation email form, our phone numbers and the location of our various offices.
If you need help from an elder law lawyer in Bergen County NJ, the Kaplan Law Practice is an excellent place to begin.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_law_(United_States)#History