When Should You Hire a Portland, Oregon Elder Law Attorney?
Americans are living longer and well past retirement age. With a longer retirement comes a need for legal counsel specific to older Americans. Seniors have unique legal needs, and a Portland, Oregon elder law attorney specializes in those issues. You should consider specifically hiring an elder law attorney if any of the following situations are applicable to you:
You worry about becoming too ill or incapacitated to take care of your affairs.
An elder law attorney can help you utilize tools like living trusts and legal directives so that someone you trust can take over your affairs if you become unable to do so. Your attorney can also help you decide how much power your trustee, power of attorney or healthcare agent should have and who is the best person suited for such roles.
You don’t have children or relatives who can help you manage your affairs should you become incapacitated.
Some seniors rely on relatives or adult children when they’re older to help them with things such as paperwork and advocating for themselves. However, those who don’t have adults who can help them, either because they don’t have family or they don’t have family nearby or capable of helping them, can find an advocate in an elder law attorney. A Portland, Oregon elder law attorney can represent a senior’s interests themselves or help the senior find a third-party to act on his or her behalf.
You worry about how you’ll afford some or all of your care.
Some people can afford the hundreds of thousands of dollars that home health or long-term care costs, while others may have to rely on need-based benefits like Medicaid to pay for care. In between, there is an entire spectrum of Americans who could benefit from such programs, but they must take extra steps in order to qualify. The good news is that an elder law attorney can help seniors legally and ethically reallocate their income and assets so that they can more easily and quickly fall within the Medicaid program guidelines before the need for long-term care arises.
You think you may be victimized due to your age.
Many seniors are worried about being taken advantage of, especially in today’s technological society where scams are more sophisticated than ever. An elder lawyer can help provide peace of mind for the senior by creating a plan to safeguard assets, while also serving as a someone the senior can contact for advice if he or she is unaware of someone’s true intentions.
Getting Help
One thing any Portland, Oregon elder law attorney will tell you is that the sooner you start exploring your options, the better variety of choices you will have in the long run if you experience a significant medial crisis or if you need increased levels of care as a result of aging. If you would like to begin the process of learning about the resources and tools available to you, contact us to schedule an appointment.
If you want to get started on your estate plan, read about our estate planning services and schedule an appointment.
To your family's health + happiness.
~Candice N. Aiston
P.S. Want to get started slowly but surely, naming guardians for your kids? Check out our Guardian Plan kit.
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Candice N. Aiston is an Legal Planning Attorney for Estates + Businesses in the Portland, Oregon area. She helps people to prepare for a lifetime of security, prosperity, and guidance. If you would like to receive her free reports, please visit http://aistonlaw.com/ to sign up. Follow her Facebook page for daily planning tips: https://www.facebook.com/aistonlaw/.