The Difference Between Elder Law and Estate Planning
Elder law and estate planning serve two different--but equally vital--functions. The main difference is that elder law is focused on preserving your assets during your lifetime, while estate planning concentrates on what happens to your assets after you die.
Posted on December 17, 2021
Elder law planning is concerned with ensuring that seniors live long, healthy, and financially secure lives. It usually involves anticipating future medical needs, including long-term care. Elder law attorneys can help you develop a plan to pay for future care while preserving some of your assets. They can also assist you with qualifying for Medicaid or other benefits to pay for long-term care. In addition, elder law planning can ensure that you are protected from elder abuse or exploitation when you get older or become incapacitated. Finally, elder law covers assistance with guardianship and conservatorship, if needed.
FREE WEBINAR
5 Things to Know About
Estate Planning
When You Turn Sixty-Five
While elder law is focused on older adults, estate planning is for everyone of all ages. Estate planning attorneys help you determine what will happen to your assets after you die. Estate planners use wills and trusts to make sure your wishes are carried out after you are gone. Your estate plan can also include naming a guardian for your young children or provisions for pets. In addition, estate planners can help you avoid probate and save on estate taxes.
Estate plans can change as your circumstances change, so it is important to keep revisiting your estate plan over the years. For example, marriages, divorces, births, and deaths, as well as changes in finances, can all call for updates to your estate plan.
To get started on your estate plan or elder law planning, contact us by clicking here.
More from our blog…
Capacity Requirements for Executing Estate Planning Documents
Proper execution of a legal instrument requires that the person signing have sufficient mental "capacity" to understand the implications of the document. While most people [...]
What You Should Know About Long-Term Care
Research shows that roughly one in seven adults aged 65 or older will need long-term care at some point in their later years. Meanwhile, tens of millions [...]
Understanding Medicaid: What Does Medicaid Cover?
In the complex and frequently changing landscape of health care in the United States, Medicaid stands out as a vital program. Since 1965, it has [...]
Elder Financial Abuse: How an Elder Law Attorney Can Help
Elder financial abuse is a significant issue affecting many older adults nationwide. It involves someone exploiting or misusing an older person’s finances or assets for [...]
Recent blog posts
FREE WEBINAR
5 Things to Know About
Estate Planning
When You Turn Sixty-Five