Wake Forest Elder Law Attorney
Our elder care attorneys at Brady Cobin Law Group, PLLC take a broad approach to helping individuals and families handle the many issues that arise as people get older —issues such as financial security, long-term care and housing.
At Brady Cobin Law Group, our mission is to honor the life, work and charity of each client by the quality of the legal services we provide. We are a small law firm with offices in Wake Forest and Raleigh. We measure success by the quality of the legal services we provide rather than the quantity of clients we serve. Let us answer your long-term care questions and help you get started.
How Can Our Wake Forest Elder Care Attorneys Help You?
Our Wake Forest elder law attorneys at Brady Cobin Law Group, PLLC can assist you in determining the plans you need to have in place to have peace of mind about the future.
Our attorneys will:
- Be sure your wishes are set forth clearly in the event you become incapacitated
- Put in place financial arrangements for your long-term care needs
- Protect your loved ones and the assets you’ve spent a lifetime acquiring
Our compassionate attorneys have experience handling a broad range of elder care matters including:
- Health care planning
- Long-term care planning
- Veterans’ benefits
- Crisis planning
- Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security planning
- Estate planning
As we get older, health issues are more likely to arise. It’s good to look ahead with experienced legal counsel and have plans in place to safeguard against the unexpected.
Regardless of the issue you are facing, or the type of planning needed, our knowledgeable elder law attorneys are ready to offer trusted guidance. Our attorneys focus their practice on elder law and estate planning in Wake Forest and throughout Wake County.
The Importance of Advance Medical Directives and Long-term Care Planning
Everyone hopes to stay healthy physically and mentally so they can make sound decisions about their health and finances until the end of their lives. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Health problems often accompany advances in age. Even if you are healthy now, life can change suddenly. A serious car accident, a stroke or a medical emergency can leave an individual incapacitated or infirm and unable to oversee their health care.
An advance health care directive is a legal document that gives written instructions about the type of medical care and end of life care you want if you become incapacitated. It tells your family what to do for you if you cannot speak for yourself. The advance health care directive is not activated except in situations where you cannot speak for yourself or make your wishes known. You can cancel it at any time.
Living Will—A living will is a type of advance medical directive. A living will can specify what life-extending extraordinary measures you wish to be taken on your behalf and which measures you wish to decline. This can prevent disputes between family members about whether to connect an incapacitated loved one to a feeding tube or a ventilator. A living will is also referred to as a treatment directive.
Health Care Power of Attorney—Using this type of advance medical directive, you can designate a person who you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf including end-of-life decisions if you are incapacitated. These are difficult decisions, and you should choose a person as your health care proxy that you trust to make important decisions and who is comfortable assuming the role. A medical power of attorney can be a complex legal document to craft, so you should work with a knowledgeable elder care attorney.
As long as you are able to speak for yourself, the advance care directive is not used. If the need arises and you don’t have an advance medical directive in place, then a person other than your family member may make decisions about what type of care you receive. A doctor or a judge may make those decisions.
What to Consider When Making a Long-term Care Plan
Long-term care entails a range of services intended to meet a person’s health care and personal care needs for an extended period of time. More than two-thirds of Americans older than 65 will need long-term care, the American Association for Retired Persons says. You can never know whether you’ll need long-term care. But the best time to plan for long-term care is before you need it.
The need for long-term care typically increases with age and family history. People with early stage dementia or Alzheimer’s disease should undertake long-term care planning as soon as possible. People who have serious health conditions, disabilities or a sudden disabling event such as a heart attack or stroke may need long-term care.
By planning ahead for long-term care, you will have time to understand the services available in the Wake Forest area and anticipated costs. Long-term care may be provided at home by family members or through home-based services. It also may involve services at an assisted living center or nursing home.
Some people assume incorrectly that after they start receiving Medicare benefits, that will cover their long-term care expenses. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The cost of a private nursing home room in North Carolina is $7,711 a month. Medicare may pay for a nursing home room for a few months. But Medicare generally doesn’t cover long-term care. You’ll need other resources.
People may turn a variety of sources to pay for long-term care, including:
- Savings and retirement accounts
- Pensions
- Medicaid, which is the largest payer of long-term care services
- Long-term care insurance
- Veterans benefits
It’s important to have a plan for affording long-term care. Our elder care planning attorneys can help you consider options and develop a plan based on your individual needs and finances.
Planning for Special Needs
If an aging adult has a special need, he or she may require a higher level of care. The financial concerns of paying for this enhanced care should be considered and planned for carefully.
Creating a special needs trust may be an appropriate step to address the long-term needs of a disabled person and protect the individual’s eligibility for need-based federal programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income.
People with special needs including cognitive and physical disabilities may need to have a decision maker designated to make medical and financial decisions on their behalf. This can be accomplished by designating a power of attorney or through the establishment of a conservatorship. A conservatorship, appointed by a court, can allow decisions to be made on behalf of a special needs individual who is not competent to act on their own behalf.
The best time to plan for an adult with special needs is as soon as possible. This is a complex area of law. It important to work with a qualified elder care attorney who handles special needs trusts.
Wake Forest Elder Law Attorneys at Your Service
Our Wake Forest elder law attorneys are available to answer your questions about long-term care planning and related issues. We will help you focus on the big picture as we concentrate on handling the details. Contact the elder law lawyers at Brady Cobin Law Group, PLLC in Wake Forest to set up a preliminary discussion about your needs today.
If you have a question or concern about a medical care directive, a health care power of attorney, long-term care or another elder law matter, contact a knowledgeable attorney at Brady Cobin Law Group, PLLC. Our office is located at 1760-103 Heritage Center in Wake Forest, NC, today.
To schedule a consultation, please reach out to us at 919-355-9141 or contact us online.