Reprinted March 2002

As many of you know through our previous issues, we frequently use this term "elder law attorney." We thought a little refresher might be good for all of us.

A common question is what is an elder law attorney? It is someone who handles matters for older or disabled persons along with their families and sometimes friends. The elder law attorney looks at the whole picture of the family dynamics, the mental and physical health of the individuals involved, the financial situation of the individual as well as the rest of the family. While devising a plan for a particular situation, all matters are considered. What is good for one situation isn’t necessarily good for another.

In addition to health care surrogates, powers of attorney, living wills, wills, trusts, an elder law attorneys might be involved in long term care planning, tax issues, different kinds of trusts, guardianships, Medicare, Medicaid, and nursing home problems.

Frequently, the attorney’s office sends out a questionnaire to be completed prior to the appointment. The questionnaire would include information on the family, income, assets and debts. Of course, the more complete information the attorney has, the better he or she can advise the clients. Again, usually the sooner a plan is developed, the easier it is to complete. More and more, our office is seeing people planning for several years ahead.

Several years ago, The Florida Bar recognized Elder Law as an area in which attorneys could become board certified. In addition, there is the National Elder Law Foundation through which attorneys may also be certified. To have each of the certified designations, the attorney must pass a test, have positive recommendations by fellow elder law attorneys, and have been in practice a certain number of years. To keep these certifications, the attorneys must be re-certified periodically. As it happens, Ray has both certifications.