Growing older is a fact of life, and nearly every family in Long Island has senior citizen members near and dear to their hearts. Elder care attorneys can assist you as a senior citizen or a family member to achieve the medical care and financial assistance that you need. There are many valuable services that an elder care attorney in Long Island can provide to help you make difficult decisions.
Finding the Right Attorney
The National Elder Law Foundation certifies all lawyers who specialize in elder care. You can check their certification by contacting the foundation directly or by searching the database of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. You may also want to ask the attorney how long they have been practicing elder law and retrieve their success portfolio of past clients. When it comes to the senior citizen that you love, don’t settle for less than they deserve.
Estate Planning and Living Wills
An elder care attorney can help you file your last will and testament, care for Trusts to be distributed to your family and create a living will for you. A living will determines how your finances will be used, the medical care you will receive and helps your family make difficult decisions such as placing you in a long term care facility or what to do in the event you are put on life support. In the event that you are mentally incapacitated you want to make sure that you receive the best care possible and that your wishes are carried out. They can also help the senior receive government benefits that they were previously denied for, by stepping in as their legal advocate and fighting for those benefits in court.
Long Term Care
It is always a difficult decision to place someone you love in a long term care facility. For the senior it means that their independence as well as their familiar surroundings will be compromised. They will have to leave the home they have come to love and won’t be able to do the things that they have become accustomed to. At these facilities the medical staff is supposed to provide the best medical care and a comfortable environment for them to stay in, possibly for the rest of their lives. Sometimes though our seniors are abused in these facilities and do not receive the care that we believe they should be receiving.
If you have been trying to locate a reputable elder care attorney in Long Island, contact Jaspan Schlesinger LLP. Let their highly trained elder care attorneys assist you in this difficult time. Visit them on the web at Jaspanllp.com or by calling 516-746-8000.
