Do You Need a Branson Elder Lawyer?

As people become older, there are certain things that require planning now to make sure the road ahead stays smooth. This is particularly so when it comes to your finances or your health care. 

For example, while you’re in good health now, there’s no way to predict what might happen when you’re older. Knowing that you’ve planned for the situation can make all the difference if you become disabled, or need to pay the costs of long-term care in the future. 

What is Elder Law?

Elder law is the area of law that addresses the needs of aging individuals. An elder lawyer will help you deal with many of the issues that can arise as you get older. Their experience in elder law means they can help you plan now for any number of eventualities that might occur when you’re older.

Whether it’s dealing with long-term care or protecting your assets, making these difficult decisions now with the help of a Branson elder lawyer can make all the difference years down the road. 

Long-Term Care

There’s no way of knowing if you’ll stay in good health when you’re older. But if you do need long-term care, those costs can significantly erode your assets if you haven’t proactively planned for this eventuality 

For example, if Medicaid eligibility is important to you, proper elder law planning can help you meet Medicaid eligibility thresholds while still making sure you preserve your assets for your loved ones after your death. 

Estate Planning

Estate planning encompasses many areas that form a core part of elder law. A robust estate plan can help you deal with many of the potential issues that can arise as you get older.

Disability planning. Tragedy can strike at any time, leaving you unable to make decisions about your health care or your finances. But with the proper documents prepared ahead of time to deal with such a situation — such as powers of attorney — you can rest a little bit easier knowing that you’ll have someone stepping in to make those important decisions if you’re not able to.

Advance directives. Unfortunately, tragedies can do more than leave you disabled. With an advance directive, you can outline specific health care choices you want to be made in the event you don’t have the capacity to make end-of-life care choices.

Wills and probate. You want your wealth to go to your loved ones in the event of your death, but without the proper documents such as a will, you run the risk of your assets being eroded before they can be transferred into your beneficiaries’ hands. 

Probate is a process that your estate needs to go through after your death so that your assets can go to your beneficiaries. But probate is both expensive and time-consuming. Proper estate planning can help you work toward the goal of avoiding probate.

A Branson Elder Lawyer Can Help

With the right elder law assistance from an experienced elder lawyer, you can move forward into the future confident that you’ve acted proactively to deal with any issues that might arise as you get older. Contact a Branson elder lawyer at LifeGen Law Group today about what an elder lawyer can do for you.