Elder Law

Elder law is an area of law that spans over several fields of law that deals with the legal needs of individuals as they age toward the end of their life.

Whether it’s estate planning, retirement planning, or even nursing home abuse our team can help you plan for the inevitable and ensure you and your family are financially and emotionally secure.

Elder law is an area of law that spans over several fields of law that deals with the legal needs of individuals as they age toward the end of their life. Questions that older individuals often have are as follows:

• Where am I going to live?
• Who will care for me?
• How will I pay for that care?
• What happens if I become incompetent?
• How can I take care of my family and loved ones when I pass?

Elder Law addresses these questions by focusing on the following areas:

• Estate Planning
• Estate administration
• Medicaid Planning
• Retirement Planning
• Business Succession Planning
• Agency—Power of Attorney & Guardianship
• Estate Litigation, and
• Nursing Home Malpractice
• Estate Planning

Although it is an unpleasant reality, no one lives forever. Thus, it is simply prudent to plan for the inevitable so that you have the comfort of knowing your loved ones are going to be cared for when you can no longer do so.

First, what is estate planning? Estate planning is the process of reviewing one’s assets and making a plan for the transfer of the estate after one’s death. An estate is a person’s assets, which includes all individuals real and personal property. Real property is composed of all interests in land, for example, your home (if you own it), a leasehold estate, or a time-share. Personal property is composed of all other moveable property an individual owns, for example, cars, jewelry, precious metal, coins, artwork, clothing, furniture, etc.

Estate planning looks to see how these items are to be transferred, to whom they are to be transferred, and the best manner of transferring them in order to preserve their maximum value for the beneficiary within the intent of the decedent. Estate planning also focuses on asset protection and the use of trusts as an instrument to control and protect assets for your loved ones after you have passed.

The Rutala Law Group can aid you and your family in the development of a plan that will achieve the goals that you want to protect your family after your gone. The Rutala Law Group can develop the wills and trusts that will preserve our intentions for the property and protect the interests of your loved ones.

Estate Administration

This is the practical function of distributing the estate in accordance with the testator’s intent. Under estate administration, the property of the decedent is accounted for and appraised, the taxes are paid, and the property is distributed in accordance with the Estate Plan.

Medicaid Planning

When you are approaching an age where you realize that you may need help in the not so far future or that you may need to have assisted living, it is also time to look at your assets and decide what you want to do with them. Medicaid has the ability to seize property from individuals who utilize its benefits within five years prior to the accrual of the Medicaid bill. A prudent person can plan to distribute assets during their lifetime in a manner beneficial to them and to their heirs if done appropriately at the right time.

The Rutala Law Group has the ability to evaluate your estate and create an individualized plan on how you should deal with your assets today to preserve those assets to benefit your loved one’s tomorrow.

Business Succession Planning

If you own a business, what happens when you pass. There are a myriad of questions that arise, and the answers these questions are highly dependent on the particular situation of each business. However, the following are some of the questions that arise:

• If I am the sole owner of a business, what happens to it when I pass?
• If I own a business with other partners, how will my death affect the business?
• Will my company or partnership be forced to dissolve upon my death?
• How does my family get paid my value of the company or partnership when I pass?
• Can my children take over the business?

Business Succession Planning helps answer these questions by thoroughly reviewing the business and creating options. Thus, when the time comes, it is a simple easy transition that secures your family, partners, and employees.

The Rutala Law Group has the corporate understanding to review your business and assist you in making a plan for an easy transition.

Agency

Agency deals with having other people represent you in making binding decisions on your behalf. In the case of elder law, this comes into play with Powers of Attorney, Advanced Directives/Living Will, and Guardianship.

A Power of Attorney gives another person the power to make a variety of different types of decisions for you. They can be broad and encompass all possible financial decisions or paired down to grant specific, limited powers.

An Advanced Directive, sometimes called a Living Will, is a written, legal instruction regarding an individual’s preference for medical care when they are unable or incompetent to make the decision themselves. They can guide a medical professional or physician in their decision making where an individual is seriously injured, in a coma, terminally ill, in late-stage dementia, or near the end of life. Related to this is a Medical or health care power of attorney. This is a form of an advanced directive that names an individual to make decisions for them.

In order to be valid, a Power of Attorney or Advanced Directive must be properly drafted to specifically met the statutory requirements. Failure to do so will result in the unenforceability of the documents. The Rutala Law Group has the expertise to ensure that you have effective planning and documents to execute your intent should it be required.

Guardianship is a court order assigning a third-party to be a fiduciary for an individual who has been deemed to be legally incompetent. They have the ability to make a decision on behalf of the individual. There are times in life where an individual must be deemed incompetent in order to ensure their safety and protect them from exploitation. The Rutala Law Group can assist your family in initiating and litigating these issues.

Estate Litigation

Although in a vast majority of cases, estates are probated and the property is distributed with no problem, there are times when there is a problem. Unfortunately, sometimes when an individual passes or is near death and large sums of money are to be distributed, there are unscrupulous people that come out of the woodwork.

It may be a case of a relative or sibling challenging a will because they do not agree with their share, or it could be an issue of a person exerting undue influence upon a dying person. Another common issue is an executor or administrator that refuses to probate the estate.

When these issues arise, then you have to fight. This is estate litigation. The Rutala Law Group has the litigation experience to stand up for you and zealously pursue the inheritance that you are entitled to or that the beneficiaries are entitled. Whether it is a challenge to the validity of a testamentary document (e.g. a will) or challenging a valid will for undue influence, the Rutala Law Group is steadfast and stalwart in its representation.