Elder Law

Ohio elder law refers to the practice of law specifically for the protection of the aging and elderly population. Advances in technology are allowing people to live longer than ever before, which means that the population demographics are quickly shifting to reflect a dramatic increase in aging and elderly people. The same technology that is helping these individuals live longer is also used to create other technologies that may be used against them, resulting in elder abuse and exploitation, both physically and financially. Additionally, a longer lifespan means more time for individuals to begin to decline physically or mentally and require expensive long-term care. As a result, aging adults must consider legal issues such as Medicaid planning, Medicare eligibility, long-term care planning, estate planning, asset protection, crisis planning, healthcare decisions, and more. At Rhodium Law, we have experience on both a personal and professional level with these types of needs. We are prepared to assist you in considering your elder law needs with dignity while also ensuring that you are as fully legally protected as possible.

Elder law is becoming increasingly crucial as the demographics of our population shift dramatically. With advances in healthcare and technology, people are living longer than ever before. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030, all baby boomers will be age 65 or older, which means one in every five residents will be at retirement age . This growing aging population brings with it unique legal challenges that elder law addresses.

Statistics show that nearly 70% of people aged 65 and older will require some form of long-term care in their lifetime . Long-term care can encompass a range of services, from in-home assistance with daily activities to full-time care in nursing homes. Planning for these eventualities is essential not only to ensure that individuals receive the care they need but also to protect their assets from being depleted by long-term care costs.

Elder law encompasses a variety of important legal areas including estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianship, and elder abuse prevention. Estate planning ensures that an individual's assets are distributed according to their wishes and can include the creation of wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. Medicaid planning helps individuals qualify for Medicaid benefits without impoverishing themselves. Guardianship involves the legal process of appointing someone to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person. Finally, elder law attorneys are crucial in identifying and preventing elder abuse and exploitation, providing a legal recourse for victims.

The importance of elder law cannot be overstated as it provides the necessary framework to navigate the complexities of aging. With a growing aging population, the demand for specialized legal services will continue to rise. Ensuring that seniors and their families are well-prepared for the future with the help of an elder law attorney is a vital step in safeguarding their well-being and financial security.

If someone were to Google the term elder, they would find that the term is often associated with respect, used to describe those in a society who are considered wiser, of higher rank or superior, influential among the members of that society, or having authority by virtue of their age. On the other hand, the term elderly is often used to indicate that an individual is older or has characteristics of later life or elderly individuals and often has negative connotations, implying that the elderly individual is weaker, more frail, or otherwise not as capable as a younger person. Neither term offers a consistent age at which someone is considered either an elder or elderly, and neither term is necessarily indicative of the capabilities of the individual that may be described using the terms.

Generally, in the practice of elder law, the term elder or elderly is intended to refer to individuals who are aged 60 to 65 or older. These individuals are approximately retirement age, have worked hard for most of their lives, raised families if they have chosen to do so, and are ready to enjoy the remaining years of their life with travel, hobbies, and other interests. While most hope to enjoy those hobbies and other interests, in some instances, these individuals may find themselves requiring assistance with their health, daily activities, or even needing long-term care. They may also face struggles with keeping up with technology and being scammed. Some individuals remain in near-perfect mental and physical health but find that others treat them as if they have declined and fire them or otherwise discriminate against them solely based on their age.

An elder law attorney can assist their clients with writing a will and estate planning, preparing for long-term care, naming powers of attorney and guardians in the event of incapacitation, and ensuring the liquidity of assets to pay for costs associated with illness, taxes, or death. They can also assist with filling in gaps where the individual is facing vulnerabilities related to age, such as losing lifelong friendships due to death or moving to receive care, having far-flung adult children who may not want or be able to assist the individual, dealing with spousal age difference considerations, and avoiding undue influence, fiduciary or physical abuse. A skilled attorney may also assist the individual with considerations regarding long-term care insurance, disability insurance, government-funded options such as Medicaid, and managing their savings and other assets so they can ensure quality long-term care if it becomes necessary while also retaining an estate to pass on to their loved ones.

There are many similarities between elder law and estate planning. While estate planning can and should be done by adults of any age, in some ways it is a subsection of elder law. Many people do not start thinking about estate planning until they are older and begin thinking about their future and how they intend to spend their remaining years.

Elder law is much more substantial than just estate planning, however. Elder law is an area of law that seeks to protect older individuals and their assets while they are alive and enjoying the fruits of their lifelong labors. Elder law is used to ensure that older individuals are not treated differently merely because of their age and that, in instances where the older adult is vulnerable due to diminished physical or mental capacity, caregivers and others in their life do not take advantage of or abuse them.

Estate planning is the area of law that protects an individual’s assets and passes them on to loved ones according to the individual’s wishes. Estate planning also includes documents to protect the individual during their life, such as a living will to declare their end-of-life care wishes and powers of attorney to name someone to handle their financial or health decisions if or when the individual is incapable of doing so themselves. What it does not do is assist the individual when their patient rights may have been violated, determine whether they are Medicare or Medicaid eligible, represent them in nursing home abuse claims or if their nursing home resident rights may have been violated, or locate long-term care facilities. Those are things that fall under the broader umbrella of elder law.

Elder law seeks to protect older individuals. In some cases, this protection is against outside sources, such as caregivers who abuse or neglect their patients, fiduciaries who abuse and take advantage of their authority, or even strangers who may seek to take advantage of older individuals, such as contractors taking money for a job they do not complete. In other cases, the protection may be against the individual’s mental or physical health, such as long-term care planning to ensure that the individual has a plan and the financing to receive such care if it is needed. Elder care can also include crisis planning, elder asset protection, or healthcare decisions.

Elder law attorneys may also help ensure that each spouse will have income and savings for the remainder of their lives, even if the other spouse requires long-term care or expensive health treatments. Couples may also be offered advice on ways to ensure they do not burn out and endanger their own health trying to care for their spouse, including advice on Medicare, Medicaid, and the differences between home health care, retirement homes, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes.

Elder law attorneys advocate for their senior citizen clients and their families. They assist in protecting seniors’ rights, preserving their dignity, and helping them retain autonomy as long as possible. While aging adults have begun to face the reality that they will eventually die, and have often considered the many different potential futures that may happen before that death, they may not have considered how best to plan and prepare for those potential futures. An elder law attorney can not only assist their clients in considering the future paths their life might take, but can also offer guidance, advice, and recommendations on how their client can prepare for each of those possible futures.

A skilled elder law legal team like the team at Rhodium Law can ask the right questions to help their senior clients consider uncomfortable futures and what their wishes might be in those circumstances. They can then help those clients create a plan that allows their wishes to be to be honored, their assets preserved, and their legal rights are protected. Whether it is Medicaid planning and asset protection, choosing a guardian and making difficult healthcare decisions, or planning for emergencies, an elder law attorney can help aging clients maintain the most control possible over their own lives, even if circumstances change and they have diminished capacity or are completely incapacitated.