Northville, MI, Elder Law

Have you spent your life enjoying your community, working hard, and providing for your family? As you get older, it’s important to take stock of your situation and think about what you’ll leave as your legacy. It’s time to start planning for your long-term care and figuring out how to protect your assets and pass them to your loved ones.

An elder law firm can help you with many challenges that could otherwise be difficult to resolve on your own. Experienced attorneys can work with you to keep your assets out of probate, provide for your beneficiaries, and make sure you have everything you need for your golden years.

Bingham Legal Group PC is an elder law firm serving clients in Northville, Michigan. We handle every aspect of elder law, including estate planning, consumer protection issues, and protecting elders from abuse and neglect. If you need help with elder law matters, contact us today to arrange a consultation and learn more about what we can do for you.

Elder Law Services We Provide

Elder law is a broad area of the law and involves any legal issues relevant to older people. Elder law issues we can help you manage at Bingham Legal Group PC include:

• Estate planning and asset protection services
• Planning for long-term care
• Medicaid and Medicare planning
• Guardianship and conservatorship
• Medical decision-making
• Social Security and veterans’ benefits
• Elder abuse and neglect issues
• Consumer protection issues
• Housing and transportation issues

If you have any legal issues affecting older people, we can help you resolve them, whether they affect you or an elder family member.

Estate Planning and Asset Protection Services

When a person passes away, their estate must go through probate before their heirs can inherit anything. Unfortunately, probate is a time-consuming process that provides little privacy to your family. The good news is that having a comprehensive estate plan can improve the situation.

Estate planning is the process of organizing your assets so you can protect them and pass them down to your chosen beneficiaries, while taking steps to provide for your own care as you become older. Estate planning includes writing a legally valid will, placing your assets in a trust so you can benefit from them and pass them down while avoiding probate, and other services. By creating a comprehensive estate plan with the help of an estate planning attorney, you can guard against many problems that would otherwise occur.

Planning for Long-Term Care

No one wants to think about the need for long-term care, but the fact is that most people will end up needing it. Unfortunately, long-term care is expensive, and Medicare doesn’t cover it. To pay for a stay in a nursing home, most people need to be on Medicaid.

Unfortunately, Medicaid has asset limits that can require you to give up most of your property to qualify. If you give up your property to qualify for Medicaid, you may still face penalties due to Medicaid’s five-year look-back period. How can you protect your property and qualify for Medicaid to cover your long-term care? An elder law firm experienced in nursing home planning can show you strategies to protect your assets while preserving your eligibility for Medicaid benefits. For example, you can put your assets into a Medicaid trust at least five years before you expect to need long-term care. This allows you to benefit from your assets without losing your eligibility.

Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Powers of Attorney

When an older adult becomes incapacitated and cannot make their own medical or financial decisions, their family members can petition the court to appoint a guardian to manage their personal and medical affairs, and a conservator to manage their financial affairs. If your family member needs a guardian or a conservator, Bingham Legal Group PC can help you petition the court to have someone appointed.

Older adults can also appoint agents with power of attorney to make decisions for them, particularly where healthcare and financial matters are concerned. A healthcare power of attorney or patient advocate allows you to name someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. This can include choices about treatment, care providers, and end-of-life preferences, which must be carried out according to your stated wishes. A financial power of attorney, sometimes called a durable power of attorney, gives an appointed person authority to handle financial matters, such as paying bills, managing bank accounts, or handling property.

Power of attorney documents give families clarity and avoid the need for guardianship or conservatorship proceedings when someone becomes incapacitated. By creating powers of attorney in advance, you decide who will act for you, rather than leaving the decision to a court. Bingham Legal Group PC can help prepare these important documents.

Social Security and Veterans’ Benefits

Do you need assistance applying for Social Security or veterans’ benefits? Have you been denied benefits unfairly, and you want to appeal? If you need any assistance with Social Security or veterans’ benefits in Northville, Michigan, an elder law firm can help by:

• Explaining how eligibility works, whether you are likely to qualify for benefits, and what you need to do to maximize your benefits.
• Assist you with your application.
• Assist you with any appeals.
• Help you minimize your taxes on benefits.

Elder Abuse and Neglect

Elder abuse and neglect are terrible betrayals of trust, but are also sadly common. If you suspect that a caretaker is abusing or neglecting your loved one, an elder law firm can give you the legal help you need to make things right. You may even be able to collect damages from the parties responsible for abusing and neglecting your family member.

Consumer Protection Issues

Older people are especially vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. If you believe a loved one has been sold a harmful product or a fraudulent or misleading service, an elder law firm can help you stop the fraud and pursue damages for your loved one’s losses. If you need someone to stand up for your family member and fight for what’s right, an experienced elder law firm can help.

Housing and Transportation Issues

If your family member is facing housing or transportation issues and you don’t know how to help, contact an elder law firm serving Northville, Michigan, for guidance. The attorneys at Bingham Legal Group PC can help you determine how to get the help you need.

Contact an Elder Law Attorney Serving Northville, Michigan, Today

Older people face many legal issues that younger people do not, from long-term care planning to protecting against elder abuse and neglect. Always select a law firm with extensive experience in this field of law. A lawyer who primarily works with personal injury cases or criminal defense may not have the experience in elder law to understand all the complexities involved.

Bingham Legal Group PC is an elder law firm serving clients in Northville, Michigan. Our team of attorneys has worked in the elder law field for a combined total of 60 years. We have experience finding creative solutions for many elder law problems. If you need help with estate planning, probate law, long-term care planning, or any other elder law issues, contact Bingham Legal Group PC today for a consultation.