Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Retirement: Financial planning for Alzheimer's

Excerpt from: Chicago Tribune (click for full article)

 

Because Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, families usually have more time to plan than they would with an immediate trauma, such as a stroke. But because Alzheimer's can last a long time, it's best to start planning for the next steps right away, even if a long-term-care policy or savings will pay for the first few years of care. For example, if it makes sense to deplete your assets to qualify for Medicaid, you would need to give money to your children more than five years before applying.

After you receive a confirmed diagnosis, sit down with your family and talk about what you want, says Byron Cordes, a geriatric care manager in San Antonio. "You're not going to be able to make those decisions in the future," he says. Talk about where you want to live and what type of care you want to receive. A geriatric care manager (http://www.caremanager.org) can help with these decisions and may find benefits you didn't realize you were eligible for, such as special aid for veterans. Care managers tend to cost $85 to $200 per hour or $600 to $1,000 for an initial assessment, says Cordes.

Get a power of attorney and health-care proxy so your spouse or children can make financial and medical decisions later on. An elder-law attorney can draft those documents and help with Medicaid planning (see http://www.naela.org). Elder-law attorneys typically charge $200 to $400 an hour.

Ask whether your bank needs additional legal documents. Some require their own power of attorney forms even if you have one from a lawyer, and that can be complicated after the Alzheimer's has progressed.

Using Technology to Increase Law Firm Profits

Excerpt from: Lexis Nexis (click for full article)

 

As consumers, we all prefer to pay a fixed price.  While some legal practice areas are billed as flat fees, the majority of legal work is still billed hourly.

When the economy was better, the sting of legal fees was less.  In today’s environment, clients are negotiating to get the best hourly rates or flat rates. Insurance companies and corporate clients have hired third party auditing companies to analyze their law firm’s work with the goal of decreasing legal costs by allowing them to compare one law firm’s efficiency to others.

Law firm billing systems include many tools to enable firms to better monitor their billable work and revenue.  Often, however, firms fail to use these reports to identify problems or inefficiencies.  Many small firms are informal and do not have minimum billable hours requirements for their associates or paralegals.  Even when they do, they are not enabling those timekeepers to easily track their own progress.

Social Media Affects Your Website's Search Ranking

Excerpt from: Find Law (click for full article)

 

Social media is a great tool for communicating with clients, but it can also have a secondary benefit for your practice by boosting your website's search ranking.

The way most clients will find you is by searching on the Internet for a lawyer. Hopefully they'll narrow their search by area of law and location, but even then there are lots of competitors out there. Having a professional and informational website can be a great way to get clients, but it doesn't work if no one sees it.

Getting a professional consultant to manage your website's search engine optimization can be a valuable way to improve your rankings. But you can also help yourself by stepping up your social media presence.

To prove that claim, we have some insight into how Google and other search engines rank web pages.

ABA AMICUS BRIEF SUPPORTS REPEAL OF DOMA

Today the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments and review the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act with the case, United States v. Windsor, et al.  The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities sponsored the American Bar Association's amicus brief in the Windsor case.  The brief was drafted pro bono by a team of lawyers, led by Harry Sandick, at the firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.  Yesterday, the Court heard arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144 to determine whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The ABA Windsor brief asks the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the "serious obstacles" that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act imposes on lawyer's clients who are same-sex couples legally married under state law.  The brief describes Section 3’s impact on the federal rights and responsibilities of these clients in areas that include retirement and estate planning, health care, taxation, military benefits, ethical obligations and immigration. The brief advises that Section 3, which defines marriage as only between one man and one woman, results in unprecedented and discriminatory burdens on legally married same-sex couples that are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

The brief also cites the ABA’s advocacy over the past 40 years to eliminate discrimination against gays and lesbians. To read the full brief, click here.

Law Profs Coalition Calls for Legal Education Reform

Excerpt from: Wealth Strategies Journal 2.0 (click for full article)

 

A group of prominent law professors and deans have urged the ABA to address the current crisis in legal education, mainly the disconnect between increased tuition costs and the dwindling job market for new grads. In a letter to the ABA's Task Force on Legal Education, the Coalition of Concerned Colleagues described the challenges facing debt-burdened students and faltering law schools, and suggested ways to alter the economic climate including accelerated degree programs and reduced accreditation requirements.

Hat Tip: Paul L. Caron, "Coalition of 67 Law Profs and Deans Pushes for Legal Education Reform," TaxProf Blog (March 11, 2013).

Specialize! Specialize! Specialize!

Excerpt from: Wealth Strategies Journal 2.0 (click for more information)

While there is inherent value in building a niche practice, the key to acquiring business is further specialization. How can you become the ultimate resource in your practice area? Stay abreast of developments on a topic that is relevant to your practice, write about it, and network intelligently armed with your expertise of the issue.

See Brian Tannebaum, "The Practice: Why Would Anyone Hire You?" Above The Law, (March 11, 2013).

Kirkland & Ellis Justice Fellowship

Excerpt from: Disability Rights Legal Center (click for full article)

 

Disability Rights Legal Center’s Kirkland & Ellis Justice Fellowship is awarded every two years to a law school graduate to pursue public interest work for two years as a staff attorney with DRLC in Los Angeles.  The Fellow is selected on the basis of personal integrity and the potential to make a positive contribution towards enhancing the civil rights of people with disabilities. 

All applications must be received by 5:00 pm (PST) on Friday, April 19, 2013.  Finalists will be notified in late April and interviews will be conducted the week of May 6, 2013. 

A complete application consists of one original copy of each of the following items: Resume; Official Law School Transcript; Two Letters of Recommendation from Law School Advisor, Law School Professor, or Employer; and Two Essays (up to 600 words each).

For questions or alternate forms of submission, please email [email protected]

Why Elder Law Attorneys Aren't Just for Seniors

Excerpt from: Agingcare.com (click for full article)

 

An Elder Law attorney is an attorney who specializes in providing legal services for the elderly and disabled. They assist with getting Advance Directives in place so that how you are taken care of - and by who - are chosen by you, and not just left to chance, or a court hearing.

Assuming that family members will just "take care of things" can lead to many unnecessary problems, primarily stemming from the burden on your loved ones when they're forced to make decisions for you, without knowing what you would have wanted.

It is also vitally important to locate an attorney that specializes in Elder Law. There are general practice attorneys who may have some experience with Elder Law, but the regulations are ever changing and can be highly complex. The easiest way to find an expert in any state is the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (headquarters in Virginia) at naela.org or (703) 942-5711.

Ask the Expert- Does My Mother Still Have Rights?

Excerpt from: Farr Law Firm (click for full article)

 

Since your mother is clearly legally competent, she should make her own decisions about where she wants to live.  Everyone is presumed to be legally competent unless a court determines that they are not.  If she moves home and adult protective services (APS) becomes involved, they will determine whether she is safe.  From your description of her, she is clearly still safe living on her own.  However, if APS determines that she is not safe, they may ask you or your sister to initiate guardianship proceedings to determine her competency and to have someone appointed to make decisions for her, in which case you and your sister would probably wind up fighting over who gets to be guardian of your mother and conservator over her real estate and financial assets.

A much better alternative in your mother's situation is to ensure your mother goes to an Elder Law Attorney to sign a Financial Power of Attorney (POA). A Financial Power of Attorney, along with an Advance Medical Directive (AMD), are documents that prevent the need for Guardianship and Conservatorship, and are part of what is called "Incapacity Planning." To sign a POA and AMD, your mother must be able to understand the consequences of appointing an agent, and be able to communicate her wishes that she wants a certain person to handle her financial and legal and medical affairs.

Retirement Is No Holiday From Debt

Excerpt from: Wall Street Journal (click for full article)

 

Patricia Dudek, an attorney specializing in elder law in Farmington Hills, Mich., sees many seniors running into debt problems because their financial plans never accounted for sharply rising property taxes. Seniors can appeal to their local tax collector to lower their bills, she notes, and many states offer seniors special property-tax abatements.

The next step is managing the debt itself. Many turn to credit-consolidation companies rather than do it themselves, but it's an avenue that requires treading carefully.

"You have to be really cautious," says Ms. Dudek, "there are some scams out there."

The No. 1 rule of thumb: Never make a big upfront payment to a debt consolidator. The New York Better Business Bureau provides tips on debt-counseling programs and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling can
provide help locating a debt counselor.