Elder Law & Guardianships

Elder Law & Guardianships

Elder Law

Elder Law practice focuses on the specific needs of older clients. Our Elder Law attorneys provide counsel on lifetime planning issues, financial and health care decisions, including advance directives such as Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, and Living Wills. We offer specialized planning to assist our elder clients with the impacts of paying for long-term care, including family transfers and Medicaid planning. We also educate and inform clients about trusts, wills, and long-term care insurance. We also assist families with guardianship proceedings and planning for family members with special needs. Our attorneys have a broad understanding of the laws and regulations that impact these areas of law. For example, one of our attorneys has even published a book on Medicaid Law that advises fellow New York attorneys on such legal issues.

We assist clients and their families with long-range planning for disability and with the practical details of long-term care, if that becomes necessary. We counsel clients on asset protection planning, including Medicaid planning and qualification, and we help design plans for clients to manage and transfer their assets to spouses, children, charities, and others to balance the desire to benefit their families with maintaining appropriate resources for the clients’ future needs.

Coughlin & Gerhart is sensitive to the emotional, medical, and financial needs of our clients and their families, particularly in crisis situations when an elderly client is no longer able to live independently due to physical or mental reasons, yet wishes to retain as much personal authority as possible and be assured of a high quality of life. We strive to give clients confidence in and control over their future.

Guardianships

Guardianship is a legal remedy designed to protect both infants and adults whose functional limitations prevent them from making their own decisions by having a guardian appointed to act in their best interest. A guardianship provides continuing care and management to those who need help with certain personal and financial matters.

Our attorneys have worked with many families whose loved ones cannot care for themselves due to developmental disabilities, disease, or injury. We are sensitive to the emotional distress of those called upon to seek guardianship and our attorneys recognize that this responsibility can be made more difficult by conflicting emotions and a complicated judicial process. We have the resources, understanding, and knowledge to guide you in your quest to protect the well-being of your family members who cannot care for themselves.

We are able to assist clients in need of guardianship with all aspects of the process both before and after appointment in order to secure the best possible protection and preservation of the family member’s health and assets.

Speak with a Lawyer

To arrange a confidential consultation with one of our firm’s Elder Law or Guardianship attorneys, call our main office in Binghamton at (607) 821-2202, toll free 800-646-3420, or send an email.