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Questions & Answers When Looking For an Elder Law Attorney
Legal problems that affect the elderly are growing in number. Our laws and
regulations are becoming more complex. Actions taken by older people with regard
to a single matter may have unintended legal effects. It is important for
attorneys dealing with the elderly to have a broad understanding of the laws
that may have an impact on a given situation, to avoid future problems.
Unfortunately, this job is not made easy by the fact that Elder Law
encompasses many different fields of law.
Some of these include:
- Preservation/transfer of assets seeking to avoid spousal impoverishment
when a spouse enters a nursing home
- Medicaid
- Medicare claims and appeals
- Social security and disability claims and appeals
- Supplemental and long term health insurance issues.
- Disability planning, including use of durable powers of attorney, living
trusts, "living wills," for financial management and health care decisions,
and other means of delegating management and decision-making to another in
case of incompetency or incapacity.
- Conservatorships and guardianships
- Estate planning, including planning for the management of one's estate
during life and its disposition on death through the use of trusts, wills
and other planning documents
- Probate
- Administration and management of trusts and estates
- Long-term care placements in nursing home and life care communities
- Nursing home issues including questions of patients' rights and nursing
home quality
- Elder abuse and fraud recovery cases
- Housing issues, including discrimination and home equity conversions
- Age discrimination in employment
- Retirement, including public and private retirement benefits, survivor
benefits and pension benefits
- Health law
- Mental health law
Most elder law attorneys do not specialize in every one of these areas. So
when an attorney says he/she practices Elder Law, find out which of these
matters he/she handles. You will want to hire the attorney who regularly handles
matters in the area of concern in your particular case and who will know enough
about the other fields to question whether the action being taken might be
affected by laws in any of the other areas of law on the list. For example, if
you are going to rewrite your will and your spouse is ill, the estate planner
needs to know enough about Medicaid to know whether it is an issue with regard
to your spouse's inheritance.
Attorneys who primarily work with the elderly bring more to their practice
than an expertise in the appropriate area of law. They bring to their practice a
knowledge of the elderly that allows them and their staff to ignore the myths
relating to aging and the competence of the elderly. At the same time, they will
take into account and empathize with some of the true physical and mental
difficulties that often accompany the aging process. Their understanding of the
afflictions of the aged allows them to determine more easily the difference
between the physical versus the mental disability of a client. They are more
aware of real life problems, health and otherwise, that tend to crop up as
persons age. They are tied into a formal or informal system of social workers,
psychologists and other elder care professionals who may be of assistance to
you. All of these things will hopefully make you more comfortable when dealing
with them and ease your way as you try to resolve your legal problem.
National Academy of Elder Law
Attorneys
Find An Elder Law Attorney Now. Click on the link below:
NAELA
Member Consumer Registry
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In
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Feeling tired all the time?
You’re not alone. In fact, fatigue is one of the most
common complaints that bring adults to doctors’ offices.
Numerous studies indicate that people who see their doctor
about fatigue have generally experienced it for a
considerable length of time — anywhere from six months to
several years!
Fatigue can be due to numerous causes, such as medical
conditions like congestive heart failure, hypothyroidism or
diabetes. It can also be a result of sleep disturbances
brought on by menopause, or by physical changes that
accompany aging. But while fatigue may be an inescapable
part of life, there’s no need to take it lying down. Your
body is geared toward generating energy as well as expending
it. And there are numerous strategies to help regain the
physical and mental energy needed to enjoy life to its
fullest.
Eat for energy
The tried-and-true advice
for healthful eating also applies to keeping your energy
level high:
• Eat a balanced
diet that includes a variety of carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats with an emphasis on vegetables, whole
grains, and healthy oils. Taking a daily multivitamin will
ensure that you get the vitamins and minerals you need, but
taking extra amounts of individual nutrients won’t give you
more energy.
• Eating certain
types of foods in particular amounts can help
prevent fatigue. Because different kinds of foods are
converted to energy at different rates, some — such as candy
and other simple sugars — can give you a quick lift, while
others — such as whole grains and healthy unsaturated fats —
supply the reserves you’ll need to draw on throughout the
day.
• Eat small,
frequent meals. Where energy is the issue, it’s
better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than
three large meals a day. This approach can reduce your
perception of fatigue because your brain, which has very few
energy reserves of its own, needs a steady supply.
Reduce stress
The most common cause of
persistent fatigue is stress and the emotional response to
it. People who feel fatigued most of the time don’t
necessarily have more stress in their lives than other
people, but they may be more sensitive to its effects.
Stress-induced emotions consume huge amounts of energy.
Relaxation therapy can be an effective tool for reducing
stress and naturally boosting your energy, particularly when
used in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, and tai chi are all
relaxation techniques. One of the easiest techniques to use
is progressive muscle relaxation, which involves
systematically tightening and releasing sets of muscles,
beginning with your toes and progressing up your legs,
torso, hands, and arms. You might also consider other
relaxation therapies, including aromatherapy and massage.
No
matter what age you are, there are things that you can do to
feel more energetic. Harvard Health Publications’
Boosting Your Energy report will help you take the
first steps toward discovering the causes of your fatigue.
This Special Health Report provides you with the latest
information about fatigue and offers strategies to help you
regain your physical and mental energy. The report discusses
medical conditions that may be the cause of your fatigue as
well as ways to naturally boost your energy.
Reprinted from Boosting Your Energy
— A Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School,
Copyright © 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard
College. All rights reserved. |
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