Your Resource For
Elder Law and
Medicaid
Many people find themselves unsure of how to navigate the financial and care aspects of their loved ones’ elder years. Enlisting the help of an elder law attorney can help you ensure that all bases are covered when it comes to ensuring that your loved one — or you — can have the kind of senior years they desire without being exploited or under-supported.
In Massachusetts, that might mean reviewing seniors’ estates and knowing how to determine eligibility for Medicaid, or MassHealth, in order to receive financial assistance for high-quality, long-term nursing home care.
Estate
Planning
An estate planning attorney who knows you and your values can mean the difference between ensuring that your legacy is protected or leaving behind a mess for your loved ones.
By carefully customizing the best estate planning strategy for your unique needs, you can protect your beneficiaries from the stress of messy probate, unnecessary tax burden and uncertainty around asset distribution. Estate planning provides stability, which is especially important if you have young children.
Guardianship and
Conservatorship
Both guardianship and conservatorship are legal processes intended to provide protection for people who are unable to care for themselves.
A guardian is appointed to oversee personal and healthcare issues for someone who is considered incapacitated because of disability or even a temporary condition such as illness. A conservator is appointed to manage financial affairs for a person who is found unable to manage their own finances. Generally, careful estate planning can help avoid entering into these serious circumstances, but if they must happen, it is important to be well informed and have access to trustworthy advice.
Probate
Administration
Estates with a testamentary will — or estates with no will in place — begin the probate process after the loss of the estate holder. Even uncontested probate administration can be daunting and time-consuming, and there are multiple steps in the process.
Generally, the probate process begins with acknowledging or appointing the executor of the will. The heirs, beneficiaries and creditors must be located and notified. Often, this includes a public notice. Next, assets must be appraised. Finally, the executor ensures that taxes and creditors are paid, followed by the distribution of assets to the estate’s beneficiaries. Depending on the bulk and complexity of the estate, managing this process without the help of a local, experienced probate lawyer can be difficult.
Special Needs
Planning
Parents of children with special needs know how important it is to advocate for the very best care and resources. Working with a dedicated estate planning lawyer who understands the financial, emotional and physical needs of your family means your advocacy can continue after you are gone.
You can plan for the continued quality of life for your child by working with an estate planning attorney to consider your options for securing care and financial support for your child.
Trust
Administration
Being appointed a trustee is a big responsibility. While well-crafted trusts generally will not require probate in court, the type and complexity of an estate can mean trustees may be responsible for multiple beneficiaries — or even multiple types of trusts for one estate.
As a trustee, you may need support in ensuring that you are making the best decisions possible for the estate and its beneficiaries.
Kimberly Butler Rainen. Professional Help Your Family Can Depend On. Now.
At The Law Offices of Kimberly Butler Rainen, we know the difficulties people can find themselves facing as they or their loved ones get older. How do you make sense of issues like estate planning or paying for nursing home care?
You want to do the right thing for yourself and those you love. You have the assets to do so, you just need to make the right choices. Schedule a consultation below so we can help you understand your options so that you can make the smartest choices for you and your family.
Fill out the form below or call us at 978-494-6730.
“Working with Kim on our estate planning was so much easier than I could have imagined.
She made us feel comfortable throughout the process and was very responsive to our questions. I highly recommend her services!”
— Joanne Brown
Andover, Massachussets
“Ms. Butler Rainen is extremely thoughtful and thorough at her job. She handled herself very professionally.”
— Michelle Piatt
Millford, Massachussets
“I can’t recommend Attorney Rainen enough. I am a local practicing attorney…”
and work with Attorney Rainen on matters and find her to be a knowledgeable, compassionate, and first class attorney. I recommend her without hesitation and would send friends and family members to her for consult.”
— John Martino
Managing Attorney at Martino Law Group, LLC
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