Elder Law, Estate Planning, Guardianship and Probate

Hammerle Finley's Elder Law attorneys help individuals and families prepare for and address issues surrounding aging .  Our services include wills, trusts, and estate planning, probate, guardianship, and government benefits planning, such as Medicaid.

Our Elder Law section focuses helping clients maximize their quality of life in their elder years.  The members of our Elder Law Team are Robert Morris, Thad Finley and Virginia Hammerle.  They belong to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

"Elder law attorneys deal with the legal and non-legal problems of their clients by using a multi-disciplinary approach. Geriatric care managers, guardians, social workers and other aging network professionals play an important role in this approach. Our goal: that the broad range of needs are addressed in a holistic fashion so that the social, psychological, medical and financial needs are met, not just the legal needs." NAELA web site

Estate Planning is generally considered to be the process by which people develop plans that ensure that the assets they have worked so hard to accumulate during their lifetimes are protected and distributed to those they love. Estate planning is about the future of their families. We help clients make and implement plans that carry out their wishes regarding their families and their property. In so doing, we provide them peace of mind and the comfort of knowing that their assets will be preserved for the next generation.

We can help you implement a variety of strategies to minimize taxes and provide for your loved ones.

Guardianship is the legal process by which the person and property of incapacitated persons are protected. A guardian of the person is responsible for seeing to it that the incapacitated person has food, clothing, shelter and medical care. A guardian of the estate is responsible for protecting the property and income of the incapacitated person and spending those funds for the incapaciated person's benefit under the supervision of the probate court. We can assist you in seeking the appointment of a guardian and in carrying out the duties of a guardian once appointed.

Many of our clients seek our help with an elderly parent suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. Our Guardianship attorneys have many years of experience in this field and are here to help you at this difficult time.

One of the most common problems our Elder Law attorneys face is helping families to provide long term nursing home care for an elderly parent or other relative. We are here to help you plan to qualify for Medicaid benefits and to help you with your Medicaid application.  The weapons in our arsenal include a Qualified Income Trust (Miller Trust) for those persons whose income is over the limit to allow them to qualify for Medicaid. Planning is essential to both qualifying for medicaid and for protecting assets from medicaid recovery.

Probate is the legal process by which the property of a deceased person is passed to the beneficiaries under his will or to his heirs, and through which his debts are paid. It includes the probate of wills, because wills have no legal effect unless they are admitted to probate. For persons who don't have wills, probate includes the legal process by which the heirs are identified and receive the property to which they are entitled.

Our probate attorneys strive to make the probate process as simple as possible for our clients so that they may grieve the loss of their loved one without worry about the financial and legal processes.

Our estate planning, guardianship, probate and elder law services include:

• Wills and Trusts
• Powers of Attorney
• Medical Powers of Attorney
• Guardianships
• Living Wills
• Life Insurance Trusts
• Family Limited Partnerships
• Living Trusts
• Educational Trusts
• Bypass Trusts
• Business Succession
• Medicaid Planning
• Special Needs Trusts
• Probate Administration
• Pet Trusts
• Miller Trusts (Qualified Income Trusts)
• Ladybird Deeds
• Will and Trust Disputes
• Probate, Estate Administration, and Guardianships