Legal help for seniors and their families

In 1999, a fall landed Phyllis Gibbs, then in her late 70s and partially paralyzed, in the hospital. Her husband, who had been caring for her at home for 15 months, decided it was time for long-term care - and an elder-law attorney.

"The hospital social worker said it would take three years to get Medicaid benefits, and I wouldn't have a say in which nursing home my wife went to," says Robert Gibbs, a retired businessman in Columbia, S.C. "I was worried about my wife; I didn't need legal headaches, too."

As the name implies, elder-law attorneys specialize in handling legal issues affecting seniors - from estate and financial planning to guardianship and long-term health- care to consumer fraud and abuse. The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), which was founded by 30 attorneys in 1988, now has more than 4,600 members nationwide.

"If your legal need is specifically age-related - setting up financial power-of-attorney documents or long-term healthcare planning - an attorney specializing in elder law makes sense," says Gerald McIntyre, a lawyer with the nonprofit National Senior Citizen Law Center in Los Angeles.

"Of course, knowing the laws specific to people over 65 is crucial to resolving legal problems quickly, but that's only part of the equation," says Franchelle Millender, an attorney in Columbia, S.C., who obtained Medicaid benefits for Mrs. Gibbs within six monthsand had her placed in a nursing home near her husband's residence. "People usually come to elder-law attorneys when they are in emotional crisis and need someone to be sensitive to those needs as well."

That's where elder-law attorneys can be particularly effective, because they have a knowledge of older people that allows them to ignore the myths about aging and competence while empathizing with the challenges seniors face. They also tend to have networks of other professionals - such as social workers - that they can call on.

In some cases, clients are even offered other services that aren't typically found in conventional legal offices. Families may employ, or consult with, geriatric social workers, nurses, and financial planners, who can coordinate medical care, deal with housing issues, and help manage finances. While these one-stop service providers can be convenient, a red flag should go up if these groups try to use their legal authority to sell you products such as long-term care insurance.

"If the attorney's financial interest is in the mix when giving legal advice, there's a definite conflict of interest that doesn't benefit the client," says Mr. McIntyre. "This isn't illegal, but it probably should be."

Clients usually search for an elder-law attorney when something happens that they feel unable to cope with. "Healthcare crisis management is the biggest reason people come to us," says Bill Browning, president of NAELA. "When you need Medicaid ASAP because your life savings are being drained by an emergency healthcare situation or a loved one suddenly needs to be admitted to a nursing home, that's when our expertise really comes in handy."

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