Estate Planning & Elder Law in Indiana
Get Help from a New Albany Based Estate Lawyer
If you or your loved one needs to plan for their long-term healthcare and financial position, work with our estate planning attorneys. Our estate attorneys help families find solutions to manage their elder care needs in a way that preserves not just their long-term financial health, but also the long-term health of their family relationships. The goal of Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law is to allow families to remain focused on the most important aspect of aging: enjoying your lives together.
Our firm is based in New Albany and our attorneys live throughout the surrounding area. Our lives and families are interwoven with the fabric of this community. Using our legal background to address issues facing the elderly, our elder law attorneys with Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law have helped our neighbors with the challenges faced by aging spouses, parents and grandparents.
Our Experienced Estate Planning Attorneys Can Help You Plan for Future Needs
If you need help with the challenges and concerns confronting you or a loved one, or if you just want to make sure that you are prepared for the future, we invite you to speak with one of our estate planning attorneys. Call us at 812-725-8224 and let us help you explore legal solutions to your long-term care needs.
What Does Your Future Look Like? How Can Estate Planning Get You There?
A recent mobile app allows you to age yourself instantaneously to see what an eighty-year-old ‘you’ might look like. For many of us, we only have to look in our parents’ faces to see ourselves. Although reversing roles with Mom or Dad can be stressful and full of anxiety, a little preparation and solutions-based assistance can help you focus on the truly important things.
Whether thinking ahead for your own future, acting on behalf of a spouse or parent, or seeking information as a compassionate caregiver, our New Albany estate lawyer is well-positioned to help you identify elder care solutions.
- Medicaid Applications
- Asset Protection
- Long-Term Care Options
- Power-of-Attorney / Guardianships
Planning for Health Care of Elders: The Basic Picture
Medicare is a federal health insurance program supported by mandatory payroll deductions, and it primarily serves people over age 65. Recipients may pay a monthly premium, based on “work credits” – the number associated with how long a person has been employed. The program has four separate parts addressing specific health needs. Part A, for example, usually pays for some short-term, in-home medical help prescribed by a doctor, but it won’t pay for long-term custodial care. Part D offers prescription drug coverage. Find more information about Medicare claims.
Medicaid provides a long-term care program utilizing both federal and state components. Medicaid recipients typically pay very little for covered medical expenses. The program may cover home care or day services if your 65-plus parent is nursing-home eligible. A person may receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits concurrently. Read more about Medicaid claims.
Social Security benefits are paid to people for retirement and disability and may be paid to widows or widowers. If your parent’s Social Security benefits were earned based on lower-paying jobs, and if the benefits are the only source of income, there may be a larger monthly benefit available by applying for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program – and we can help you make that determination as well as fill out the papers.
Veterans benefits come in several types and levels. For example, if your aging parent is a military veteran and needs continuing medical care because of a service-related disability, an application for medical benefits, hospitalization and prescription drugs may be submitted.
Our New Albany based estate lawyer can help you explore options available for long-term and estate planning that will benefit you and your family well into the future. Call us today for help with your planning at 812-725-8224.
Our Kentuckiana Estate Planning Attorneys Can Help You Solve the Long-Term Care Puzzle
Do You Know Someone Caring for an Aging Parent?
With over 10 million Americans over fifty taking on the responsibility of basic care for their parents, chances are you have a family member or friend in this situation. An increasing number of Baby Boomers find themselves in the ‘sandwich generation’ – torn between providing care for children and parents at the same time.
Our estate planning attorneys can help you navigate the maze of qualifying for government programs and evaluating long-term care options. Our first step will be to review Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and even Veterans Benefits to inventory what resources can be utilized for care needs.
Each program has specific qualifications and associated paperwork. As you may have already discovered, securing these resources isn’t always easy. But don’t throw up your hands – contact us and we can review the options together.
Our estate attorneys are available to meet with you to discuss a long-term care plan and solve the financing challenges that may seem overwhelming. Call us today at 812-725-8224 with your questions and let’s get started identifying solutions.
Our Estate Lawyer Can Help You with Power of Attorney & Guardianships
Estate lawyers understand the importance of having the proper documents in place.
Power of Attorney
Having a properly drafted power of attorney is the cornerstone for every estate plan. Just as you don’t want to drive down an interstate highway without a spare tire, you do not want to find yourself without a properly drafted power of attorney when you’re confronted with a hospital or nursing home stay.
As part of an all-inclusive elder care plan, our estate lawyers will work together with you to ensure that, when the need arises, you have an up-to-date and comprehensively drafted power of attorney.
A power of attorney gives legal authorization to someone chosen by the signer to make decisions on his or her behalf. It may be effective immediately or at some predetermined later point in time, and it may broadly cover all decision-making or authorize decisions only about certain issues.
Executing a power of attorney is essential to safeguarding the health, financial and care concerns faced as we grow older. For a power of attorney to act with full legal authority, the document must be accurate and thorough, and it is best to complete it before major cognitive disabilities arise.
Estate Guardianships
If you do not have a properly drafted power of attorney, a guardianship may be necessary. Guardianships are court ordered; consequently, the parties must appear before a court and the necessity of financial and/or healthcare assistance must be proven. Guardianships are often more expensive than a properly drafted power of attorney, and the record-keeping requirements are often much more extensive.
When you are ready to learn more about protecting yourself, or a loved one, through the security and protection offered by a power of attorney or a guardianship, please do not hesitate to contact the estate planning attorneys at Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law.
We have worked with many families to safeguard their loved ones. Let us help you find options that meet your needs.
Call us today at 812-725-8224 to get started.
Understanding Probate
Probate is the process your loved one’s estate will go through when they die. It can be either simple or complicated, depending on how well you plan. At its best, probate is a well-ordered, efficient, and relatively easy process that is over within a short period. At its worst, it can be expensive, slow, and often frustrating.
The first thing you can do to ensure that the probate process is smooth is to encourage your loved one to create a will as part of a larger estate plan. A last will and testament will lay out how they want their assets distributed to beneficiaries. Without a will, a person is said to have died “intestate.” When this happens, Indiana Probate Code and a probate court will determine how a person’s assets are distributed, which may or may not reflect that person’s wishes. So, work with an estate planning attorney to draft a will.
In addition, you may want to create a revokable or irrevocable trust; ensure that all retirement and life insurance policies have named beneficiaries; and confirm that pensions, IRAs, bank accounts, and other financial accounts have named beneficiaries and/or payable-on-death status. By doing this, many assets can avoid the probate process altogether and go directly to the heirs. This is one way to simplify and streamline the probate process. If all of this sounds complicated, it can be. Our probate attorneys would be glad to answer your questions and discuss these measures in greater detail. Feel free to give us a call.
A Word About Small Estates in Indiana
Many states, including Indiana, have a special, simplified process for what are considered “small estates.” An Indiana small estate is an estate that has a value of $50,000 or less after debts, encumbrances, liens, and funeral and burial expenses are deducted. Joint assets (co-owned with a spouse or another person) and beneficiary designations (such as those mentioned above) are not included in the $50,000 maximum estate amount to qualify for the “small estate” process. Joint assets can include things like a house co-owned by a married couple, joint bank accounts, and other property jointly owned. If an estate’s assets fall under the $50,000 level, then you will be able to take advantage of a simplified, abbreviated probate process that takes less time and costs significantly less. To find out if you qualify for the “small estate” process, speak to a qualified and experienced elder law attorney.
All of this demonstrates that there’s a lot to know about the estate planning, elder law, and probate process – and the more you know, the better prepared you will be. Planning ahead is a tremendous gift you or a loved one can give to surviving family members. They will be able to enjoy the memories of a life well lived rather than be anxious and stressed over a disorganized estate. Many times, people don’t like to think about end-of-life issues, but when you do so, it gives you time while you’re still healthy to talk to your heirs, explain your wishes, and answer their questions. This can help avoid hurt feelings and confusion later on.
Our Kentuckiana Estate Attorney Gives Support to Caregivers
Caregiving issues are a common problem as we get older, and support from an estate planning attorney can be invaluable.
You may be an in-home caregiver or an adult child who wishes they could live closer to Mom and Dad. Due to the challenges of modern life, the traditional definition of ‘caregiver’ is constantly changing. Oftentimes, with chronic ailments like Alzheimer’s, the solutions that fit one day are no longer appropriate the next. The attorneys at Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law work hard to provide you with options, so that you can craft a plan that best fits the care needs of your loved ones.
Many families have depended on Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law to answer their elder law questions. We represent and counsel families and their loved ones with the legal and financial issues that come with aging, disability and serious illness.
Whether you’re planning for your own future or for the future of a loved one, please consider allowing us to help you. Contact our New Albany estate attorney today to start finding solutions at 812-725-8224.
Client Testimonial
”We did estate planning. They were excellent. Made things simple. Included flow charts. Everything thoroughly explained. All documents we prepared accurately and very quickly. I would definitely call them again.” – Doug Hardin (Google Review)
Attorney Steve Langdon
Licensed to practice in both Indiana and Kentucky, Steve Langdon is an experienced elder law and trial attorney. In addition to his litigation and trial work, Steve’s practice includes wills, trusts, probate, Medicaid planning, guardianship, powers of attorney, and advanced directive planning, including living wills and health care surrogate designations. [ Attorney Bio ]
Attorney Gary Banet
Gary is licensed to practice law in both Indiana and Kentucky. He concentrates his practice in estate planning, estate and trust administration, estate and trust litigation, guardianships, elder law and special-needs planning. Gary earned his J.D. from the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, and formerly practiced law at Bingham Greenebaum Doll and Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. [ Attorney Bio ]