Elder law encompasses a wide variety of legal subject areas – essentially any legal issue that concerns a person who is 65 years old or older. Subject areas include: medical and health care issues (Medicare, Medicaid, nursing homes, long-term care, health care decisions); financial issues (estate planning, wills and trusts, durable powers of attorney, sources of income, tax matters, pensions and IRAs); housing; public benefits (Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans’ benefits); incapacity and guardianship; age discrimination; ethical issues and elder abuse. Because elder law involves so many different practice areas, elder law may be practiced within various departments of a firm, such as trusts and estates, tax, and family law. It is also practiced within Veterans Administration offices, Legal Aid offices, and government agencies involved with entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). 

 

With 70 million baby boomers about to enter their retirement years, elder law is a growing field, and more attorneys are adding elder law to their existing practices. The aging of our population is likely to lead to a significant increase in caseloads, particularly relating to capacity, appointments of guardians, probate, and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance for the elderly. The courts, as well as government agencies involved with entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), will have a need for elder law-related legal advice.

 

While elder law is practiced almost exclusively within firms of 1-20 attorneys, larger law firms are increasingly involved with elder law issues.For example, while a person of modest income may engage a solo practitioner or small firm to draft a living will, even those with much more substantial means are faced with elder law-related issues, leading large and national estate firms to consider creating “elder law departments” to handle the “bridge” areas between pure estate planning and the rest of elder law, rather than lose part of a client’s business. 

 

 

A typical day for an attorney practicing in the elder law field includes the following tasks: