Galveston, TX Elder Law Attorney

While we all wish it weren’t the case, aging is a part of life, though watching your family grow and admiring the fruits of your hard work can make the last decades of your life the best ones. Unfortunately, many seniors find themselves burdened by financial worries or anxiety about their family’s future and unable to fully enjoy their final years. That’s where working with a Galveston elder law attorney can be helpful! The Law Office of Michelle E. Murphy can help elderly adults in the Galveston area prepare for the future, organize their affairs, preserve their wealth, access financial aid, protect their rights, and ultimately find peace of mind. Call today to schedule a free consultation!

Why Do Elderly Adults Need Representation?

Elderly adults have more sensitive and complex needs than that of the general population. Having a lawyer you can trust who has your and your family’s best interests in mind, and who can help you understand your rights and options, can be enormously beneficial to you during this stage of your life! There are two major reasons why seniors can benefit from legal guidance. 

One is to minimize risk. Elderly adults are more vulnerable physically, financially, and in other ways; if you don’t plan ahead and make choices about your estate and your care now, you may not be able to do so later. You could become incapacitated or pass away unexpectedly, and leave your family stressed out about finances or disagreeing about what you would have wanted. For example, if you have to enter a nursing home, you need to plan to qualify for Medicaid, or else risk losing your life savings. A Galveston elder law attorney can help you make confident decisions about the future, make your wishes known, and safeguard the legacy that you have worked so hard to leave behind! 

The other benefit to having legal guidance is that it saves time. A big part of planning for the future after retirement is document preparation, which can be stressful, and tedious. Trying to do it on your own can lead to expensive mistakes and waste time that you could be spending traveling or enjoying family activities. Elder law attorneys go to school for years to learn how to draft legally compliant, personalized documents that protect their clients’ wealth. They can take care of all of the paperwork for you and ensure it achieves your legal goals!        

How Can Our Galveston Elder Law Attorney Help You?

Here are some ways that our compassionate, knowledgeable Galveston elder law attorney, Michelle E. Murphy, can serve you:

Preparing Your Will

Preparing a will on your own is a dangerous way to plan for your passing. If your will isn’t up-to-date with the most recent Texas laws, or has errors, it could be contested or declared invalid, which could leave your family in a difficult situation and render your instructions regarding the distribution of your assets useless. Hiring the Law Office of Michelle E. Murphy to oversee the creation of your will gives you legal legitimacy and peace of mind. Michelle will make sure that your will includes all of the correct legal language, is compliant with state laws, and is customized to your needs. 

Planning Your Estate

Most people want to leave certain assets to certain family members when they pass away, and think that all they need to do to ensure that happens is to write a will. However, a will alone won’t bypass probate, an expensive and time-consuming Texas court process that may need to occur before your family can receive the inheritance you left them. The best way to save your family and your assets from government interference is to work with an attorney to create a comprehensive estate plan that includes a trust and other tools that will bypass probate and protect your wealth from being depleted by court costs or creditors. Attorney Michelle E. Murphy can draft an estate plan that will keep your assets out of probate!

Medicaid Planning

Paying for the costs of long-term care on your own may be impossible; in Texas, the average cost of a nursing home is around $80,000 annually. Galveston elder law attorney Attorney Michelle E. Murphy can help you plan, qualify for, and apply for Medicaid so that you can receive federal financial assistance to cover these costs, rather than losing your life savings or causing your family to go into debt.

Establishing Guardianships/Conservatorships

In the event that you become incapable of making independent medical and financial decisions for yourself, as is the case with many seniors as they near the end of their lives, you can appoint someone in advance to serve as your legal guardian or give someone power of attorney so your family can care for you and manage your affairs in the best way possible. Attorney Michelle E. Murphy can help you understand your options, retain autonomy and dignity as much as possible, and navigate this process wisely. 

Plan For The Future With The Law Office Of Michelle E. Murphy

Legal issues can pile up when you advance in age, but it doesn’t mean that your everyday life has to be burdened by legal anxiety. The Law Office of Michelle E. Murphy is here to help! Attorney Michelle E. Murphy has over 20 years of experience in elder law.She understands how personal the different areas of elder law can be and takes an equally personal approach to legal advocacy. She cares deeply about caring for seniors in Galveston and their families, so she will take the time to get to know you in order to offer you the wisest advice and guidance possible. She is able to serve you virtually for your convenience! To ask questions, get to know her, and learn more about how she can serve you, call her office today to schedule a free consultation and get started.