Elder Law Attorney in Houston, Texas

Elder Law Attorneys Protecting Your Future in Houston, Texas

Growing older isn’t something you choose—it happens on its own. But planning for your golden years? That’s something you can take charge of. With help from a compassionate and experienced Houston elder law attorney, you can protect your future, prepare important documents, and access the support you need when life takes an unexpected turn.

At Your Legacy Legal Care®, we help you plan for the years ahead and handle the challenges that come with aging—whether it’s your own needs or caring for aging parents. For those with larger estates, we’ll pass down your legacy efficiently, preserving what matters most for your loved ones.

Key Takeaways About Houston Elder Law

• Comprehensive Estate Planning: Houston elder law focuses on helping individuals create detailed estate plans. This effort includes drafting wills, trusts, and powers of attorney to fulfill their wishes and protect their family members and other loved ones.
• Guardianship Guidance: Managing guardianship for seniors can be complex, but elder law attorneys provide valuable assistance to families when a loved one can no longer make decisions. They help establish legal authority while preserving the dignity of the individual involved.
• Long-Term Care Planning: From Medicaid planning to preparing for quality long-term care, elder law attorneys craft financial strategies that help families manage the high costs of long-term care without depleting their assets.
• Disability and Special Needs Planning: For the individual needs of those with disabilities, elder law includes creating special needs trusts and maintaining access to government benefits. Special needs trusts, for example, protect assets while protecting the individual’s eligibility for necessary support services.
• Support for End-of-Life Decisions: Elder law attorneys assist clients in documenting healthcare wishes, including end-of-life preferences, through tools like directive to physicians and medical power of attorneys, offering peace of mind for individuals and their families.
• Personalized, Caring Legal Services: Your Legacy Legal Care® provides compassionate guidance tailored to each client’s unique situation. Our Houston law firm empowers families with the knowledge and tools they need to safeguard their future and protect their loved ones.

What Your Legacy Legal Care® Can Do for You

At Your Legacy Legal Care®, our attorneys assist our clients with any or all of the following:

• Establishing Guardianships: If you or someone you love becomes incapacitated, it may be necessary to create a guardianship to tend to the needs of that person (known as the ward), while preserving his or her rights and independence as much as possible. Texas law allows legal authorities to assess the extent of a person’s incapacity, arranging guardianship to offer only the specific assistance required without interfering with the ward’s capabilities and dignity. A guardianship serves “the best interest of the ward.”
• Establishing Guardianship of the Estate: When an incapacitated person needs someone to tend to his or her financial needs, rather than personal needs, the court appoints a Guardian of the Estate to have control of the property (or estate) of the ward. The court designates the Guardian of the Estate to make financial decisions about the ward’s assets, investments, and debts in the ward’s best interests.
• Elder Care Navigation: Our attorneys at Your Legacy Legal Care® help clients move from their home to facilities. Depending on client preferences, we work with Geriatric Care Managers to prepare care plans if they want to stay home, accounting for the additional help they may need.
• Preparing Wills and Trusts: Because Your Legacy Legal Care® elder law attorneys are also estate planning attorneys, we can prepare wills in which you name your executor and beneficiaries. Often when dealing with substantial estates, avoiding unnecessary taxation and preventing creditors from cutting into the estate are significant concerns. To this end, the adept attorneys at Your Legacy Legal Care® establish appropriate, legally binding trusts.
• Protecting Your Assets: Our law firm protects your assets by placing large portions of them in living trusts. We understand the importance of making certain that the bulk of your hard-earned money continues to give pleasure and support to your children and grandchildren. However, we recognize that clients in the Texas area have unique circumstances and goals. During a consultation, we focus on each individual to determine the right types of trusts for them, which may include one or more of the following:
  • Special Needs Trust: Special needs trusts (SNTs) safeguard individuals with disabilities that prevent them from managing their finances consistently. In such a case, the beneficiary may or may not have a cognitive or psychiatric disability rendering them incapable of using money wisely. The trustee distributes benefits gradually to cover the needs of the individual for life. In this type of trust, the trustee manages the assets, which the disabled person does not own. For this reason, they can still qualify for public benefits like Medicaid.
  • Spendthrift Trust: Spendthrift trusts protect irresponsible beneficiaries from their own potential bad choices. Individuals who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or wild shopping sprees need someone else (the trustee) to keep them from having access to a large sum of money. The trustee dispenses assets in reasonable amounts for rational purchases. In other words, the trustee’s sound judgment substitutes for the spendthrift’s questionable one.
  • Pet Trust: Pet trusts enable you to provide for the care of your beloved pet if you become incapacitated or pass away.

Public Benefits Planning

Health care and long-term care expenses inTexas continue to rise, reflecting national trends. According to the 2024 Cost of Care Survey byGenworth and CareScout, the annual median cost for a private room in a Texas nursing home reached $85,045 in 2024, marking a 6% increase from the previous year. Similarly, assisted living costs rose by 7%, with an annual median of $63,000. Inflation and rising labor costs drive these increases, making it increasingly challenging for families to afford necessary care. This underscores the importance of public benefits planning, which helps individuals and families manage these financial pressures while securing access to essential services.

Furthermore, many cannot afford the high cost of long-term care insurance or do not qualify for long-term care insurance due to their age or medical condition. Despite these sobering realities, our capable attorneys help seniors identify long-term care options in the form of government benefits like Medicaid, which can provide welcome additional income or services as you grow older.

Medicaid Planning

Medicaid is a state and federal program that provides health coverage only if you have a very low income and few assets. We can help you determine if you may qualify with proper Medicaid planning.

Miller Trusts or Qualified Income Trusts: These irrevocable trusts help individuals qualify when their income exceeds the eligibility limit. Miller trusts must meet the following criteria:

1. Structure:
   • The trust must be irrevocable.
   • It can only contain the individual’s income (not resources or assets).
   • The State of Texas must be named as the residuary beneficiary to recover Medicaid expenses upon the individual’s death.
2. Income Management:
   • Income must be deposited into the trust during the month it is received.
   • The trust can include income from any source, but the entire income source must be deposited (e.g., all of a pension income).
3. Eligibility Impact:
   • Income placed in the QIT is not counted when determining Medicaid eligibility for institutional care.
   • Any income not directed to the trust during the month of receipt is considered countable income.
4. Usage of Funds:
   • Funds in the trust must be used for the individual’s care, such as institutional co-payments or medical services.
   • Misuse of funds can lead to penalties or loss of eligibility.
5. Administration:
   • Costs for maintaining the trust, like legal or accounting fees, can be paid from the trust without affecting eligibility.
   • The trust must comply with specific rules to avoid being treated as a transfer of assets.
6. Hardship Exceptions:
   • If applying the trust provisions would cause undue hardship, such as depriving the individual of medical care or necessities, exceptions may be made.

Contact Your Legacy Legal Care® — Your Elder Law Firm in Houston, Texas, to Schedule a Consultation

At Your Legacy Legal Care®, we help seniors and those who love them find clarity, security, and peace of mind with comprehensive elder law services. We address your concerns and offer health care and long-term care solutions that do not require you to pay out of pocket for everything.

Call (281) 218-0880(281) 218-0880 or complete our online contact form to schedule your confidential strategy session.

We help families plan for the future, protect their loved ones, and guide them through the unexpected.