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As you begin your search for an elder law attorney, it will be helpful to familiarize yourself with some commonly used industry terms. Reviewing the glossary below will help you understand the jargon.
The process of appointing a legal guardian to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another person due to mental or physical limitations, or old age. Also see guardianship.
An area of legal practice that focuses on issues that affect the growing aging population.
Also known as an elder lawyer, an attorney who specializes in legal issues pertaining to elder adults, such as healthcare, estate planning, and guardianship.
An emerging approach for resolving legal disputes between older adults and family members or third parties in a non-adversarial way.
The process by which an individual or family arranges the transfer of assets in anticipation of death; a common element of elder law.
The process of appointing a legal guardian to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another person due to mental or physical limitations, or old age. Also see conservatorship.
An agreement in which a trustee holds the legal possession of a fund or assets that belong to another person, the beneficiary, that is created while the beneficiary is alive.
A written statement detailing a person’s desires regarding medical treatment in circumstances in which he or she is no longer able to express informed consent, especially an advance directive.
The authority to act for another person in specified or all legal or financial matters.
The official proving of a will, or to establish the validity of a will.
A fee paid in advance in order to secure the services of a professional. In the context of elder law services, a retainer is often placed in a trust account and used to pay the elder law attorney throughout the client engagement.
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