Attorneys At Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC

Making Bloomsburg A Better Place To Live And Age

Three Big Reasons to Hire This Elder Care Law Firm

On Behalf of | Jun 7, 2018 | Elder Law

Laws aren’t the only things constantly changing—people do, too. Your needs grow up with you. Once you reach your sunset years, the legal landscape looks very different, and it’s best to get your affairs in order to make things easier for everyone—you, your children, your grandchildren, your siblings, your friends, and your medical care providers.

We at Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC are dedicated to providing the best service we possibly can, and here’s why we believe we’re the ones who can serve you best in the area of elder law.

1. We Have a Dedicated Care Coordinator.

We welcomed Heidi E. Young to the team in early 2017, and she’s been a hit with our clients and their families. Heidi has her master’s degree in social work; as our Elder Care Coordinator, Heidi creates a relationship with you and your family to focus on maximizing your quality of life and independence. She offers support to families whose elderly loved ones are at home, in assisted living, or in skilled nursing facilities. This lightens the load for family caregivers, improves that senior’s qualify of life, and can even postpone the need for nursing home care!

This brings us to our next big reason…

2. We Only Do Elder Law.

We like elder law. It’s a distinct legal field that concentrates on the special circumstances and needs of older and disabled persons. The sunset years will come for all of us, in the end—you, and the baby just born to your friend’s kids.

Areas where we specialize in elder law include:

  • Long-term care planning
  • Asset protection
  • Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and veterans’ benefits
  • Powers of attorney and guardianships
  • Estate planning (wills and trusts)
  • Estate administration
  • Special needs counseling (trusts, housing, employment, etc.)

Are We Qualified to Practice Elder Law?

Yes! Our Marianne E. Kreisher and Marissa B. Marshall are both Certified Elder Law Attorneys. CELAs have met the high standards required for certification by the National Elder Law Foundation, and passed a rigorous screening process, including:

  • A day-long written examination,
  • At least 16 hours per week spent practicing elder law,
  • Completion of at least 60 complex elder law matters during the three years preceding the application for certification.

In addition, the attorney seeking certification must obtain positive references from five other attorneys who specialize in elder law. To stay certified, this attorney must fulfill continuing-legal-education-update training to ensure that her expertise is kept up to date. The pass rate on the certification examination in recent years? Less than 30%.

Right now, there are only 53 CELAs in the entire state of Pennsylvania and only two CELAs in Columbia–Montour Counties. Guess which two…

3. We Offer Life Care Planning.

Your Life Care Plan provides a “road map” to follow to achieve your quality of life and long-term care goals. We like to think of it as a long-term relationship that you start with us.

There are three main points in a Life Care Plan, which we help you develop and implement:

  1. You or your loved one getting good care.
  2. How to make decisions relating to long-term care and special needs.
  3. Where to find sources to pay for that long-term care.

What You Can Expect From Us

Several years ago, we began providing our unique legal services on a “flat fee” basis. This allowed our team of professionals to provide an extremely high level of care and attention to each client—regardless of how difficult the issues were, how many unexpected changes occurred during our planning, or how much time it took to resolve the numerous issues. Once we began providing services on a “flat fee” basis, clients were happier no longer receiving monthly bills, and they knew they had our time and attention no matter the situation. Our clients called more often; they brought issues to our attention they would previously not have, and we genuinely began a “relationship” with the common goal of assisting our elderly clients.

For Life Care Planning, we do not bill our clients based on ten-minute increments. Rather, our relationships are for a one-year time period, may be renewed, and include support, advocacy, legal services, obtaining medical assistance/VA benefits, and countless issues that can arise during this time period. Our Life Care Planning clients keep us updated in the journey, enjoy our regular involvement and “team” approach, and understand that we assist every step of the way.

Call (570) 784- 5211 if you’d like to hear more.

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