South Florida Elder Law Attorneys

• Medicaid/Long-Term Care/Asset Protection
• Veterans Benefits
• PI Settlement Consulting
• Special Needs Planning/Special Needs Trusts
• Guardianship
• Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts
• Trustee & Fiduciary Services
• Probate & Trust Administration

Medicaid/Long-Term Care/Asset Protection

Until you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic illness or injury, long-term care may never have crossed your mind. Diagnoses like Alzheimer’s, dementia, broken hip, stroke, or other chronic conditions can leave your loved one needing constant care. Coming to terms with your loved one’s new life condition is one thing, but figuring out how to pay for it is another. In Palm Beach County, the average cost of a nursing home is $8,000-$12,000 a month. Assisted living facilities range between $2,000-$7,000 per month, and home health care can cost a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars each month. Simply put, the cost of long-term care could easily be over $100,000 per year. Long-term care insurance—while helpful in some cases—is either not available to most seniors due to health conditions or is simply too expensive. For example, your loved one may need care at the assisted living level, but the long-term care insurance only pays for care in a skilled nursing facility. Most middle class families cannot afford to pay the cost of long-term care without liquidating their assets: their savings, retirement accounts, and their home. Thankfully, with proper planning and advice of an experienced asset protection attorney, you can pay for the cost of long-term care without going broke … read more.

Veterans Benefits

Veterans are our country’s true heroes. They risked their lives fighting for our freedoms, and they should receive benefits for doing so. When our veterans begin aging, they sometimes need additional or long-term care. Thankfully, the Veterans Administration created a program for war-era veterans called the Aid & Attendance Program. Aid & Attendance allows veterans and their spouses to obtain money tax-free in order to help pay for the cost of their care. Careful planning and expert legal advice is paramount in receiving the maximum allowable benefit under the program. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, the experienced elder law and VA-accredited attorneys at Shalloway & Shalloway know how to plan for and obtain the maximum veterans benefits under the law. Only attorneys accredited with the VA and Veteran Service Organizations can submit a claim for benefits on your behalf … read more.

PI Settlement Consulting

Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A. has the expertise to augment personal injury settlements or awards whether settlement has been reached in the recent past or is imminent in the near future. We are a law firm that specializes in a unique brand of estate planning. Our firm is proficient in Special Needs, Medical Coverage, Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (MSA), Settlement Preservation Trusts, Guardianship, Probate, Long Term Care Planning, Qualified Settlement Funds, and Public Benefits, making us the premier partner for personal injury attorneys. Successful settlement is imperative in the recovery process for your client. Let our 35 years of collective legal experience provide you with confidence in the management of your client’s settlement property, while protecting your practice in the process … read more.

Special Needs Planning/Special Needs Trusts

Special Needs Trusts are trusts designed to protect the assets of disabled persons and to provide them with an enhanced quality of life. If you meet the definition of disabled under Social Security and are under the age of 65, then a Special Needs Trust might be right for you. Only a qualified special needs trust attorney can discuss whether a Special Needs Trust is right for you or a loved one. Mark Shalloway, West Palm Beach attorney with Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A., is experienced in planning and drafting Special Needs Trusts … read more.

Guardianship

Guardianships protect those who are no longer able to protect themselves. For instance, courts will appoint guardians of minors whose parents have passed away or are no longer able to care for them. Guardians can also be appointed for adults who desire to have another person manage all or a portion of their affairs or who have become incapacitated and require full management over both their person and property. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, the guardianship attorneys at Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A., have handled hundreds of guardianship proceedings and will provide you with expert answers to all of your guardianship questions … read more.

Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

Estate planning ensures that your property and assets will be distributed in accordance with your wishes. There are many different estate planning tools that can benefit you depending on your property, concerns, and desires. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mark Shalloway and the attorneys at Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A., have helped thousands of clients with estate planning, including drafting wills and trusts. Because there are tax consequences, legal implications, and other issues that arise during estate planning, you should always seek legal counsel in order to safeguard your assets and meet your estate planning needs … read more.

Trustee & Fiduciary Services

If you have been appointed as a trustee, guardian, power of attorney, or estate administrator, you know that you owe a fiduciary duty to another person or estate when overseeing assets. The fiduciary relationship requires that you use due care and loyalty when managing these assets. At Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A., we have the unique opportunity to provide our clients with trustee and fiduciary services with the assistance of United Trust. As a fiduciary, your duties might include filing reports with the court and providing beneficiaries with accounting of the trust or estate. These responsibilities can seem daunting, but our firm can assist you with these administrative duties so that you can be confident that they are being done correctly and in compliance with the law … read more.

Probate & Trust Administration

If you have been appointed as the personal representative (also known as executor) of a Florida resident’s estate, then you are required to administrate the estate in accordance with Florida law. Probate is a court process that is required to pass ownership of the decedent’s property to his or her beneficiaries or heirs. Even if the decedent had a valid will, the will still needs to be admitted to probate in order to effectuate the distribution. If the decedent died without a will (“intestate”) then probate is necessary to determine the distribution of the decedent’s property. Probate requires timely filings, accountings, and other documents to be prepared and filed in court. Failure to follow the Florida Probate Code can expose the personal representative to liability. Speaking with an experienced Florida probate attorney is imperative in order to ensure that the estate is administered correctly … read more.