Concerned about long term care? Get straight forward answers about Medicaid, Guardianship and Conservatorships.
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General Info
From our office in Roanoke, Virginia, our firm of three lawyers and five support staff serves clients throughout Southwest Virginia. We understand that change, the one common element of our lives, presents us with many challenges. Our purpose is to stand alongside our clients as their trusted advisors and meet life's challenges together. We provide expert and specific legal advice to our clients and do so in a responsive and prompt manner. We specialize in the areas of: ?Business Law ?Estate Planning ?Estate & Trust Administration ?Elder Law ?Tax Planning Please allow us the privilege of meeting with you and exploring how we can forge a relationship that will meet your needs now and in the future.
Attorney Services You Can Trust, Elder Law, Long Term Care?, Concerned About Long Term Care?, Guardianship, Business Law, Corporations and Business Law, Conservatorship, Wills Estates And Trusts, Living Wills, Wills.
A: Guardianship is a court proceeding in order to end up appointed as guardian for someone. In the elder law context, we are referring to a guardian having decision-making power for an adult. A guardian makes medical and residential decisions for the person. While the court process cannot be adequately explained in this forum, it entails filing a petition saying that you want to serve as someone’s guardian. The Court then appoints another attorney who has knowledge in this area to render an independent report to the Court about (a) whether or not the person needs a guardian and (b) whether or not the person who wants to serve as guardian is an appropriate choice. A medical report is also filed with the Court and medical records are reviewed. Relatives and the person over whom the guardianship is sought are interviewed. There are certain notice requirements and the process culminates in a court hearing. At the hearing, the court is without jurisdiction to overlook any procedural mistakes someone makes in the process. For this reason, most people hire attorneys to help them.
Corporate Governance: Dylan assists entities in establishing robust governance structures that foster transparency, accountability, and compliance. His guidance includes advising clients on entity formation, regulatory compliance, asset protection, and business succession strategies.
Business Disputes
As a business owner your focus is on serving your current clients, keeping key employees and managing growth and profitability for your business. As attorneys with expertise in supporting business owners we focus on providing prompt, accurate and valuable legal assistance to you in all areas of business law.
Limited Liability Companies
Business Law, including forming corporations and limited liability companies, employee benefits and employment laws, maintaining records…
First-party special needs trusts (sometimes called “self-settled” or “self-funded” trusts) are frequently established by individuals who become disabled as the result of an accident or medical malpractice and later receive the proceeds of a personal injury award or settlement. The disabled individual, if able, or his or her guardian or parent, if unable, may create such a trust. Each public benefits program has restrictions that the special needs trust must comply with in order not to jeopardize the beneficiary’s continued eligibility for public benefits. This type of special needs trust is complex. Special consideration needs to be given to whether or not to make this type of trust a grantor trust for income tax purposes.
Scott Butler believes that nothing can be more joyous than the birth of child, and nothing can be more traumatic than the death of a family member. He has a strong desire to help families in the midst of change, both good and bad. It is this desire that led him to focus his legal practice in the areas of estate planning and estate and trust administration.
Wills
A: Not necessarily, but a review of the will is needed. The laws concerning wills and estate administration are different in each state. Upon the will being reviewed, the attorney may recommend changes as a result of a difference in state law, or the attorney may determine that the will is fine if state laws are similar.
Trusts
Special needs trusts (sometimes called “supplemental needs” trusts) allow a disabled beneficiary to receive an inheritance, gifts, lawsuit settlements or other funds without losing eligibility for certain government benefit programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. We draft these trusts so that the funds are not treated as the asset (or “resource”) of the beneficiary. This means that the assets do not cause the beneficiary to lose eligibility for public benefits, yet there is an extra pool of funds to help the beneficiary.
Power of Attorney
The will is crucial. “There is a growing consumerism attached to wills and powers of attorney,” says Dellinger. “Non-lawyers want to make a profit and so they offer ‘products’ at a cheaper rate than what the lawyer’s price may be.” Most often, says Dellinger, you get what you pay for.
Our goal is to provide excellent tax planning to you and your business in a timely fashion. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you and to discuss how we may serve you.