Life Care Planning – A personal story

I am a member of the Hurley Elder Care Law team and am sharing my personal experience navigating long-term care for my mom. To respect my mom’s privacy, I will remain anonymous, but I have worked at the firm for quite a while and feel my situation has made me even more proud to be a part of our unique, holistic, life care planning elder law firm.

It’s all on me!

Like many adult children our firm meets with, I too, am part of the sandwich generation. I am a wife, mom, sister, employee, friend, and daughter. Due to my personality and close relationship with my mom, I have been the family ‘organizer’ for many years. Also, my work at an elder law firm helped solidify my position of taking the most active role with my siblings regarding our mom’s healthcare, legal and financial needs.

5 years ago, I recognized the importance of persuading my mom to have her estate planning documents completed. She was single with declining health that started in her early 70s. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but I explained it would be a true ‘gift’ to me and my siblings. I ended up with the ‘lucky’ jobs of being her healthcare decision maker and financial power of attorney. Thankfully she was independent for several more years.

The importance of surrogate decision making documents

However, more recently, I have had to step in and am grateful I have proper healthcare and financial powers of attorney because I have used these documents numerous times with hospitals, rehab centers, doctors, insurance companies, banks and much more. In my mind, these are the most important documents you can have when dealing with an aging loved one with care and financial needs. I honestly can’t imagine the time, expense, and stress it would have been dealing with the barriers I would have faced without these documents.

In late 2020, still in the height of Covid, her health deteriorated, she was hospitalized and spent a month in rehab. It was terribly stressful for our family, and we had to make some quick decisions. We moved her in with my brother in another state because she couldn’t live by herself anymore, and his home was better equipped to accommodate her mobility limitations.

Managing the transition

I knew this was a temporary solution and I needed to figure out care options for her in her new home. Boy did I empathize with our clients who also must make hurried decisions when they must solve the care needs of their loved ones! I leaned on our firm’s care coordinators (social workers) to find resources and learn how to advocate for her since she is no longer able to do it herself.

Through research I realized her new state offered some helpful care options including Medicaid for assisted living (unfortunately not available in GA). Assisted living was the perfect level of care she needed, but she couldn’t afford most communities. Luckily, I knew I needed to hire a certified elder law attorney in her state to walk me through the Medicaid process because I wanted to preserve her income and assets for her future care needs. I desperately wished I could use our attorneys and public benefit specialists at Hurley Elder Care Law because I had such faith in their experience and guidance, but I required an attorney licensed outside GA.

A Life Care Planning model is truly unique

I contacted an elder law attorney near my mom’s new home. During my first call I expected a complimentary conversation with a knowledgeable intake specialist. Instead, I was asked to schedule a paid consultation with the attorney to even figure out if the attorney could help me. I made the appointment and crossed my fingers it wouldn’t be a waste of time or money. I realized how beneficial it is for our callers to be able to speak with our Hurley Law intake specialists before scheduling a meeting.

Beware of the “self-service” elder law attorney

The attorney was helpful in answering my questions and suggested some options. After I took the recommended steps, I assumed I could get help with the Medicaid application. I was surprised to find out that I was to do that on my own. I stumbled through the steps with the help of my Hurley public benefits team. As the weeks ticked by, I arranged homecare to visit my mom daily all while we waited for the Medicaid decision so my mom could afford to move.

We hit a big obstacle. Her Medicaid was denied! This denial made it necessary to request a fair hearing. I called the elder law firm only to be told they don’t handle fair hearings. I was so surprised because Hurley Elder Care Law always prepares for and attends fair hearings. Once again, Grace, our public benefits director was to my rescue. She researched my mom’s home state law and helped me craft an appeal. It was an amazing feeling to be able to count on my co-workers. However, I also realized they would do this for any of our clients.

Life Care Planning is the gold standard

I could go on for days about other things I learned while navigating the long-term care maze, but I will end by saying my mom was approved and is now happily living in an assisted living community. I realized during my experience the importance of seeking an elder law attorney who follows a life caring planning model because of the many added benefits to families.

I invite you to call us at 404-843-0121 anytime to answer your questions. I know with complete confidence our team will surround you with compassion, knowledge, resources and help with your situation from A-Z.  There is no Do-it-Yourself needed at Hurley Elder Care Law!