Home › Practice Areas

Practice Areas

The Maine Elder Law Firm in Bangor offers elder law, special needs planning, and estate planning services throughout the State of Maine. We welcome you to learn more about our practice. For additional information and to schedule a consultation, please contact us.

Planning for Risk of Long-Term Care

Our clients may seek advice on how to protect their real estate, their investments, and their personal savings from liabilities including long-term care expenses. Where appropriate, we call on other professionals, including accountants, financial advisors, and long-term care insurance specialists. We also advise clients on the risks of lifetime transfers and the benefits of various types of trusts to accomplish their objectives. Read More

MaineCare Planning and Applications

When an individual faces an immediate need for expensive long-term care, our elder law attorneys consider many factors, including the individual’s income and assets, any medical and long-term care insurance coverage, military service, family circumstances, and especially the individual’s objectives. Even after a health care crisis, there often are legitimate strategies available to protect an individual’s assets from long-term care expenses, including costs of nursing homes, of residential care/assisted living facilities, and of nursing services in the home. Read More

Special Needs Planning

We are honored to guide clients with disabilities with their legal needs, either directly or through their legal representatives. This may include navigating the maze of public benefits, particularly to ensure access to means-tested public benefits including Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Maine Medicaid (MaineCare) and access to the network of housing and caregiving services sometimes associated with those benefits. Special needs planning also includes maximizing resources, possibly by accessing affordable health insurance or protecting assets in a first or third party special needs trust. Read More

Suspended Practice Areas

Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney

Notice: On October 1, 2020, for the next several months, we regret that we are unable to accept new clients looking for estate planning.

Our estate planning attorneys advise individuals and couples on how to manage and protect their assets during their lifetimes and how to transfer assets after death in ways that accomplish personal objectives. A complete estate plan typically includes a will and possibly a trust as well as financial powers of attorney and advance health care directives. The estate plan might include planning for a loved one with disabilities through a third party supplemental/special needs trust, planning for a child or grandchild unable to manage an inheritance, or planning to minimize exposure to estate tax.

Guardianships, Conservatorships and Other Protective Proceedings

Notice: On October 1, 2020, for the next several months, we regret that we are unable to accept new clients looking for guardianships, conservatorships and other protective proceedings.

The firm represents parties in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings in Maine Probate Courts. A guardian is responsible for the physical well-being and the residential, medical, and social needs of an individual in need of protection. A conservator manages the income, assets, and financial and business affairs of an individual who is unable or unwilling to do so. We also advise clients in advance on how to minimize the risk of court-ordered guardianships and conservatorships and other protective proceedings through planning in advance for the possibility of incapacity.

Probate and Trust Administration

Notice: On October 1, 2020, for the next several months, we regret that we are unable to accept new clients looking for probate and trust administration.

At the Maine Elder Law Firm, we advise personal and professional fiduciaries, including trustees of revocable and irrevocable trusts, personal representatives of decedents’ estates, and agents acting under powers of attorney and advance health care directives. These fiduciaries may need legal advice on inventorying assets, dealing with creditors and addressing Medicaid estate recovery claims, correctly distributing assets, interpreting legal documents, communicating with beneficiaries, addressing income and estate taxes, understanding their obligations and authorities, and more.

The Maine Elder Law Firm — We're Here to Help

To request a consultation or additional information about any of our legal services, we welcome you to contact the Maine Elder Law Firm.