The Elder Law & Life Care Planning Center

Due to the increasing need for legal services for seniors & “Boomers” in our area, we opened the Elder Law & Life Care Planning Center in September in the heart of Brunswick County. Founder and Elder Law Attorney, Helayne Levy, believes that “golden years should be, well…golden” and has assembled an amazing team of
accomplished professionals to serve and support the very critical aspects of an Elder Law and Life Care Planning practice, including Geriatric Care Manager, Sharon Luquire; Dementia Expert Case Manager, Martin Case (pun intended); Public Benefits Analyst, Lafaunta Johnson; Daily Money Manager, Ruth McClellan; Director of Community Outreach, Justin LuQuire and, Client Services Coordinator, Lindsay Goldberg. The first in North Carolina to be a member of the Life Care Planning Law
Firms Association, the Center, Helayne and her team offer the next generation of elder law practice called Life Care Planning. “This model of long term care planning enables us to really help families take care of each other, with the
comfort and confidence of knowing they made good decisions with long lasting impact”, says Helayne, who holds an advanced Master of Laws degree in Elder Law. We have additional satellite office space in Wilmington and in Fayetteville.
It’s an exciting time for us and we have
received such a great welcome! That being said, a lot of people still don’t really understand what we do, because for most, Elder Law and now certainly, Life Care Planning, are new concepts. Planning for life in a long term care
setting requires multi-dimensional planning across three domains of life: legal, financial and personal. When it comes to estate planning, which sets the stage for planning our future, a traditional estate plan will not ensure that there will be any assets left. Here's the thing: an
estate plan directs that if you have any assets left when you die they will go to your intended beneficiaries. The keyword is "IF". A lengthy illness, hospital and/or nursing home stay could wipe out your nest egg. You could leave your spouse and family with nothing. 33% of all seniors over 65 will spend at least 1 – 5 years – or more in a nursing home (source: longtermcare.gov). This number is expected to increase, as the incidences of Alzheimer’s, and
other dementia related illnesses, are continually increasing. The average cost in our area per month of a nursing home stay is around $8,000–
and contrary to what many believe, health insurance and Medicare do not cover these costs. Even worse, these numbers are expected to increase upward of 40% over the next 15 years. That’s why it’s so important to us to make sure that families have the right Elder & Life Care/Estate Plan for long-term care now, before it’s too late. For most, even if you already
have an estate plan, the plan is either outdated or doesn’t take advantage of all the legal tools we have at our disposal in 2014. If you wait too long, you or your loved one will find yourselves out of money and out of options at one of the most frail and vulnerable times of your lives. Check out our upcoming schedule, or our website, and come on out any time! Please be sure to register so we can accommodate
you and your guests.