What Is Elder Law?

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys tries to answer that question on their website:

What is Elder Law?

Rather than being defined by technical legal distinctions, elder law
is defined by the client to be served. In other words, the lawyer who
practices elder law may handle a range of issues but has a specific
type of clients–seniors.

Elder law attorneys focus on the legal needs of the elderly, and
work with a variety of legal tools and techniques to meet the goals and
objectives of the older client.

Under this holistic approach, the elder law practitioner handles
general estate planning issues and counsels clients about planning for
incapacity with alternative decision making documents. The attorney
would also assist the client in planning for possible long-term care
needs, including nursing home care. Locating the appropriate type of
care, coordinating private and public resources to finance the cost of
care, and working to ensure the client’s right to quality care are all
part of the elder law practice.

I would add that an elder law practitioner might also handle real estate transactions, as their client may need to sell their house, or buy a smaller one.  The elder law practitioner should also be familiar with the tax ramifications of various planning strategies. In addition to helping the client in planning for long-term care needs in a nursing home, the elder law attorney should be able to draw on a network of other resources such as in-home companion care, home medical care, or assisted living options that might be more appropriate for the client. Estate administration is sometimes part of an elder law practice as the family may want their parent’s attorney to handle the estate of the deceased client. 

Growing older and planning for incapacity and death is not easy, but it must be done. Grown children, and the spouses of those children, may have their own agendas with regard to their parent’s estate plan, or perhaps they are left out of the plan all together.  The elder lawyer also needs to be able to tactfully deal with different family members and understand the dynamics while being ever mindful that it is the elder – not the son-in-law who drives her to the appointment, not the daughter who pays the bills, and not the son who is acting as attorney-in-fact for his incapacitated parent – but the elder who is the client.