Finding an elder lawyer in the Nashville, Tennessee, area is as easy as typing “elder lawyer near me” into your Internet search engine. For a more comprehensive search, you can get listings of Nashville-area elder lawyers from any legal organizations that profile, review, and rate lawyers. For Example, Avvo profiles, which rates 266 elder law attorneys in Nashville.
However, given the many potential candidates, how do you choose the best elder lawyer to help successfully navigate the legal complexities of estate planning, long-term care, Medicaid planning, special needs trusts, guardianship, and related issues? Ensuring that your loved ones have exceptional legal protection makes it imperative that you choose the right elder lawyer.
With so many elder lawyers in Nashville, you’ll need to know what to look for to find the perfect fit. Thus, we’ve put together this guidance on what factors to consider when choosing an elder lawyer who will provide the best possible care and compassionate legal advice.
Focus on Experience and Distinct Specialization in Elder Law
No state-mandated certification requirements exist to practice elder law in Tennessee, and any state-licensed attorney can practice it. In fact, many Nashville-area lawyers practice elements of elder law, such as estate planning or guardianship, but may not have experience with all elder law issues.
Because you want the best for your family, you should seek an experienced lawyer specializing in elder law. You should focus your search on lawyers or firms that distinctly list their practice area as “elder law” rather than just including it among other specialties. Would you rather hire a lawyer whose everyday focus is on elder law or one whose focus shifts between that and real estate, bankruptcy, criminal defense, or other practice areas?
Naturally, you’d be best served by the former, and your chosen elder lawyer in Nashville should have expertise with the following:
· Medicaid and TennCare planning
· Life care planning
· Estate planning
· Special needs planning
· Guardianship and conservatorship
· Care coordination
· Probate
How to Assess an Elder Lawyer’s Experience and Expertise
Once you’ve narrowed your search to focus on those specializing in elder law, you should assess their experience and expertise. If you know anyone who has worked with one of your prospects, ask them about their experience working with the lawyer. Check out the websites of all prospects to get a sense of their years of experience, professionalism, practice focus, and legal successes.
Make sure you also read any client reviews, if featured, and see if they list memberships in bar and elder law associations like the Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association, Elder Counsel, Life Care Planning Law Firms Association, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). You should also evaluate lawyer profiles, client testimonials featured by legal organizations like Avvo and Super Lawyers, and Google reviews.
This initial research should help you narrow your elder lawyer search to those with a strong record of assisting families in navigating the legal complexities of elder law in Tennessee.
Interview Your Top Prospects
With your initial research conducted and top prospects identified, it’s time to get to know them in person to determine better whether they can compassionately guide you through the essential elder law decisions you’ll need to make. Because you are hiring the elder lawyer, treat the introductory phone conversation or initial consultation as if you were evaluating a prospective employee. During such phone calls and consultations, provide the elder lawyer with as much information about your legal needs as possible.
Given this information, an experienced elder lawyer should be able to tell you how they will address any related legalities to help you reach your goals. During any conversations, assess how they communicate, including how carefully they listen to and effectively answer your questions. Note whether they take the time to carefully articulate critical legal issues you may be facing and can clearly explain legal concepts without confusing you with jargon.
In communicating with your prospective elder lawyer, you want to understand their compassion, patience, and confidence. Elder care decision-making can become highly emotional and sometimes overwhelming. Thus, you want to feel comfortable with your chosen lawyer and confident they will help you make the best legal decisions. In general, you can trust your instincts if you feel entirely comfortable with a prospective lawyer and believe they fully understand your needs.
To help stimulate communication during the consultation, consider asking these questions:
· Can you describe your experience working on conservatorship (or your most important elder law issue)?
· How do you handle potential inter-family disputes that may arise with an elder care issue?
· Which elder law issues do you find the most challenging, and how do you overcome them?
· Do you foresee any challenges with my specific elder care needs, and how would you address them?
· How much of my case will you be directly handling?
· How do you typically communicate with clients, and how frequently do you provide case updates?
Location and Accessibility in Nashville
While it may be self-evident, you want to hire an elder care lawyer who is easily accessible. Elder-care-related laws and Medicaid regulations are state-specific, and a Nashville-area attorney should have helpful connections and insider knowledge about the elderly care community and related resources.
Protect Your Family’s Future with a Dedicated Elder Lawyer in Nashville
Choosing the best elder lawyer in Nashville involves more than just a license to practice law and other credentials. The best elder lawyer will be the one you feel comfortable with—one who you feel confident will provide expert advice, compassionate support, and personalized attention as they steer you and your loved ones to their elder care goals.
If you need help with estate planning, Medicaid/TennCare issues, long-term care planning, or related legal issues, trust the seasoned experts of Elder Law of Nashville. To schedule your consultation, call us at (615) 852-5602 or fill out our convenient online form.