Boston Elder Law Attorneys

The attorneys of Machado & Carden, LLP, respect the contributions that senior citizens and disabled Americans make to our community. Each of the firm's attorneys is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. The firm proudly offers clients more than sixty combined years of elder law and estate-planning experience.

Since the firm's founding in 2001, it has become one of the leading elder law, estate planning and asset preservation law firms serving the Boston area. By focusing entirely on elder law and disability issues, the firm's attorneys have quickly earned recognition throughout the legal community for being particularly sensitive to the multiple stresses that confront senior citizens, disabled individuals and their families, on a daily basis.

The complex nature of elder law, estate preservation, and Medicaid planning is compounded by the bureaucratic complexities of the American legal and health care systems. Machado & Carden, LLP, is here to help you navigate the system. Contact us to learn more about the legal services we offer to help your family preserve assets and ensure your family's future financial security.

Machado & Carden, LLP, provides the following elder law services:

Medicaid and Long-term Care Planning: Nursing home and medical services are not free. If you have available assets you will be expected to pay for your future care. An attorney can help you protect your assets from recovery by government programs. If your planning is properly executed, then you can shield your hard-earned assets from the government and pass them along to your heirs. Machado & Carden, LLP can help you plan for future long-term care within the Rules of Medicaid Eligibility. We can also discuss how to protect your home, protect your spouse, and how to transfer assets and still retain your eligibility for Medicaid.

Guardianships and Conservatorships: The firm's attorneys provide complete representation and counsel to help you have the court appoint a legal guardian or conservator over the person or the estate of your elderly parent or another vulnerable family member. Guardianship can become necessary when a parent can no longer make decisions about his or her financial and healthcare matters. Machado & Carden can advise you regarding all aspects of the guardianship process so you understand your role as guardian and the ongoing responsibilities with the court.

Probate Law: The firm offers legal advice and representation to executors, administrators, and beneficiaries of the deceased. An attorney can help you determine whether probate is necessary and counsel you during every step of the process of estate administration.

Estate Planning / Wills and Trusts: The firm can help ensure your wishes are met regarding the transfer of your property and assets upon your death, as well as help you plan for future incapacity or disability. Estate planning documents include a variety of instruments: wills, trusts, living wills, durable powers of attorney and health care proxies. The firm's estate planning lawyers also offer advice on methods to reduce or eliminate inheritance and estate taxes.

Special Needs Trusts: Crafting an estate plan which includes a disabled person presents a unique estate planning issue. Parents, spouses, and friends do not want an inheritance to affect a disabled person's ongoing or future eligibility for public benefits. Not knowing their options, many people will simply omit the disabled child as an heir. This type of "plan" often results in resentment and misunderstanding among other heirs such as siblings. To avoid these pitfalls, our attorneys can draft special needs trusts (sometimes known as "supplemental needs trusts") as part of an estate plan. These trusts provide for the long-term care of a disabled family member while preserving public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.

Personal Injury Settlement Planning: The firm's attorneys offer planning services for clients who have received a settlement or verdict in a personal injury case. Successful personal injury cases regularly involve serious injuries and extensive recovery costs. Not all personal injury attorneys are able to advise their clients about how to ensure that settlement or verdict funds last throughout the client's life (or at least for the duration of the client's recovery). Machado & Carden, LLP provides that planning advice, either directly to clients or in conjunction with the attorney handling the personal injury case.

Contact one of the firm's Boston area offices to discuss your elder law needs. Discover the difference that knowledge in the area of elder law can mean to you and your loved ones.