San Mateo Elder Law & Conservatorship Attorneys

Advocating for our elders with love and respect.
Rather than concentrating on a particular type of legal case, elder law focuses on a particular type of client: seniors. That’s because seniors and their families have a wide range of legal matters to consider and often, a limited amount of time in which to address them…  

• Estate planning with a special focus on planning for the possibility of long-term care with irrevocable trusts
• Qualification for benefits, including Medi-Cal to pay for skilled nursing facilities, and VA benefits to pay for in-home care or assisted living
• Gifting strategies to qualify for Medi-Cal
• Incapacity planning through the preparation of an Advance Health Care Directive and a Durable Power of Attorney
• Advising adult children of an incapacitated parent
• Using mediation to resolve disputes between family members regarding the care of an elderly loved one, as well as disputes with assisted living and skilled nursing facilities
• Reviewing current estate plan
• Establishing a conservatorship to assist an individual with a developmental disability to lead a life of their choice. 
  
  

Conservatorship is a compassionate solution to provide help to an adult who cannot manage on their own. 
A judge will appoint another person to help make decisions for an incapacitated adult who does not have a Durable Power of Attorney and an Advance Health Care Directive. In California, a judge will only authorize conservatorship if it has been established that other less restrictive measures will not work, as it is intended to furnish the least restrictive type of assistance. 

The person who needs help is called the conservatee, and the person authorized to help is called the conservator. Judges will generally appoint a conservator requested by the conservatee. If the conservatee does not propose a conservator, the judge will evaluate the conservatee’s needs and best interests and appoint a conservator who matches them.

The conservator may be needed strictly to help with care and protection of the person, referred to as conservatorship of the person; and/or they may also be needed to handle the person’s finances, referred to as conservatorship of the estate.

It may be necessary to go to court to establish a conservatorship. We can help you through this complicated process. 

With luck, we’ll all be seniors one day, too. 
And how we care for today’s seniors will have an impact on how we’re treated. Laughlin Legal attorneys are experienced elder law attorneys. We’re advocates for the elderly and the people who love them. Protecting people who cannot do it for themselves is one of our core values. We are skilled and sensitive listeners who take the time to make sure our elder clients and their families understand all of their options and make the best, most-informed decisions.