NAEPC Webinar Watch Party- June 14, 2023
NAEPC Webinar Watch Party: Help Your Clients Keep Control of their Lives and Money if they Become Incapacitated in Later Life (Or in Their Younger Years)
Cost: Free for our members to view at HRCF office – please use registration link below.
As a benefit of our Council earning the 5 Star Council Award, we can offer our members the Webinar Series at no charge. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation will be hosting the series so we can view this live webinar together. Guests are welcomed. Please register by Monday, June 12th, so we know how many will be coming.
Americans are aging dramatically. The 2020 census shows 16.8% - 56 million - are over 65. Six million of us are over 85, and over 100,00 are over 100! Science and medical miracles are creating a growing population of the “oldest old.” That’s the good news.
But the bad news is that at age 85, 50% of all older Americans need significant assistance in daily functioning. No speed walking, hiking or golf for them. Many cannot feed, dress, bath or toilet themselves, or pay their bills without assistance caused by stroke, Parkinson’s disease, ALS or dementia - requiring costly full-time care to assist in performing “activities of daily living” (ADLs). This care is considered to be “custodial” not “skilled,” costs not covered by Medicare. Individuals often become impoverished. So how do we pay for long-term care?
At-risk seniors face other problems, not just financial ones. Who manages financial affairs if a client is incapacitated? Who makes health care decisions? Who decides whether treatment at the end of life, such as tube-feeding, invasive surgery, or kidney dialysis, should be provided or withheld? How can an incapacitated client ensure decision makers will carry out his or her wishes?
Unfortunately, most clients have not executed the necessary advance directives to manage financial affairs or make health care decisions. Elder Law is the law practice specialty that focuses on solutions to these problems: “life planning,” creating a legal structure to be managed by trusted fiduciaries who can protect the client’s autonomy to the greatest extent possible.
You are invited to attend this webinar to learn about effective and practical legal planning for later life and how Louis W. Pierro and Peter J. Strauss, elder law attorneys at Pierro, Connor & Strauss, LLC, advise clients regarding the issues of aging and incapacity, the legal documents and strategies to meet these challenges and ways to protect assets and pay for long term care.
Louis W. Pierro, Esq., is the Founding Partner of Pierro, Connor & Strass, LLC, a law firm with offices in New York City, Albany and additional locations in New York, Florida, New Jersey and Massachusetts. His Firm serves clients in the areas of Estate and Trust Planning, Estate and Trust Administration, Estate and Trust Litigation, Business and Tax Planning, Elder Law and Special Needs Planning. Mr. Pierro is also a Founder of ElderCounsel, a national membership organization of Elder Law and Special Needs law firms, where he now serves as a consultant. It provides proprietary document drafting software and education to over 1400 member firms in 50 states. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; the American Bar Association, Probate and Trust Section; the NYS Bar Association Trusts and Estates (past Chair, Committees on Taxation and Estate Planning) and Elder Law Sections (past Chair); and the Albany County Bar Association.
Peter J. Strauss, Esq., Senior Partner, Pierro, Connor & Strauss, LLC. Mr. Strauss is a pioneer in the Elder Law movement with special expertise in the legal problems of aging and persons with disabilities, end of life issues and the capacity of persons with disabilities to execute legal documents with respect to health care. He is a founding member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a Fellow of the American Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at the New York Law School, where he teaches Elder Law and is director of the guardianship clinic. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for three practice areas: Elder Law, Litigation - Trusts and Estates, and Trusts and Estates; it is his 15th year of this recognition. He is the 2022 recipient of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys "Theresa Award," given annually by the Theresa Alessandro Russo Foundation to recognize an attorney for outstanding achievements, efforts and advocacy for individuals with disabilities. Mr. Strauss was also the recipient of the New York State Bar Association “2019 Attorney Professionalism Award,” given to one attorney in the State each year.
