Looking for an Elder Law Attorney in Maryland for my parents. My mother is fine my father has increasing dementia and is not too much longer before nursing home is needed.
Trying to find out what is reasonable costs for attorney. Some are more forthcoming than others with costs.
I have found one that's $500 for first two hours but says is could go into the thousands depending on how much assistance and lawyering is needed.
The firm gets excellent reviews.
I live 7 hours away by car but will travel down to meet with lawyer and my mom.
Thoughts?
Thank you.
Please note that the attorney was considered to be the wife's attorney and not mine. But still provided me with guidance and advise.
There is a lot of information and legal forms on the Internet that you can view before seeing the lawyer so you are already familiar with the information thtat is likely to be requested.
I live in the Washington DC burbs and the hourly rate is much higher. Some Elder Law Attorneys will do a package deal for items needed that an Elder needs, such as a Living Will, Power of Attorney, Medical Directive, and whatever else. One price for everything.
Now if you want to get a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust, that will be an hourly rate as such Trusts can be quite complicated. The paralegals can also help the Elder Law Attorneys with this. That in itself can run into over $1k. But I feel it is money well worth.
I used an Elder Law Attorney who is in a large firm. That way, if my Attorney is on leave, then there are other Elder Law Attorneys who can step in. Never need to worry about the office closing up.
GO PREPARED with as much info as you can think of. Will the attorney's office email you some forms you can pre-fill and send back? We did this and it saved us a lot of time, plus it gave us time at home to talk and decide what we wanted. Being in the actual office was daunting and we felt like we had already made the "big" decisions.
Good Luck.