Experienced counsel and plain talk from a lawyer you can actually reach. You work directly with me, from our first conversation to the day everything is signed.
Free first consultation for new clients at my office, up to one hour. Home visits available by arrangement.
"I've worked my whole life for this. I don't want it all going to a nursing home."
"Is there anything I can do to protect my house?"
"I don't want the government taking everything."
These are fair worries, and in most cases there is a lot that can be done. With the right planning, and the earlier the better, you can protect your home and savings, qualify for the care you may need, and leave what you've built to the people you love. I'll tell you plainly what your options are and what I would do in your position.
I help individuals, couples, and their adult children plan ahead, protect what they have, and handle what comes after a loss.
Protect your home and savings from the cost of long-term care with Medicaid asset protection trusts and careful planning. When care is needed now, I prepare and file the Medicaid application.
Elder law and Medicaid planningWills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, estate tax planning, powers of attorney, and health care proxies, for modest estates and substantial ones alike.
Estate planning servicesWhen a loved one passes away, I guide executors and families through the Surrogate's Court, from the first filing to the final distribution.
Help after a lossResidential purchases and sales, sales of a family home by an executor or trustee, and deeds transferring a home into a trust.
Real estate servicesLarger estates bring real planning questions: New York's estate tax, property in more than one state, business interests, second marriages, and passing wealth to children and grandchildren. You get the depth of an experienced estate planner without the big-firm layers, and you deal with me directly.
Many of my clients have spent a lifetime paying off a home and putting money aside. They want to be sure it goes to their children and not to a nursing home. Protecting that is some of the most important work I do.
Not everyone can get to a law office. If you or a parent can't easily leave the house, I'll meet you at home. If someone is in a nursing home or the hospital, I'll go there. I've been doing this for clients for years, and it's often when families need help the most.
Clients often tell me I don't seem like a lawyer. I take that as a compliment. I keep things simple, explain everything, and return my own calls.
Every family's situation is different. If you don't see your question here, call me.
In many cases, yes. One of the most common tools is a Medicaid asset protection trust. You transfer your home to an irrevocable trust, you can keep living there, and after the five-year look-back period it is generally protected if you later need nursing home care. The sooner the trust is in place, the better.
Not necessarily. Even when care is needed right away, there are often steps that can still protect part of the family's savings, especially when there is a spouse at home. Call as soon as you can, because timing matters.
Not always. Many people are well served by a simple will. A revocable trust is used mainly to avoid probate, especially if you own property in another state. An irrevocable trust is used mainly to protect your home and savings from nursing home costs. I'll explain the difference plainly and recommend only what you actually need. Revocable and irrevocable trusts compared
Locate the original will if there is one, and hold off on selling or distributing anything. Then call me. I'll explain whether probate or administration is needed and handle the process with you step by step.
I'm Paul Killian, a New York attorney with over 30 years of experience in elder law and Medicaid planning, estate planning, estates and probate, and real estate. Over that time I've helped more than a thousand families, most of whom found me through a friend, a neighbor, or a relative I helped before them. I came to this work by helping my own grandparents when my grandfather went into a nursing home, and protecting families with dignity has been at the heart of my practice ever since.
I began my career at a small firm in Port Jefferson, opened my own office in Miller Place, and today practice in East Moriches, where I live. I serve families on both the North Shore and the South Shore.
When you call, you reach me. When your documents are prepared, I'm the one who prepared them.
More about meFor new clients, the first consultation at my office is free, up to one hour.