Elder Law Overview

Senior Care and Elder Law in Texas

At the law office of McCulloch & Associates in Houston, we provide skilled legal representation for elders and their families. For the last ten years, our practice has emphasized elder advocacy and long term care planning services for seniors, including traditional estate planning services.

Contact our offices today to discuss life care planning, estate planning or other elder law services with one of our experienced attorneys.

Skilled Attorneys Providing Effective Legal Representation

We provide a full range of legal services to address the needs of aging people and the elderly.

• Elder Law Services: We provide a wide range of long term care planning services, to help elders have the highest quality of life available in their later years. With input from our firm's elder care coordinator, we help clients identify potential care providers, access these services, and develop strategies to pay for this care. We can provide Medicaid planning strategies to help our clients access governmental assistance for nursing home care or other heath care assistance. For more information, please visit our Elder Law Information Center.
• Estate Planning: We integrate traditional estate planning into our services for the aging population. We develop estate distribution plans using wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents. When applicable, we focus on asset protection strategies and work to reduce estate taxes and expenses related to estate administration. We create plans to deal with possible future incapacity using powers of attorney and health care directives. These tools allow you to give trusted individuals the power to make medical or financial decisions for you should you become incapacitated.
• Probate and Estate Administration: Probate courts are intended to ensure the effective and efficient transfer of property, but to the unwilling participant, probate court is not likely to seem effective or efficient. Our lawyers will guide you through the estate administration process, and can effectively resolve any disputes, including will contests, through probate litigation. We can help beneficiaries when an executor or trustee has mismanaged the estate, failed to make acceptable distributions, or otherwise breached his or her fiduciary duties. For more information, please visit our Probate Information Center.
• IRS and Tax Problems: In addition to having more than 30 years of legal experience, lead attorney Thomas W. McCulloch is also licensed in Texas as a Certified Public Accountant. As a result of his knowledge of tax laws and regulations, he is uniquely qualified to handle federal tax or IRS problems.

Although much of our legal practice is devoted to addressing the needs of seniors, we also represent many people at midlife, before their life care planning needs become urgent. Trying to make good decisions is difficult in an emergency or crisis. That is why planning in advance for your future in these changing times is so important. Making time for Medicaid planning and other senior care planning earlier in your life often provides the broadest range of options - options which might not be available if you wait until you need nursing home or other long term care.

Our attorneys are committed to protecting the quality of life and independence of elders, to the greatest extent possible. Although many people require some assistance as they age, the degree of independence can vary widely with appropriate care levels. You must know the options.

We strive to create flexible arrangements that are tailored to the needs of our clients. We can help you identify and advocate for quality elder care, and help you avoid the maze of conflicting advice you might receive from sources with a vested interest or narrower perspective.

For additional information about our elder law and estate planning services, contact our offices today.