What is Elder Law?

The focus of this blog is elder law. We’ll start at the beginning. What exactly is elder law?

In very broad terms, elder law is focused on legal issues impacting older adults. Elder law spans across the different legal disciplines.

Elder law includes:

• Capacity

• Guardianship

• Elder abuse, neglect, and undue influence

• Health care consent

• Supported and substitute decision-making

• Long-term care and assisted living regulation

• Advance planning, such as representation agreements and powers of attorney

• Wills and estates

• Pensions and benefits

• Housing issues

• Family law matters, such as divorce and predatory marriage

• Discrimination

The common perception is that elder law is focused on capacity. Capacity is an important part of elder law practice. However, there are a lot of myths about capacity that permeate the field. Just because someone is older or has a disability does not mean they lack capacity. My next post will examine what capacity is (and what it isn’t).