Senior citizens are present in every society, and they are a valuable part. The rules, regulations, and laws of every state affect them in one way or another. Most of these respectable people depend merely on the government’s support in terms of health care, shelter, and basic facilities. The problem for such people is that they are usually not aware of the legalities of the federal government. In that case, they require legal help and assistance so that they could lock the maximum benefits they deserve.
Fortunately, this guide is helpful in terms of legal help they can get. If you or someone you love is 60 years or above, you should thoroughly read this article to get all the legal information that is essential for you to know.
This piece of information can be beneficial for all elderly people as they can learn more about the reasons why they need legal assistance and how they can protect their basic constitutional rights.
What Makes Legal Help So Important?
- In case you have a property or any valuable asset that is on your name, then you need to make a will. The will is essential as you can mention important decisions in it, depending upon your choice. If a senior citizen dies without having a legal will in writing, then the federal government will distribute his property or assets according to the already designed laws.
- You would need legal assistance at the time of buying or selling new land/property.
- In case someone has discriminated, fired, or canceled your promotion, then legal help is unavoidable.
- If you are being threatened on eviction of your property or home, knowing the legal laws can be helpful.
- If your landlord is not supporting you in terms of fixing the home so that it could be livable according to the standards and regulations set by the Federal government, you will know what to do.
- In case the institutions like Medicare, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, or any other Federal department, which owes you monetary benefits, are not supporting you on merit, you can file a case according to your legal rights.
Some more reasons:
- If you are not receiving your due pension.
- In case you are being sued and receiving legal notices for no reason.
- In case a door-to-door salesperson or anyone else is cheating on you.
- In case the bill collectors keep bothering you at odd times.
- In case you are being forced to go to a nursing home against your will.
So above are the situations, when legal help become inevitable, and it should be asked anyway. You are an equally rightful citizen of your country. Your rights shall always be secured.
For more information on why getting legal help is important for senior citizens, click here.
Now once you know the conditions in which you are eligible to ask for legal assistance, you need to know what should be your next step:
Hire an Attorney
Do you know that for the sake of putting your legal issues in the right order, you need help and assistance from a legal estate attorney? You should be confident enough to meet an estate attorney, as whatsoever is going to be communicated between both of you, will be kept secret. However, he may disclose the talk on the table for the sake of preventing any expected crime, in some exceptions. Otherwise, the discussion between you and your attorney will remain confidential.
In case you want to make provisions for your kids, and those provisions are unequal among them, even then your attorney has no right of disclosing this issue in front of your kids. You will always be his client and not your kids.
Being a client, you are rightful to inquire about your attorney’s qualification, his experience, and his area of expertise. Estate planning is a complex area of practice and an attorney who has been involved in general practices, cannot handle issues related to estate planning. So, if you are interested in hiring an attorney to get your will or trust designed and finalized, then make sure that the attorney has years of experience in this specific area of practice.
Being a client, any senior citizen has the right to ask about the fee that the attorney would be charging. This matter has to be discussed in the beginning so that there areno ambiguities left in terms of the fee.
You may come across many options at the time when you would be selecting an attorney. Moreover,one thing to keep in mind is that not every attorney is well aware of the legal rights of senior citizens. So, make sure that the attorney, whom you are planning to hire, is a specialist in this area.
Benefits from the Side of Government
Every citizen has some rights that are secured by each city, state, and federal departments of the government. The same is the case with senior citizens as well. Being a senior citizen of your state or country, you are rightful enough to ask for all your basic rights. The courts are authoritative sufficient to help you in this regard in case you are not being served by the federal departments anyway.
Most of the programs that are designed for providing relief and benefits to the senior citizens are quite complicated and contain many legalities, which makes it hard for a common person to understand what they are eligible for. This is the reason why there is always a need for an estate attorney to secure your legal rights.
Now let us throw some light on the benefit programs for senior citizens:
1. Social Security
The US government puts maximum effort to secure all types of rights of all its citizens. Similarly, the Social Security Administration is yet one of the methods that the government follows for the sake of securing the rights of older adults. In this program, it is made sure that the senior citizens get a continuous income after their retirement or disability.
According to this program, the person receives a monthly check, and the amount is decided based on the previous earnings of that worker.
2. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is specially designed to support all the disabled and people above the age of 65. This program provides a fixed amount of monthly income to these individuals through check. The amount is decided according to the set laws. This program is a bit different from Social Security, as the amount given to the citizens is fixed, and it does not depend on the workers’ previous income.
3. Medicaid
Medicaid is a medical assistance program that is run and controlled by the state. This program is designed for people from a low-income level. If you are eligible for SSI, then you are also eligible for Medicaid.
This program helps senior citizens in the best possible way. It covers all the medical, health, and hospital bills. Sometimes, this program also covers the expenses of home care nursing, prescribed drugs, and transportation. It means that this program gives maximum health and care coverage to the eligible person.
Also, remember that this program pays the medical bills to the service provider and does not pay the amount to the patient. So, it is important for you to first check out the hospital, doctor, or pharmacy you are going to is certified to receive bills from Medicaid or not.
4. Medicare
This program is designed by the Federal Health Department, and it merely focuses on helping out people who are disabled and are above the age of 65. There are four types of Medicare.
- Hospital Insurance covers hospitalization and care related to health.
- Medical Insurance covers the purchasing of medical tools and equipment.
- If a private medical company provides a medication, then it comes under the plan called Medicare Advantage.
- The prescribed drug coverage comes under the category of Prescription Drug Coverage.
5. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) formerly and commonly known as “Food Stamps.”
Elderly or disabled persons get food stamps, which is considered one of the biggest help from the government’s side. Each individual gets a food stamp worthy enough to get food for the whole month. The stamp holder can go to certain food stores and can get food without free of cost. These stamps are available even for the kids living in your house.
If you want to know your eligibility for getting these stamps, you can visit elgibility.com
Above mentioned are some of the many beneficiary programs being run by the Federal Government, which are specially designed for senior citizens of the country.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has provided you with some valuable information and may have cleared your confusions as well. The basic purpose of gathering this entire piece of information is to help the senior citizens so that they canbe aware of their basic rights and how they canlegally claim those rights. For the securement of your rights, you must take action and follow legal steps to get what you deserve.