Experience Registry and Certification
What is the Experience Registry?
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys has developed an experience registry to assist the public in finding qualified elder law attorneys. The attorneys subscribing to the registry have chosen to participate in this member service. Registry participants do not reflect a master list of members of the Academy nor is it exhaustive of the elder law attorneys throughout the United States.
Participants in the experience registry include attorneys who have verified to the Academy that they meet or exceed a minimum level of experience in each field for which they are listed. The Academy makes no representation as to the skills or qualifications of the listed individuals.
What areas of the law are covered in the registry?
Participants can select from the following areas of the law:
- Planning for Disability - including durable powers of attorney, inter vivos trusts, living wills, medical powers of attorney and health care proxies
- Contested Medical Care Decision Making - for incapacitated persons, including right to die
- Estate Planning - including wills and inter vivos trusts
- Estate and Gift Tax Planning - including planning, wills, trusts and gifting programs
- Fiduciary Administration - Inter vivos - including serving as a trustee, serving as a guardian/personal representative, serving as an attorney-in-fact, counsel to trustee/guardian/attorney-in-fact
- Decedent's Estate Administration - including serving as or giving counsel to an executor/administrator/personal representative
- Fiduciary Tax Administration - including preparation of estate tax returns and preparation of fiduciary income tax returns for estate of trust
- Guardianship/Conservatorship (uncontested)
- Contested and Non-Contested Estate and Planning Matters - including contested wills and trusts, and guardianships/conservatorships
- Disputed Tax Matters - including estate, gift, and income tax
- Medicaid - including planning, applications, appeals and compliance
- Medicare - including coverage issues, appeals, and claims administration
- Disability Benefit Applications and Appeals - including SSI, social security disability, and private insurance
- Long-term Care Issues (nursing homes, life care community, board and care, assisted living) - including contract review, admission, discrimination, level of care, transfers and discharges, medication/restraint issues, and other patient rights issues
- Elder Abuse/Fraud Recovery Cases
- Civil Commitment Issues
- State and Federal (HECM) Home Equity Conversion
- Age Discrimination in Housing - federal and state
- Age Discrimination in Employment - including ADEA and state actions
- Retirement Benefits - including government retirement/survivor benefits, private retirement and pension benefits, ERISA, and tax issues
- Personal Injury on Behalf of Older Persons - including medical/nursing malpractice, negligence of health care providers, and senior safety issues
Each participating attorney's listing indicates the fields for which he/she has met our stated criteria.
Disclaimer
Listing in the experience registry and/or membership directory does not constitute an endorsement, referral, or statement of qualification by NAELA, nor does NAELA screen or evaluate those listed. It is up to the individual to contact any or all the members listed in a geographic area, and following the advice in the brochure, "Questions and Answers When Looking for an Elder Law Attorney," to make his/her own decision before retaining a NAELA member attorney. NAELA is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any elder law attorney.
What is Certification?
Some attorneys have earned the designation CELA. CELA indicates Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. These attorneys have the enhanced knowledge, skills, and experience to be properly identified to the public as certified elder law attorneys. The National Elder Law Foundation has developed and publicized rules and regulations regarding certification. Attorneys who meet these rules and regulations, including passing an examination designed to demonstrate their special knowledge and skills, are certified as elder law attorneys. For more information about elder law certification, please visit the National Elder Law Foundation website at www.nelf.org.
