Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorneys in Boston, Massachusetts

Blake & Associates

Old City Hall
45 School Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
USA

(617) 723-3224

(617) 723-3116

www.BlakeLaw.com

Contact David Blake

Law Firm Overview

At Blake & Associates, our law practice is the result of more than 30 years of passionate advocacy by attorney David Blake to ensure that those who are charged with the responsibility of caring for aging parents, spouses, the mentally ill, and disabled children receive the legal services that they need. Attorney Blake joined forces with Boston elder law lawyers Carolyn Martello Spaulding and Clare Culhane to provide an array of legal services that help preserve your control, protect your assets, and give you peace of mind.

At Blake & Associates, we understand the issues you’re facing, whether you are doing Medicaid-planning for a loved one who is entering a nursing home, or creating a special needs trust for a vulnerable person. We can help you find resources that protect your assets, make your life more manageable as a caregiver, and make life better for your loved one. We understand the services available and the systems you must work through in Massachusetts.

The Boston elder law lawyers at Blake & Associates are involved in charitable and professional activities on behalf of the elderly and mentally ill. David Blake has been involved for many years with the National Association for the Mentally Ill, as a local board member and as a volunteer on the national level. He is a Registered Guardian with the National Guardianship Foundation. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, as are Boston elder law lawyers Martello and Culhane.

Year this Office was Established: 1978

Languages: English.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Guardianships and Conservatorships; Mental Health Law; Rogers' Guardianships; Competency & Capacity; International Guardianships; New Massachusetts Guardianship Code; Advanced Planning; Durable Power of Attorney; Healthcare Proxies; HIPAA; HIPAA & Mental Health Issues for College Students; End of Life Decision Making; Medicaid Planning Mass Health; Gifting; Special Needs Planning; Special Needs & Trusts; Brain Injuries, Diminished Mental Capacity, Dementia.

Practice Areas Description

Our practice areas include:

- Guardianships and Conservatorships

Guardianship and Conservatorship are legal tools that allow a third party (such as a family member) to manage the affairs of an individual who is not legally competent to manage his or her own affairs. The Boston elder law attorneys at Blake & Associates can help you and your family choose the right tool for your family and your particular situation. We also explain the new guardianship code and how it affects what a guardian can do. If an incapacitated person takes antipsychotic medication, our lawyers can assist you in preparing the annual review that is required for Rogers guardianships.

* Mental Health Law

Mental health law attorney David Blake has been helping persons with mental illness and their families for more than three decades. He brings passion, dedication and commitment to his work. As a family member of a person with a mental illness, Attorney Blake also brings a personal understanding of the challenges families face in seeking what is best for their loved ones.

* Rogers’ Guardianships

In the November, 1983 Rogers vs The Commissioner of Mental Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court created sweeping precedent in requiring that all individuals who were under a guardianship including antipsychotic medication to have their authority reviewed on an annual basis. If a Rogers guardianship isn't reviewed annually, that portion of your authority essentially expires. This means your family member could decide to quit taking his or her medication and nothing could be done in the short-term until a Petition to Reinstate that authority is approved by the court. That is why it's essential that a Rogers guardianship be reviewed annually.

* Competency and Capacity

Recent research has found that 70 percent of people in their 80s have some degree of dementia or diminished mental capacity. Many of these elderly persons are living on their own, caring for their own home, handling their own finances and making their own health care decisions. Some of these elderly people are not competent to handle their own affairs and are easy prey for unscrupulous sales people and con men or women. They also are often not taking proper doses of critical medications or visiting doctors as necessary and appropriate.

* International Guardianships

When a family member abroad begins to exhibit signs of emerging mental illness or diminished mental capacity, it raises difficult challenges. Different nations have different ways of dealing with mental incompetence (some have almost no framework for it whatsoever), and you need to respond quickly. You will need to work with an attorney in your home country and an attorney in the country where your family member is located. Blake & Associates works in partnership with lawyers from across the globe to help clients obtain foreign guardianships and ensure their loved ones receive the care they need.

* New Massachusetts Guardianship Code

There have been changes to the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MUPC) Article V that affect guardianships and conservatorships, the authority of guardians and the rights and prerogatives of incapacitated persons and wards. For guardians taking care of a minor or incapacitated family member, understanding what the MUPC means in terms of their rights and obligations is essential. At Blake & Associates, our attorneys work closely with guardians in making sure they comply with all applicable laws and are prepared for what is required under the MUPC.

- Advanced Planning

* Durable Powers of Attorney

Powers of Attorney grant decision-making authority for specific types of decisions. A properly executed Durable Power of Attorney will allow a family member to manage financial matters, such as the ability to sign checks, make deposits, pay bills, manage financial and business affairs, conduct retirement planning, sell property, obtain insurance, manage investments and pay taxes. We also include provisions that allow for a HIPAA release in order to ensure an agent has authority to access medical records in a manner that complies with HIPAA requirements.

* Healthcare Proxies

People suffering from dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, severe diabetes and other chronic conditions may eventually suffer from a diminished mental capacity. As their condition worsens, they may refuse needed treatment or cease taking needed medication. A healthcare proxy not only allows you to make informed decisions on behalf of an ailing family member, it also provides you with legal grounds for obtaining a court order forcing your loved one to comply with doctor's orders.

* HIPAA

Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) includes certain privacy rules that healthcare providers must adhere to when disclosing patient information. Referred to as "protected health information," HIPAA governs information transmitted electronically using a phone, fax or computer. Under HIPAA, what is considered protected health information is rather broad. At Blake & Associates, our attorneys work closely with clients when drafting wills, durable powers of attorney, healthcare proxies and other documents that require HIPAA release clauses and forms.

* HIPAA & Mental Health Issues for College Students

Too often, mental illness on college and university campuses goes unreported. Even when students are clearly at risk, administrators ignore the problem. This is not because of apathy. Rather, the school usually is afraid to violate the student's privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). At Blake & Associates, we educate college faculties about student guardianships. We help institutes of higher education create policies and procedures for dealing with student mental illness. We show our clients how they can handle the situation without violating the student's rights and incurring extra liability.

* End of Life Decision Making

Statistically speaking, studies show that family members do not make health care decisions based upon the previously expressed desires of the ill family member (if they even knew them). They make end-of-life medical care decisions based upon what they believe is best. After all, they will be the ones living with those decisions—and they love you. The only way that you can ensure that your end-of-life decisions are honored is to communicate those desires to your family now and to make them into legally binding documents. The health care planning lawyers at Blake & Associates can help you.

- Estate & Elder Planning

Elder law deals with the legal, financial and health needs of senior citizens. The country’s average age is advancing all the time, and now even baby-boomers are dealing with health issues and legal concerns they had not anticipated. In addition to estate planning, elder law attorneys also help with preparing for long-term healthcare needs, applying for government programs, addressing financial fraud, combating physical abuse and establishing guardianships and conservatorships.

* Mass Health Medicaid Planning

Medicaid, known as Mass Health in Massachusetts, is a joint federal/state program that supports the cost of nursing home care for persons who qualify. Planning for Mass Health eligibility involves a thorough review of the elder's estate. If your family member has excess assets; to qualify they will need to "spend down" those assets. Strategies such as prepayment of final expenses and, if appropriate, the transfer of assets may be used to help shelter those assets. Our assistance extends beyond planning to the actual application for Medicaid benefits.

* Estate Planning

Our attorneys provide estate planning services for individuals and families of all income levels. Whether you are seeking legal services for simple will preparation or you have significant assets you want to preserve, our Boston estate planning attorneys can help. After a thorough discussion of your goals and a review of your assets, our estate planning lawyers can present you with estate planning options for your specific situation.
You may not be aware of all the options available to you. Allow us to be your guide.

* Asset Protection

At Blake & Associates, our attorneys consult with tax experts, CPAs and financial planners in developing complex estate plans in order to protect high net worth estates and closely held businesses from unwanted tax liability. Unfortunately, so-called "financial experts" who encourage people to open an offshore bank account or self insure as a way of reducing tax liability, don't always understand the tax code or the law. What sounds like a loophole or creative planning is often illegal or ill-advised for long-term financial reasons.

* Gifting

Depending on the nature of your financial situation, a trust may not be the most effective means for avoiding certain kinds of property and inheritance taxes. Individuals with multi-million dollar estates can exempt up to a million dollars of their estate through a gift tax plan. Currently, there is a $1 million limit at the Massachusetts state level. The Federal Estate Tax is currently in a state of change of dramatic change and could be eliminated or raised, depending on what legislators decide within the upcoming months and years. If Congress does not renew the current taxable rate, the estate tax would return to 55 percent and allow only a $1 million exemption.

* Trusts

A trust is an effective tool for providing financial resources for the healthcare of a family member, education funds for a grandchild, support for a cherished cause or income for an heir. Additionally, trusts allocate and protect assets when planning for Medicaid while reducing estate taxes in other instances. At Blake & Associates, our attorneys work with financial planners, tax experts and accountants when designing and implementing trusts for our clients. Since it's important that all elements of an estate plan work together, our attorneys can review and audit your will, healthcare directive or business continuity plan to ensure they complement and work in conjunction with a trust.

- Special Needs Trusts

A special needs trust offers a unique opportunity for parents to provide money to a disabled child or grandchild or other relative without causing the disabled relative to lose eligibility for state and federal governmental benefits such as Medicaid. Placing personal assets in a special needs trust can help an elderly or disabled person become eligible for state and federal benefits. Special needs trusts can also be established by wealthy individuals to provide family members with special needs that do not require public benefits. Such trusts can be used to "encourage" compliance with a treatment regime or other behavior.

* Brain Injuries, Diminished Mental Capacity, Dementia

Brain injuries and chronic neurological conditions affect people's ability to manage their own affairs and take care of themselves. When this happens, certain legal protections and financial support structures are necessary to ensure someone suffering from dementia or brain damage has his or her medical and legal needs taken care of. At Blake & Associates, our attorneys work closely with the family members of someone suffering from diminished mental capacities due to an injury or illness. We explain and design trusts to meet the current and future needs of your family member while also evaluating the need for a guardianship or conservatorship for them

- Probate & Estate Administration

Anyone who is named the executor or administrator of a family member's estate faces a challenging job at a stressful time. Dealing with the minutia of Massachusetts's probate rules can be overwhelming. At Blake & Associates, our lawyers provide comprehensive probate and estate administration services. Allow us to be your guide. We will help you do right by the person who died and honor their wishes.