Francello & Van Benschoten

Elder Law & Estate Planning Lawyer in Hudson Valley, New York

4 West Bridge Street
Saugerties, New York 12477
USA
Phone: (845) 247-5356
Fax: (845) 246-3657

Website: www.saugertieslaw.com

Law Firm Overview

Francello & Van Benschoten is a Hudson Valley, New York, law firm focusing on the needs of individuals and families needing legal assistance in the broad area of elder law including estate planning, probate, guardianships, long-term health care planning and asset protection. Whether you are seeking an attorney to help with the affairs of a loved one or you are interested in creating your own estate plan, we offer the experienced and strategic legal representation you need to protect your rights and security into the future.

We have significant experience in assisting our clients in creating wills and trusts, asset management, file for guardianship, and take action to ensure financial security into the future. We are diligent and detail oriented, making sure that all paperwork and documents are completed and filed correctly. From naming the executors of living wills and trustees of estates to coming up with a plan that maximizes the inheritance of your beneficiaries, we will tailor a plan to your needs.

Attorneys in this Office: 1

Practice Areas

Francello & Van Benschoten offers a full service elder law, estate planning and probate practice for the benefit of individuals and families throughout the Mid Hudson Valley. Some of the legal matters we handle include:

- Elder Law

Elder law is a relatively new and evolving area of law that involves the long-term health care and medical needs planning for the elderly. In recent years it has involved a transition from estate planning, including wills and trusts, to a more nuanced practice area that addresses the needs of the elderly as they transition into retirement and, sometimes, into a nursing home or other care facilities. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we have significant experience in representing elderly clients and their children in a number of legal matters, including estate planning, financial management and medical needs.

- Guardianships

A guardianship may be an appropriate device when you have a problem that you do not have the authority to solve. If your spouse, or an elderly parent or grandparent is incapacitated, unable to make financial decisions or pay bills, a guardianship gives you power of attorney to handle the financial affairs of your loved one. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we have experience representing clients who are seeking guardianship over a spouse, parent or loved one, as well as individuals seeking to defend against an imposed guardianship.

- Long Term Care Planning

Making plans for your long-term health care is a critical component of estate planning. Whether you are interested in asset protection or Medicaid planning, it is important to consider the financial and legal implications of your planning decisions. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we offer support and guidance to clients interested in estate planning and long-term health care.

- Durable Powers of Attorney

As a firm committed to comprehensive estate planning and elder law services, Francello & Van Benschoten provides clients with a wide range of services designed to protect their financial security and healthcare needs. One of the many ways we help clients protect their rights and future is through durable powers of attorney.

A durable power of attorney considers the idea of how a person’s important financial decisions will be made in the event of severe illness or incapacity. A durable power of attorney empowers a family member or trusted friend to make important decisions regarding financial transactions, paying bills, management of assets and other important matters.

Planning for the future is an effective method of ensuring your personal and family security. When speaking to a new client about their estate planning and elder law goals, we take time to comprehend their unique family dynamics. We work closely with clients to draft all necessary estate planning and elder law documents that may be required to safeguard their future and the future security of their children, including appointment of a health care proxy.

- Elder Abuse & Neglect

Elder abuse and neglect takes many different forms, including financial abuse, fraud, and nursing home abuse. As a firm that is dedicated to helping people and their families, Francello & Van Benschoten offers legal services designed to protect the elderly from negligent nursing home employees, family members engaged in financial exploitation and others who take advantage of the elderly.

Proper estate planning and elder law counsel can prevent abuse of a person’s finances, limit exposure to nursing home neglect and clarify a person’s wishes regarding important health care decisions. Our firm believes strongly that it is never too early to start planning for the future. Whether you are a young married couple who has just had your first child, an individual or couple entering middle age or an elderly person who needs to plan for the future, we can help.

Attorney David Van Benschoten has more than 30 years of legal experience. He is joined by a caring and knowledgeable support staff that is dedicated to helping individuals and families find effective and lasting solutions to complex personal, financial and legal challenges.

- Living Wills & Health Care Proxies

If you should become severely ill and unable to make critical health care decisions, your family may be forced to make these difficult decisions on their own. A living will can clearly define your wishes regarding important health care decisions, including methods of treatment you wish to receive and treatment options you wish to forego (for example, feeding, water or health care equipment that may extend your life if you are in a coma and have suffered irreversible brain damage). A health care proxy tells medical professionals whom to listen to and provides a clear direction of authority at vital time. Health care proxies allows for decisions about your care to be made in the future when problem arise that may not have been foreseen, or to take into account emerging improvements in medical care. As a law firm committed to protecting your wishes, we work closely with clients to develop living wills and health care proxies that protect their rights and reflect their values.

- Nursing Home Resident’s Rights

It is a sad reality that many of our nation’s elderly are subjected to sub-standard care at nursing homes. All too often, nursing homes are understaffed. A failure to carefully choose nursing home employees or a failure to monitor employees often leads to substandard care for elderly residents. At the law office of Francello & Van Benschoten, we are committed to helping individuals and families prevent elder neglect and abuse. If you, your spouse or your parents are thinking about long-term care at a nursing home and you need to learn more about your legal rights and options, we encourage you to contact our law office in Saugerties, New York.

- Estate Planning

In our experience, it is never too early to create legal documents that identify your intentions for medical care or your estate. You may have unexpected medical needs or become incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself or your family. A durable power of attorney will designate another person to manage your finances, and health care directives will allow you to make the difficult health care decisions so your family does not have to. We understand that taking the time to make these important decisions can be difficult, however, it is important to take into consideration the number of legal implications these events will have for your estate and your family. We will help you explore all of your options and alternatives and guide you in making the best decisions for you and your family. In taking the time to understand your unique needs and concerns, we will answer your question and help you plan for your future and the security of your family and estate.

- Wills

Creating a will is an important legal decision that will help ensure that your wishes for your estate are enforceable at the time of your death. If you already have a will and are interested in modifying it because of a divorce, remarriage or birth of a child, or if you are creating a will for the first time, our experienced attorney at Francello & Van Benschoten can help you throughout the entire estate planning process.

- Private Annuities

One of the ways our firm assists clients is through Medicaid planning. As part of our Medicaid planning services, we have the ability to create private annuities on behalf of our clients. A private annuity from one person to another converts an asset into periodic income for Medicaid purposes, thus limiting the asset’s exposure to nursing home or Medicaid claims. A nursing home resident’s assets must be consumed to pay for care before Medicaid payments are available; conversion to an annuity allows for assets to be released gradually while Medicaid pays a part of the bill.

- Protecting Your Spouse

One of the many goals of estate planning is the protection of spouses and other loved ones. Through the use of comprehensive estate planning measures, the law firm of Francello & Van Benschoten helps clients find creative ways to protect financial assets and preserve wealth. Through the use of wills, trusts, asset transfers and financial management tools, our firm helps clients preserve wealth and secure their spouse’s future.

- Trusts

The creation of a trust has multiple purposes. You may be interested in securing a trust for your grandchildren or in Medicaid planning. Depending on the purpose of the trust, you have many trust options available to you. Each kind of trust has different legal implications that may affect how the trust will operate. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we will take the time to understand your purpose for creating a trust and will help you explore all of your options and alternatives.

- Special Needs Trusts

Nothing is more important to a parent than their child. If you have children, then you understand the compelling need to protect their future and safeguard their security. The need to protect a child is elevated in situations where a child has a physical or mental disability that makes it difficult or impossible to ultimately live alone as an adult.

If you have a child who is physically or mentally challenged and needs special protections, a special needs trust can be an important measure for their protection. A special needs trust is generally created for the benefit of children who are receiving certain types of government assistance or who may be receiving government assistance in the future.

- Business Succession Planning

How can you give your business to your children? How can you do so without making it a gift or otherwise exposing the children to excessive or unnecessary tax consequences? These and other questions are at the center of business succession planning.

Careful business succession planning takes into account an individual’s views on family, wealth transfer, financial planning and corporate management. At Francello & Van Benschoten, in Saugerties, New York, we provide comprehensive estate planning and business succession planning services designed to meet each client’s individual needs and philosophy.

- Medicaid Planning

Planning for the future of your health care and benefits requires a strategic rearrangement of your assets. This is a complex process that may involve trusts and reinvestments to ensure asset protection and Medicaid. At Francello & Van Benschoten we are experienced in complex asset protection and Medicaid planning to secure the financial stability of our clients.

- Protecting Your Home

You have worked hard your whole life to own a home. If you have lived in your home for a long time, you probably have memories of raising children and enjoying many years of happiness with your spouse. Your house is not only a tremendous financial asset; it is an important part of your present and past.

At Francello & Van Benschoten, we understand the importance of the family home and the role it plays in personal and financial security. As a firm that concentrates on estate planning and elder law matters, we help clients plan for the future and protect their valued assets. One of the ways we help clients is through Medicaid planning.

Medicaid planning is essential to the protection of your home and other financial assets. If you are admitted to a nursing home through Medicaid assistance, the government will seek to cover its costs for your care through the seizure of assets in accordance with federal law. To protect your home and other assets from seizure, there are a number of estate planning and Medicaid planning measures that can be taken.

- Transferring Assets

Planning for the future security of your family is an important matter that requires the attention of an experienced attorney. Attorney David Van Benschoten has been helping families with estate planning services for more than 30 years. As an experienced and knowledgeable estate planning and elder law attorney, Mr. Van Benschoten can help you transfer assets to your spouse, children and other loves ones in an effective and efficient manner.

- Asset Protection

Asset protection allows individuals and families to make appropriate arrangements for finances that will ensure financial security, even after retirement. Asset management is particularly important should significant care or medical treatment be needed. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we are experienced in assisting people who are approaching retirement with asset protection.

If you are approaching retirement, this is an important time to consider asset protection or asset management. Many of our clients interested in asset protection no longer have children in the home, but are concerned about how they will support themselves financially into the future. We can help you address your current financial state and make appropriate plans for your financial future.

- Medicaid Applications / Fair Hearings

Medicaid applications and hearings are complex matters that benefit from the insights of an experienced attorney. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we offer experienced and dedicated representation for people throughout the Mid Hudson Valley. Attorney David Van Benschoten has more than 30 years of legal experience. Our firm has helped thousands of clients find answers to complex legal challenges.

Our experienced legal team is pleased to assist with initial applications, fair hearings, appeals; minimum income needs calculations and more. If you have a hearing with a Department of Social Services Medicaid examiner, we can prepare you for the interview and go with you to the interview.

- Probate & Estate Administration

The probate process can be highly complex and requires a paperwork intensive process. From filing probate petitions, to notifying beneficiaries and filing tax returns, the process requires a very detail oriented and experienced hand in making sure that all paperwork is properly completed and filed and that assets are properly distributed. If you have been named the executor or the administrator of an estate, you can protect yourself against personal liability by working with an experienced probate lawyer. Every probate case is different, and estate administration always involves a different set of assets and beneficiaries. We are experienced in handling various probate cases and will remain focused throughout the process to ensure the proper distribution of assets, including complex transfers of real estate, savings, stocks and other investments. We represent administrators and beneficiaries in all aspects of the probate process and will work strategically to complete probate economically and efficiently.

- Trusteeships

At Francello & Van Benschoten, we provide legal representation for trustees and trust beneficiaries. Based in Saugerties, New York, we assist clients throughout the Mid Hudson Valley in these and other probate and estate administration matters, including: Trustee advisement, Trustee defense, Beneficiary representation, Living trusts disputes, and Probate/surrogacy court hearings.

- When There Is No Will

As an estate planning law firm, we often receive calls from people wondering what to do after a parent has died without a will. A parent’s failure to clearly articulate their intentions can present difficult and complex issues to survivors. If you live in the Mid Hudson Valley and need to speak with an attorney about intestacy statutes or any other estate planning or probate matter, we are pleased to offer our assistance.

At Francello & Van Benschoten, we provide clear advice about your legal options if your parent failed to leave a will and you anticipate disputes about the estate. Attorney David Van Benschoten has been helping people with estate planning and probate matters for more than 30 years.

- Probate Disputes and Property Management

Our firm handles all disputes that may result in probate litigation. We work diligently and earnestly to resolve estate and probate disputes without the necessity of litigation. When litigation is necessary, we have the experience necessary to handle your case with the highest degree of legal sophistication and care.

Unfortunately, many disputes involving trustees and beneficiaries, property management, estate taxes, property distribution and other probate and estate disputes cause undue family friction and conflict. We do our best to provide clients with a firm understanding of their rights and responsibilities. We communicate with opposing parties on our client’s behalf and use our experience and knowledge of the probate process to pursue the best possible results on our client’s behalf.

- Probate Litigation

Probate litigation involves the dispute over a will or a will contest. Whether you are seeking to defend the validity of a will or you are interested in pursuing a will contest that questions the validity of a will, our firm has the experience to effectively assert your rights. At Francello & Van Benschoten, we are experienced in handling probate litigation and representing both sides of will disputes.

• Asset Protection
• Elder Law
• Estate & Trust
• Estate Planning
• Inheritance Law

• Litigation
• Medicare & Medicaid
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Personal Property
• Probate

• Property Management
• Tax
• Will

Additional Practice Areas: Guardianships, Long Term Care Planning, Durable Powers of Attorney, Elder Abuse & Neglect, Living Wills & Health Care Proxies, Nursing Home Resident’s Rights, Private Annuities, Business Succession Planning, Probate & Estate Administration, Probate Litigation, Filing Tax Returns after Death, Stock Transfer, Real Estate and Transfer of House Ownership, Title Transfers, Trustee Advisement, Trustee Defense, Beneficiary Representation, Living Trusts Disputes, Probate/Surrogacy Court Hearings

Attorneys

Mr. David Van Benschoten Managing Partner Estate Planning, Family Law, Health Care and Social