Practice Areas

Providing Charlottesville Clients With the Legal Services They Need

Norton Health Law, P.C. is a Charlottesville-based law firm focusing on elder law; estate planning; special needs trusts; estate administration, and more. Founding Attorney Beth Norton previously served as both a nurse and lawyer for corporate healthcare entities before starting her firm. Today, she leads Norton Health Law with a commitment to protecting and supporting clients through many of life’s most important decisions, particularly those affecting health, aging, and legacy. Her compassionate legal guidance is grounded in experience, integrity, and care.

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Elder Law

The types of problems you face evolve as you age. Certain challenges that face those of advanced age may require the services of an attorney familiar with elder law. We have substantial experience helping the elderly and their loved ones in a number of areas, including:

• Patient Advocacy – Some elderly individuals might feel their wishes and needs are not being heard or honored, especially in regard to their medical care. We represent these individuals and make sure their intentions are recognized.
• Elder Housing and Long-Term Care – Some elderly individuals might choose to explore long-term care in the form of an assisted living facility, a financial investment we can help evaluate. We also represent clients who are involved in disputes with their assisted living facility.
• Medicare and Medicaid – Benefits from these federal programs often work to support long-term care and are critical to the health of an elderly individual. We help make sure our clients remain eligible and resolve any issues with receiving benefits.
• Elder Abuse – Sometimes unscrupulous individuals will attempt to financially exploit the elderly who are unable to advocate for themselves. We can explore conservatorships to better protect the elderly and help you make sure your elderly loved one is protected.
• Conservatorships and Guardianships – We can help you through the petitioning process for appointing a conservatorship or guardianship, both of which involve someone caring for an individual who cannot care for themselves.
• Estate Planning for the Elderly – We equate estate planning with healthcare and can help build a new estate plan from scratch or update an existing one.

Estate Planning

Regardless of your age or circumstance, you should have an estate plan. You and your loved ones both deserve the peace of mind a legally enforceable plan creates. Remember, estate planning does not just cover what happens after you pass away and can protect both you and your assets throughout your life.

Our lawyer can help you build or revise numerous components of your estate plan, including:

• Wills and Trusts – Last wills and testaments and revocable living trusts both allow you to designate who receives your property after you die, who will take care of your children, and who will administrate the estate. Not having a will and/or trust subjects your estate to Virginia intestacy law, so it is critical you have at least one of these documents in place.
• Estate Administration – Someone will need to close your estate after you pass away, and if your estate is particularly complex, you may need someone to maintain it while you are alive. We can serve as your estate administrator, found by fiduciary duty, so the burden does not have to be placed on a loved one.
• Advance Medical Directives – Should you experience a medical crisis in which you are unable to communicate, like a coma, it is critical your medical providers and loved ones know what care you wish to receive. We can help enshrine your preferences for various scenarios through formalized advance medical directive documents.
• Powers of Attorney – We can help you appoint medical and financial powers of attorney to make decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated.

Probate

When you pass away, your estate will need to be filed with the probate court. Most estates go through some level of probate in the state of Virginia, though steps can be taken to minimize the procedure’s impact on your assets.

If you only have a last will and testament, your estate will go through several steps before being formally closed. These include naming the personal representative, taking inventory, notifying heirs of the deceased, repaying creditors, and distributing property per the terms of the will. Because this is a public process and heirs are required to be notified, disputes are common, prolonging the process and keeping your final wishes from being honored. Plus, in addition to being time-consuming, probate is often expensive. We can represent you should you become involved in a probate dispute.

Our attorney can also help your estate avoid probate as much as possible through several strategies, including:

• Trusts – assets named to a trust are private and not subject to probate
• Joint Tenancies – by joint-owning property with “rights of survivorship,” your surviving spouse can receive your property directly once you pass, bypassing probate
• Payable on Death Accounts – certain types of bank and brokerage accounts can be set to transfer funds to certain individuals once you pass away
• Beneficiary Designations – certain types of investments can transmit funds to chosen recipients without first going through probate

Our legal team can assist you in a number of areas related to your well-being and financial health, both immediate and proactive. See how we can help you by calling (434) 978-3100 or contacting us online.