The Stories and Success of Our Past Elder Law Clients

Clive's Elder Care Navigation and VA Benefits Testimonial (Transcript) I retired here with my wife. We get here. And little by little, I began noticing her memory disappearing. Took her to a clinic over in St. Petersburg, and they said, "There is early memory loss, about 15%." So that made me become a little worried. But, as each day, each month, each year went by, it became a little bit worse.   I thought, "My wife has got to go into some kind of care. I don't know where you go. I don't know how it works. I don't know what it costs." I came to Rep DeLoach when I realized that a phone call to the elder care organization located here in this area, in this county, was giving me information that wasn't consistent with what I had researched, and I felt that I needed help from someone that would know the situation.   We sat. We talked it over. He gave me background information on what he had to offer with his, first of all, person with the connections to all the assisted living. And he had the assisted living facility set up, the pricing, and everything else. I took her there. I got her set up there. But, within two months, she got up from a dining room table, pitched forward into the corner of another table, and was now being rushed to the hospital with broken ribs.   They told us she could not, could not go back to assisted living. It had to be a nursing home. There, again, was I having to look for one? No, Rep had it already lined up. And at 10:30 at night, three days before Christmas, I was able to drive in the back way to a locked-up facility, and then out came two aides to help pick her up out of my car and carry her in and put her into there, get her cleaned up, and so on. And that was the start of the nursing home.   Rep had within a day or two after, he had a gentleman come into my home - right here in Seminole Gardens, where I'd moved, come in here and sit down with me and work all the paperwork out so that she would be covered by insurance, because the nursing home, frankly, would've had me bankrupt in a year and a half. Now she's in the nursing home. I meet with Rep to go over some other things, and he said to me, "Clive," he said, "I want you to take this paper I have and go to the VA immediately."    I said, "Well, what's this all about, Rep?" He said, "It's called Aid and Attendance."   I'd never heard of it. So I take the paperwork in. Then, about the end of 18 months, I happen to go to the bank, and there was $15,200 in my checking account from the VA. About a week later, the VA sends me a letter of how much I'm going to be getting each month, tax-free.   I'd have never had that money if I hadn't gone to an attorney who knew what he was doing and how to do it. And that assistance was fantastic. Rep was there, and Rep took care of everything for me, but he also gave me something that probably was much more valuable than anything else. Rep recognized what I did, too - that maybe sometimes we can help other people.    As far as I'm concerned, Rep DeLoach has given me a whole new life.   

Clive

Terry's Elder Care Navigation Testimonial  (Transcript) Well, when my brother became ill, he was at home for, oh, probably 13, 14 months, and I was trying to take care of him at home and realized that that just wasn't working out. I didn't know how to do that financially, because I knew that nursing homes are expensive, or can be expensive. So, since Rep handled my brother's will and the sale of my mother's home, and some other things for my brother, logical choice, come and see Rep. So, that's what I did. I met with him, and then, he kind of explained the process to me. And then, I met with Gloria. Then, I met with Tammy. They helped me, financially, to set a plan forward so that we went into assisted living. And then, when we needed more care, how the transition went into a nursing home and a nursing facility. And then, whenever I needed anything, I just called Gloria and she was right there. And then, she'd go right to Rep, and then, sometimes she'd call me or Rep would call me. And the financial part, Tammy helped me with so much, because he had, of course, social security, and he had a retirement plan, and he had a small condo. I just didn't know how to do all of that without her help. I just felt cared for, I guess is the word, because that's a hard path to follow, when you take someone you love and have to put them in a facility of some sort. And so it was great to have them. And that's a good feeling. When you have someone you love and you're caring for them, you want to feel you're doing the right thing for them, and they helped me do that.

Terry

Terry's Elder Law Testimonial  (Transcript) My brother was my sister's guardian, and after so many years, and then he started to become ill, he couldn't do it any longer. So, of course, I took over. And it was in 2005. So, because my brother had been working with Rep and had his will done here, and everything beforehand, and the sale of my parents' home and everything, it was a logical choice to come in. He is so compassionate. When I first came in dealing with my sister, he did not know me. He knew my brother, but didn't really know me. I came in, and he came right in and sat with me, and I explained our situation, that my sister's mentally ill, and has been for many years, and financially, we just didn't have the means. We just didn't know what to do for her. He directed me to Tammy, and then to Lori, and we took care of everything and we got her placed. First, we started in assisted living, group homes. Financially, she did not have any funds, and so he helped us to get her on Medicaid and Medicare, and however we can get her good health care, which we did. And I want to add this, the fact that we didn't have a lot of funds, and when we first came in, Rep said, "Don't worry about the fees. We'll do what we can do, and we go from there." It's just been that support, because there, again, you're dealing with someone you love, who's in a difficult situation. You want to have the best care for them, and financially, as well as good medical care. Sometimes, you don't know where to go to get that. And Rep was here, as well as Lori, and I appreciate that so much. He’s just been wonderful, and the team's been wonderful. And then, we went into my brother's illness and taking care of him. My association here has been like a family. They've cried with me, they've laughed with me. I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Terry

Richard's Elder Care Navigation Testimonial  (Transcript) My father, who had been living in a condo and everything else, had taken some falls and stuff. Anyway, he took a fall, and he was in the hospital. And then, eventually, after his stay in the hospital, he was sent down to Palm Garden, a rehab place.   When he got to the point where he wasn't going to be going home is when we started thinking, "Okay, well, then you know he's got a pretty good chunk of money. We'll keep him at Palm Garden." The bottom line was is that when the first bill came out and they wanted in excess of $11,000, I went, "Uh oh. Well, I mean, even that chunk of change that he's got isn't going to last very long based on what we have here." And talking with Peggy Fuller, I think her name was, at Palm Garden, she had given us your names or your firm's name basically as an elder law group. Based on what we were looking at, we were going to maybe look at the possibility of getting him on Medicaid.   That was the smartest thing that we ever did...to get in line and get a chance to actually meet and talk with DeLoach and Hofstra. The first meeting that we had with Rep and Gloria and Mary Lou at the time, I told them at the end of the meeting, "You have no idea how much stress and pressure just came off my shoulders." Because my brother lives in Alabama, so Jim, as much as he wants to help, he's not there. And in talking with Rep, he had said that he had dealings before with Palm Garden and had nothing but good stuff to say about Palm Garden and all. Just knowing that I have that avenue and those types of people that are going to be communicating with me, again, makes things a whole lot nicer.   Dad not only is happy where he's at, but he enjoys the people. The people love him. It makes for a good situation. We couldn't have done it without Mary Lou's help, Rep's help, Gloria's help, and in general, the firm. Just knowing the type of personnel that's working here and the comradery and the family-like atmosphere, being able to recommend somebody to come in to this law firm and sit down with one of your lawyers or an associate or whatever, I know that they'd be getting the best care.   I definitely will recommend DeLoach and Hofstra.  

Richard

Heather's Medicaid Testimonial (Transcript) I initially came in for... to find out if I could get my husband qualified for Medicaid, because when I came to the seminar, let me think now, when I came to the seminar I think he was already in Wrights nursing home and I realized then that he couldn't come home, but nurses, there were nurses that were telling me that he had three months to live so I thought, maybe I should just leave him where he is and that will be it, you know. But of course so then I would of had to pay full private pay for whatever amount of time it was, and it was one of my sisters who encouraged me, why don't you go just find out, just find out. So we went to the seminar first, the one on Medicaid eligibility and I actually went to that one myself, she wasn't here. At that seminar I felt that there was a possibility of getting him approved. So then we went, she came with me to the consultation and of course they had me bring a big stack of papers and everything, and it was during that session that Rep looked at me and said, "This is an easy one." He says, "I can get Joel qualified for Medicaid in about a month." I thought I would die. I thought I would just fall off my chair, because I really wasn't 100% certain that it could happen, you know. But he said yes, I believed him and he made it happen. Mary Lou of course answers a gazillion questions that I have and if I need something or whatever, she helps me out with that. So once we did that then Rep said well I'm going to send you to this lawyer in St. Pete who does... you got to talk to him about spousal support. I said I don't know what you're talking about. He says, well he does this thing where based on certain information, a judge might award you your husbands income. I never heard of it, in fact he said most lawyers have never even heard of it. So I imagine there are probably not that many lawyers in the area that are even doing it. And when we got the notification that he was eligible, I just wanted to cry, because now it's closing in on a year and a half that he's in a nursing home. Rep, everybody else, has treated me tremendously. When I would call in, my messages, whoever I need, they call back right away and everything. I feel so lucky, so lucky that I chose this firm. I'm not just a number on the calendar. We'll just take care of this blah, blah, blah. Never a rush. I was made to feel always welcome and always that they cared about me and my situation. It's a good feeling to know that whatever I need related to Joe's situation that I will get the right advice, the right answers to questions and I just feel very happy and comfortable with them.

Heather

Sandy's Medicaid Planning Testimonial (Transcript) We came to your office because another family member of ours, a cousin, had used your firm for their parents, my aunt, and my uncle. You did such a wonderful job for my cousin and my aunt and uncle that she could not recommend you highly enough for us, and our family to come to you for our problems. My sister and I are only two siblings, and we look after a 91, and a 92-year-old parent. My sister and I are in our early 60s, and we find ourselves with parents who didn't think they were going to live that long who now have a need for medical care, and need for other home health, as well as assisted living. They had, by this time, run through a great portion of their funds, and my sister and I needed a way to continue to care for them in a compassionate way. When my cousin recommended your firm, and I wish that I had come here three years sooner than when I did, we found ourselves in the best position ever. We met Tammy, we met Mary Lou, and we found that the two of them were like long lost sisters to us. They sat down with us and explained the different methodologies that we could use to protect what was remaining of their assets, how to continue to use their assets for ongoing care, and what government assistance might be possible to us if we just did it the right way. Frankly, my sister and I didn't really know what the right way was, so coming here we found that meeting with Rep, Rep had an extensive background on how the Veterans Administration worked, how the Department of Children's and Family Services worked, as well as Mary Lou's experience with all the assisted living facilities, and her background in working with the Department of Children's and Family Services. She knew who to call, what to say, how to create logons and passwords, how to input information. It's phenomenal. Tammy, she was able to take all of our parents' financial asset and categorize them for us. By categorizing them correctly she was able to help us with creating a qualified income trust, which gave us some of the extra income to be able to take care of my parents in a much better way than if I had to rely only on Medicaid to look after them at 91 and 92. All of your staff's attention to detail, willingness to return phone calls quickly, to make phone calls on our behalf, to research what the laws might possibly be, because we were a new thing with a husband, and a wife having veterans' benefits, as well as looking for Medicaid benefits. Actually, the two of them together have been a phenomenal relief, they have taken so much of the stress off of my sister, and I trying to figure out how we were going to care for them. I could not think of a more compassionate, careful, considerate, knowledgeable, professional group of people than your firm. We have been so pleased and blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know you, and to have you on our side as part of our team helping us care for our parents.

Sandy

Heather's Elder Law Testimonial (Transcript) One of the reasons I came to this law firm was because of Mr. Rep DeLoach. I met him when I was seeing a patient and he came to the assisted living facility, and helped the patient understand, through their dementia, forgetfulness, and helped them and their family work through the aspects of a living will and a personal property will, and was so kind and so patient. And I was impressed by his demeanor. He was really good with the older folks, and explained everything very simply, made it easy, and really was advocating for them. And when you do not have a living will and you are connected to a ventilator and a feeding tube, and you're contracted and you have no quality of life, but it happens for many reasons, especially when there's family involved that are emotional, you wanna choose someone that has the ability to execute your living will. Try to avoid those situations, be proactive. And I know that is what he's passionate about and trying to accomplish. I raised some concerns with him about the family dynamics and he took that into account, and did what was absolutely in the best interest of his client.

Heather

David's Life Care Planing Testimonial (Transcript) My niece needed a lawyer and found Rep and that, and it basically, my niece then directed me to Gloria and Rep to set up my will, and the other things like that. Just having that explained in layman's terms, which is what Gloria and them first did when we went into the office and that, and then they laid out the paperwork on setting up different trusts so that I've got money to take care of me. I just have, it just helps ... Where the layman to try to do something like that it's just no way that they can do it on their own.  Or, even if they go into a regular attorney, the regular attorneys don't really understand. Gloria has access to the different facilities like this one here that I'm at now. Where the one that I was at I had basically asked for a private room and one with a shower and that, and she knew which facilities had that, and she started looking for me to find one that had an open room. It's like going from a Motel 6 to a Ramada Inn. There's just no comparison between the two. The food here is more like a restaurant, where the other one wasn't, and I've been so happy ever since I finally got in. Read David's elder care navigation story.

Ron’s Elder Law Testimonial (Transcript) Yeah we came in because dad was moving mom about every two or three months and it was getting kind of crazy, and we came in and met with Rep and Rep is awesome. He's just very personable. You can't fake caring, and Rep definitely cares and everyone we've dealt with here cared and having Gloria be checking on mom and dad because I was working still, and just that extra level of care, and getting him into Freedom Square was absolutely the best thing ever. "It's what you don't know that hurts you" as Rep would say, and we almost sold the condo which would have been a huge mistake. I just wish we would have gotten to Rep five, six years before we did because he'd of saves us a lot of money, but fortunately we didn't make that mistake, and got mother covered under Medicaid. Dad had the really good care in assisted living, and for the first time he was happy. Rep made sure you knew exactly what you needed to be doing and not doing, and it wasn't like we were just a customer. It felt like we were family. Every time we came in here and dad came in here, everybody, just like we were family. I can't think of anything better to say than I would recommend anyone if you've got older parents, that you need to have Elder Care. You need to have someone explain all the different facets of it because most of us, we're working, we don't know, and not knowing is not good. I just couldn't be happier with the care dad and mom got, and Rep looking after the interest, he really cared about dad and mom, and me. Like I said at the beginning, you can't fake caring. You either have it or you don't.  I was a retail manager for twenty something years, and I could hire employees and I could teach them the mechanics, but the most important quality, the most important part of your job description is caring. You either have it or you don't. Sized up Rep within two or three minutes of sitting down with him that this is the guy. I'm getting up there now. I'm going to be 66 this September, and I've already communicated with Marcia. When it gets to that point where I need you to step in, you step in with Rep and his staff, here for me. Because I want someone ... It may get to the point where I'm like mother where my memory's gone. I want somebody looking after me, and Marcia agrees. She said it's the only place she would come.

Ron

Dear Rep: I wanted to take a moment to personally thank you and Tammy for all that you did for my father in his time of need. As you will recall, when I came to you for assistance, my father was legally blind, diabetic, and had just had his right leg amputated. His monthly medical bills were staggering and his life savings were being depleted rapidly. Not only were you instrumental in assisting with his legal affairs, such as his Medicaid application, but did so in a kind and caring way. It was a relief to my family and I that we no longer had to worry about my father’s finances or what the future would bring. You made it possible for my father to live his remaining months in comfort, and with no financial concerns. In addition, when Dad did pass, Tammy comforted my family and was there to help with the settling of his final affairs. I am quick to refer your firm to my clients with similar needs. Thank you again.

Daniel R., Estate Planning Client

In my darkest hour of despair I found a team that showed they cared.  They gave me guidance, peace and hope  They showed me ways to deal and cope.  I’ve gained a new spring to my step  Thanks to Tammy and Rep.  No doubts they’re guided from above  My heart holds all of you with love.

Carol

Lorry, Thank you so much for everything. You and Rep have been so nice and helpful throughout this whole process. Out of all the firms I could have selected I was very lucky to have chosen DeLoach, Hofstra & Cavonis. I will be sure to tell my son your best wishes. We are all very excited.

RW