Michigan Elder Law Attorneys — Protecting Seniors and Their Families
Legal Support for Seniors and Caregivers
Elder law is not one practice — it is a constellation of overlapping legal, financial, and care issues that touch nearly every Michigan family at some point. SMDA's elder law practice covers Medicaid planning, nursing home care, asset protection, veterans benefits, elder abuse litigation, and referrals to Michigan's best senior care resources.
Whether you are planning ahead for your own future or stepping in to help an aging parent, our attorneys provide guidance that is practical, compassionate, and legally precise. We have seen what happens when families wait too long, and we have seen what is possible when planning starts early.
Asset Protection and Nursing Home Planning
The average nursing home in Michigan costs $8,000 to $10,000 per month. Without planning, families can be forced to spend down their entire life savings before Medicaid will pay — leaving the surviving spouse with little, and erasing inheritances that took decades to build.
SMDA works with families to legally protect assets while still qualifying for Medicaid, often saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our planning techniques are not loopholes — they are well-established strategies grounded in federal Medicaid law and Michigan's implementing regulations. The earlier we start, the more we can protect.
Medicaid Planning — It's Not Just for the Poor
Many Michigan families assume Medicaid is only for the indigent. That is not true. Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term nursing home care in this country, and middle-class families regularly qualify with proper planning. The challenge is the rules — they are complex, they change, and they punish families who wait until a crisis to learn them.
Medicaid eligibility involves a five-year look-back period for asset transfers. Gifts made within that window can trigger a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for care — even if the family has nothing left. There are also significant spousal protections that allow the at-home spouse to keep a meaningful portion of joint assets, but those protections must be invoked correctly.
Early planning gives families options. Crisis planning still helps — but with fewer tools. Either way, SMDA brings decades of Michigan-specific Medicaid experience to every case.
Veterans Benefits for Long-Term Care
Military veterans and their surviving spouses may qualify for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit — a tax-free monthly payment that can help cover in-home care, assisted living, or nursing home costs. For many families, this benefit is the difference between staying at home and entering a facility, or between affording the right facility and settling for less.
The application process is notoriously confusing, and many families are wrongly told they do not qualify. SMDA has helped Michigan veterans and surviving spouses navigate this process, document the medical and financial criteria correctly, and obtain the benefits they earned through service to their country.
Protecting Michigan's Most Vulnerable
Elder abuse takes many forms — physical abuse in nursing homes, emotional manipulation by caregivers, and financial exploitation by family members or strangers who target seniors. The signs are sometimes obvious and sometimes carefully hidden. Unexplained injuries, sudden withdrawal, missing valuables, isolation from family, and major changes to estate documents are all warning signs.
When a nursing home or caregiver has failed your loved one, SMDA helps families respond legally — through reports to regulatory agencies, civil litigation against the facility, and where appropriate, criminal referrals. No senior should suffer in silence, and no family should face this alone.
Our Elder Care Referral Network
Legal advice is only part of the picture. Families also need vetted care providers, assisted living facilities, home health agencies, social workers, and geriatric care managers — the practical resources that translate a plan into actual care.
Over years of practice, SMDA has built a Metro Detroit elder care referral network of providers we trust. When our clients need a recommendation, we make introductions — not because we earn anything, but because the right provider can change the trajectory of an aging parent's life.
Elder Law Recoveries
A Sterling Heights family facing a sudden nursing home admission for their mother used SMDA's crisis Medicaid planning to protect a substantial portion of their parents' joint assets while qualifying for benefits within months.
A Vietnam veteran struggling with the costs of in-home care obtained the VA Aid and Attendance benefit through SMDA's application support — funding the care that allowed him to remain at home.
A daughter who suspected financial exploitation of her elderly father found that a caregiver had drained his accounts. SMDA pursued civil recovery and reported the conduct to authorities.