Texas Elder Law Attorneys

Watching a parent or spouse age brings questions nobody feels ready for. How will we pay for the nursing home? Who decides when Mom can't? Is Dad being taken advantage of? An elder law attorney answers exactly these questions — and uses tools written into Texas and federal law to protect your loved one's care, dignity, and life savings. Here is the encouraging truth: families almost never have to lose everything to long-term care. The law protects the spouse at home, the homestead, and more — but the protections work best for families who plan ahead, and there are still lawful options even in a crisis. Most elder law attorneys charge clear flat or hourly fees explained up front and offer a free, no-obligation consultation, so you can find out where you stand before spending anything.

What Does an Elder Law Attorney Do in Texas?

An elder law attorney handles the legal side of aging: paying for long-term care, qualifying for Medicaid, guardianship, powers of attorney, special needs trusts, and protecting seniors from neglect and exploitation. Where an estate planning attorney focuses on what happens to your property after death, and a probate lawyer handles the court process afterward, elder law is about the years in between — the season of life when health, housing, and money decisions collide. It is a specialty built on the intersection of the Texas Estates Code, federal Medicaid rules, and the long-term care system run by Texas Health and Human Services, and the difference between guessing and getting experienced advice is often measured in a family's entire savings.

How Will You Pay for Long-Term Care? Texas Medicaid Planning

Nursing home care in Texas routinely costs more per month than most retirees' income — and Medicaid, not Medicare, is the program that pays for long-term care once savings run short. Medicare covers only brief, limited stays after a hospitalization. Long-term coverage comes through Texas Medicaid, which requires meeting both a medical need standard and strict financial limits on income and countable assets set by Texas Health and Human Services. Some assets — including, within limits, the homestead, a vehicle, and personal belongings — are generally exempt. The planning question is what to do about everything else. Done wrong, a family "spends down" by simply writing checks to the nursing home until little is left. Done right, an elder law attorney uses lawful strategies — exempt asset conversions, spousal protections, qualified trusts — to secure care while preserving what the law allows the family to keep.

What Is the Five-Year Look-Back — and Why Does Planning Early Matter?

When someone applies for Medicaid long-term care, the state reviews five years of financial history — and gifts made during that window can trigger a penalty period when Medicaid will not pay. The penalty's length is based on the amount transferred, which is why the instinct many families have — put the house in the kids' names, move money out of Mom's account — usually backfires badly, sometimes leaving a senior with no way to pay for care precisely when it's needed. The federal rules are summarized at Medicaid.gov, but applying them to a real Texas family is lawyer work. Two takeaways: planning five or more years ahead opens the most options, and even in a crisis — a sudden stroke, a dementia diagnosis, an imminent nursing home admission — an elder law attorney often has lawful strategies left. Don't assume it's too late before asking.

How Is the Spouse at Home Protected?

Federal and Texas "spousal impoverishment" rules exist for one reason: the husband or wife who stays home is not supposed to be left destitute because their spouse needs a nursing home. The community spouse generally keeps the homestead and a vehicle, plus a protected share of the couple's combined countable assets and, when their own income is low, an allowance from the nursing home spouse's income. The protected amounts are set by formulas that adjust each year, and how assets are titled and timed can change the result dramatically. This is one of the highest-stakes calculations in elder law — and one of the clearest cases where an experienced attorney's fee pays for itself many times over in what the at-home spouse lawfully keeps.

Which Tools Protect Assets Without Losing Benefits?

Elder law has a toolbox of court-tested instruments that secure benefits while protecting people and property — each with strict rules that make them attorney work. Texas is an income-cap state, so applicants whose monthly income exceeds the Medicaid limit need a Miller trust (qualified income trust) to qualify at all. After death, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) can claim against the probate estate — but exemptions, hardship waivers, and deed planning such as a transfer-on-death deed or lady bird deed can often keep the home in the family. Here are the tools you'll hear about most:

Every one of these has technical requirements that decide whether it works or fails. It's best to have an elder law attorney match the tool to your family's facts rather than borrowing a strategy that worked for someone else.

How Does Guardianship Work in Texas — and Can You Avoid It?

Guardianship is the court process for protecting an adult who can no longer manage their own affairs — and Texas law treats it as a last resort. Under Title 3 of the Texas Estates Code, a judge may appoint a guardian of the person, of the estate, or both, only after an application, a physician's certificate of medical examination, a hearing, and the appointment of an attorney ad litem to represent the proposed ward. Courts must consider less-restrictive alternatives first — including powers of attorney and supported decision-making agreements under Chapter 1357 — and must tailor any guardianship as narrowly as the ward's abilities allow. The practical lesson cuts both ways: signing powers of attorney while a loved one still has capacity usually avoids guardianship altogether, and when guardianship truly is necessary — advancing dementia with no documents in place, or a senior being exploited — an elder law attorney moves the case through court properly. Texas courts generally require guardianship applicants to be represented by an attorney.

What If a Nursing Home Hurt Someone You Love?

Bedsores, unexplained falls, dehydration, overmedication, sudden withdrawal — these are warning signs the law takes seriously, and your family has real recourse. Move on three tracks at once. First, protect the resident: in an emergency call 911, and report suspected abuse or neglect to Texas Health and Human Services, which regulates and inspects nursing facilities, or through the Texas Abuse Hotline run by the Department of Family and Protective Services. The state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman can also advocate for a resident's rights inside the facility. Second, document everything — photos, medical records, staff names, dates. Third, talk to a lawyer about accountability: a facility that failed to provide reasonable care may be liable for the harm it caused, and those injury cases are typically handled by a personal injury lawyer on a contingency basis.

Powers of Attorney and Protecting Seniors from Financial Exploitation

A power of attorney is the single most useful document in elder law — and, in the wrong hands, the most dangerous. A durable power of attorney under the Texas Estates Code lets a trusted agent manage finances if a senior becomes unable; a medical power of attorney does the same for health care. Signed early, they spare families the cost and pain of guardianship. But financial exploitation of the elderly — by scammers, by "new friends," sometimes by relatives holding a power of attorney — is one of the fastest-growing problems courts see. Texas law gives agents fiduciary duties and gives families remedies: revoking a misused power of attorney, demanding an accounting, reporting exploitation to Adult Protective Services through the channels described at TexasLawHelp, and suing to recover what was taken. If something about a loved one's finances doesn't look right, an elder law attorney can tell you quickly whether the law has been crossed and what to do about it.

What an Elder Law Attorney Costs — and Why the Referral Is Free

Elder law is a paid legal service with fees that are usually predictable: a flat fee for defined projects — a Medicaid application, a Miller trust, an uncontested guardianship — and an hourly rate for litigation or unusually complex matters, explained up front. Measure the fee against what's at stake: the spouse's protected share, the homestead, years of accumulated savings. Sound planning routinely preserves many times what it costs, and choosing the right tool the first time avoids the far larger expense of undoing a mistake. And our referral through the Texas Lawyer Referral Service is free, and most elder law attorneys offer a free, no-obligation consultation, so you can learn what your family's situation actually requires before committing to anything.

Related Help

Depending on your situation, these may help too:

• Estate planning attorneys — for wills, trusts, and powers of attorney while you're planning ahead.
• Probate lawyers — for settling an estate after a death.
• Personal injury lawyers — for nursing home neglect and abuse injury claims.
• Social Security attorneys — for disability benefits, SSI, and appeals.
• All practice areas — browse every kind of lawyer we can connect you with in Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions About Texas Elder Law Attorneys

What does an elder law attorney do in Texas?

An elder law attorney focuses on the legal needs of aging Texans and their families: planning how to pay for long-term care and qualify for Medicaid without losing everything, putting powers of attorney and trusts in place, handling guardianship of a loved one who can no longer manage their affairs, protecting seniors from financial exploitation, and responding to nursing home neglect or abuse. The common thread is protecting an older adult's health, dignity, and life savings.

How does someone qualify for Medicaid long-term care in Texas?

Texas Medicaid pays for nursing home care and certain in-home services for people who meet both medical and financial requirements set by Texas Health and Human Services. The financial side has strict income and asset limits, though some assets such as the homestead are generally exempt within limits, and special rules protect a spouse who remains at home. Because the rules are complicated and mistakes can trigger penalty periods, families usually work with an elder law attorney before applying.

What is the Medicaid five-year look-back period?

When someone applies for Medicaid long-term care, the state reviews five years of financial history. Gifts or below-market transfers made during that window can trigger a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for care, with the length based on the amount transferred. That is why giving away the house or handing money to the children shortly before applying usually backfires, and why elder law attorneys urge families to plan years ahead or to get advice on lawful crisis-planning options when care is needed now.

Can the spouse who stays at home keep the house and savings?

In large part, yes. Federal and Texas spousal impoverishment rules let the spouse who remains in the community keep the homestead, a vehicle, and a protected share of the couple's combined assets, and in some cases part of the nursing home spouse's income. The exact protected amounts are set by formulas that adjust each year. An elder law attorney can run the numbers for your family and structure assets so the at-home spouse is not left without resources.

What is a Miller trust or qualified income trust?

Texas is an income-cap state: if monthly income exceeds the Medicaid limit, the applicant is over the cap even when the income comes nowhere near covering a nursing home. A Miller trust, also called a qualified income trust, solves that. Income is paid into the trust and used for allowed expenses, and the applicant can then qualify despite being over the cap. The trust must be drafted and administered correctly, which is routine work for an elder law attorney.

Can Medicaid take our home after death?

Sometimes. The Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, known as MERP, can file a claim against the probate estate of a Medicaid long-term-care recipient after death, and that claim can reach the homestead. But there are major exceptions and hardship waivers, including when there is a surviving spouse or certain dependents, and planning tools such as a transfer-on-death deed or lady bird deed may keep the home out of the probate estate entirely. This is exactly the kind of problem an elder law attorney plans around in advance.

How does guardianship of an adult work in Texas?

Guardianship is a court process under Title 3 of the Texas Estates Code in which a judge finds that an adult is incapacitated and appoints a guardian of the person, of the estate, or both. It requires an application, a physician's certificate of medical examination, a court-appointed attorney ad litem for the proposed ward, and a hearing. Texas law requires courts to consider less-restrictive alternatives first and to limit any guardianship as narrowly as possible, and applicants are generally required to be represented by an attorney.

Are there alternatives to guardianship in Texas?

Yes, and Texas courts must consider them first. Alternatives include a durable power of attorney for finances, a medical power of attorney, a supported decision-making agreement under Chapter 1357 of the Estates Code, management trusts, and representative payees for government benefits. When the documents are signed while a person still has capacity, the family can usually avoid guardianship entirely, which is faster, less expensive, and far less restrictive.

What can I do about nursing home neglect or abuse in Texas?

Act on three tracks. First, protect the resident: in an emergency call 911, and report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to Texas Health and Human Services or through the Texas Abuse Hotline run by the Department of Family and Protective Services. Second, document everything, including photos, medical records, and names of witnesses. Third, talk to a lawyer. A facility that failed to provide reasonable care may be held accountable, and nursing home injury cases are typically handled by personal injury lawyers on a contingency basis.

What is a special needs trust?

A special needs trust holds assets for a person with a disability without disqualifying them from means-tested benefits such as Medicaid and SSI. The trust pays for things benefits do not cover, such as therapies, equipment, transportation, and quality of life, while the beneficiary keeps eligibility. Families use them to leave an inheritance to a child or grandchild with a disability, and they are also used when a person with a disability receives a settlement or inheritance directly. Drafting must follow strict federal and state rules, so this is attorney work.

How much does an elder law attorney cost in Texas?

Elder law is a paid legal service. Most elder law attorneys charge a flat fee for defined projects such as a Medicaid application, a Miller trust, or an uncontested guardianship, and an hourly rate for litigation or unusually complex matters, with the fee explained up front. Good planning routinely preserves far more in assets than it costs. Our referral is free, and most elder law attorneys offer a free initial consultation, so you can learn your options before spending anything.

How do I get a Texas elder law attorney right now?

Call or text 512-872-4400 any time, day or night. You will be connected with an experienced elder law attorney serving your area anywhere in Texas. The referral is free and most attorneys offer a free initial consultation, so you can get clear answers about Medicaid, guardianship, or a nursing home concern at no cost.