Boyd Handley is an attorney serving Harris, Fort Bend and surrounding counties. The Handley Law Office provides services to families needing Estate Planning, Probate, Guardianships, Wills, Trusts, Elder Care and Special Needs Law.
Areas of focus are Estate Planning (Wills, Trusts, POA, MPOA, HIPAA), Probate, Guardianship, Special Needs Resources, Special Needs Trusts, Elder Care, SSI and Medicaid/Medicare matters. Educating families with Special Needs individuals about the steps up to and after age 18 and the implications of becoming an adult in Texas is a crucial part of his business.
Much of Handley’s passion for Special Needs concerns stems from his role as the father of a young adult with Special Needs. Having been through the same tribulations as many of his clients, his philosophy is to guide his clients in the manner in which he treats his own family, explaining in detail the necessary steps to protecting their children from a legal standpoint. Additionally, he guides clients on how to enrich the lives of their children through education about the availability of various government services for individuals with Special Needs.
As parents, and now guardians, of a young adult daughter with Special Needs, we have spent countless hours researching – first regarding education issues and then all that comes with transitioning to adulthood – Guardianship, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver Programs and on and on.
Guiding other people who have reached the point where we once were is our way of helping families navigate through the Special Needs and Elder Care maze. Not everything is clear cut when it comes to government programs and benefits that you may be able to obtain for your family member. Once you get them, it is imperative to know how to keep them.
Estate Planning
Estate planning is the process in which individuals create a strategy and execute a Will and other documents such as Trusts, Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, HIPAA and a Physician’s Directive for the administration of his or her assets upon their incapacity or death.
Estate Planning is a process which is composed of a team of a variety of professionals such as your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, Life Insurance advisor, banker and your broker.
Probate
Probate occurs during one of the most difficult and emotional times for a family. When a family is grieving the loss of a loved one, there are legal issues that must be settled and a compassionate lawyer can guide family members through this process with as little disruption as possible.
Probate is the process in which the court recognizes a person’s death and oversees the payment of debts along with distributing assets to beneficiaries that were not transferred to another person via a Trust, Joint Ownership with a Right of Survivorship or by naming beneficiaries on a Life Insurance or Retirement Account in Texas.
Special Needs Law
Being parents of a young adult daughter with Special Needs, we have spent many years researching, learning and preparing for her present and her future. We found that ‘you don’t know what you don’t know. Our dedication to families like ours began over 25 years ago as we were just beginning to notice developmental difficulties with our daughter. There are many legal, educational, medical and social issues that come with Special Needs parenting. Much of the groundwork for the future must begin in the early days.
Elder Law
Elder Law covers a wide variety of issues that deal with the Elderly. Whether it’s our parents, a close relative or a family friend, we are all touched by the need to help an elderly person in our lives.
Some of the issues that may need to be addressed in Elder Law are – Medicaid/SSI Planning, Special Needs Planning, Guardianship, Estate Planning, Social Security Disability, Government Benefits Appeals and life planning documents (Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, HIPAA and Physicians Directive).
Proper Planning before an Elderly Person needs planning is always the best policy but, unfortunately, in many cases families only approach the above issues in an emergency or when a last resort is reached in taking care of a loved one.
Guardianship
What do you do when your loved one cannot care for themselves, either partially or completely? We all want our loved ones to live meaningful lives but sometimes, they may lack the capacity to do so independently. That’s when a discussion about Guardianship and Alternatives to Guardianship is prudent.
In Texas, a Guardianship is a legal relationship established by a Probate Court of Law that appoints a guardian to care for someone who has become incapacitated and unable to care for themselves. This Guardianship can be for a young person transitioning from being a minor to an adult at age eighteen (18) who is incapacitated due to a disability, an adult who has been in a debilitating accident which has left him or her incapacitated or an elder person who is incapacitated due to something like dementia.
