Dennis Sandoval

Estate planning is much more than just drafting wills. It involves life as well as death planning. The drama surrounding the life and death of Terri Schiavo, which was in the news frequently in the past few years, teaches us the necessity of addressing issues surrounding health care decision making, providing for financial security during a period of disability or incapacity and end-of-life decisions. Whether you believe Terri Schiavo should have been allowed to live or that she should have had her feeding tube removed, you don’t want to have to place your loved ones in the same position as in Terri’s case. Our firm can provide you with Advance Health Directives and HIPAA Authorization Forms that will assure you and your family are not placed in the same predicament.

When many people think of elder law, they think of planning to obtain Medi-Cal benefits, and that is a big part of our elder law practice. We are among the most experienced firms in Riverside County with regard to designing and implementing Medi-Cal asset protection plans. Our firm also handles appeals of denial of benefits such as Medi-Cal, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI).

Our law firm only handles three types of litigation matters: (1) tax controversy matters, (2) select Will and trust contests and elder financial abuse cases, (3) and contested conservatorships.Will and Trust Contests typically involve either a claim that the decedent lacked capacity to execute the documents in question, the decedent was the subject of undue influence, or both. These two causes of actions can sometimes be enhanced by claims of elder abuse, which—if found by the court to exist—can lead to awards of attorney fees and enhanced damages.