A parent needs more care. Let's make a plan together.
Elder law for older adults and the families who love them: Medicaid and long-term care, guardianship, veterans benefits and estates, in Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley.
Practice areas
Where would you like to start?
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Medicaid planning
Medicaid planning
Help paying for nursing home care
What we help with
- Reviewing eligibility and the five-year look-back
- Protecting the spouse who stays at home
- Spend-down choices the rules allow
- Preparing and filing the application
- Answering caseworker requests
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Long-term care planning
Long-term care planning
Plan ahead while you can still choose
What we help with
- Paying for care at home, in assisted living or a nursing home
- Planning that respects the look-back
- Trusts, only when they truly fit
- Working with your financial adviser
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Guardianship
Guardianship
Court authority for personal decisions
What we help with
- Checking less restrictive options first
- Preparing the petition
- Working with the guardian ad litem
- The hearing
- Yearly reports after appointment
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Conservatorship
Conservatorship
Court authority to manage money
What we help with
- The conservatorship petition
- Bond and inventory filings
- Yearly accountings
- Selling a home with court approval
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VA Aid and Attendance
VA Aid and Attendance
Extra VA pension help for daily care
What we help with
- Reviewing service, income and assets
- The medical forms the VA needs
- Preparing the application
- Planning for VA and Medicaid together
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Elder abuse
Elder abuse
Stop the harm and protect what is left
What we help with
- Revoking or challenging a power of attorney
- Emergency conservatorship
- Recovering money or property
- Working with Adult Protective Services
- Protective orders
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Powers of attorney
Powers of attorney
The papers that can keep you out of court
What we help with
- Durable financial power of attorney
- Advance medical directive
- Medical privacy (HIPAA) release
- Updating older documents
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Estate administration
Estate administration
Settling a parent's estate, step by step
What we help with
- Qualifying as executor
- Inventory and accountings
- Estate recovery claims
- Selling the family home
- Small estates without full probate
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Not sure? Start here
Not sure? Start here
Tell us what is happening in five short steps. We will point you to the right help.
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Meet where it is easiest for your family
Our office is step-free with parking at the door. If getting out is hard, we come to you, and family members who live away can join by video.
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At our Roanoke office
- 218 Laurel Commons Drive, Suite 110
- Roanoke, VA 24018
- Step-free entrance, parking at the door
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At home or in a care facility
- Homes, hospitals, rehab centers
- Assisted living and nursing homes
- Weekdays, across the Roanoke Valley
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By video or phone
- For family members who live away
- We send a simple link, no app needed
- Large-print summaries by mail or email
Free family checklist
The papers to gather before a first meeting: accounts, income letters, insurance cards and anything already signed. Print it, tick it off, bring what you find.
Talk to a person today
A free 15-minute call to tell us what is going on. If we are not the right fit, we will say so and suggest who is. Phones are answered Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Why families choose Stillwell
Plain answers. Patient people. One plan the whole family can follow.
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Plain words, written down
Every plan comes with a short written summary in everyday language. Bring it to the next family meeting.
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Your parent stays at the center
When a parent is our client, we meet with them, listen to them, and respect their choices, even when the family is the one who called.
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Fees before work
You get a written fee in advance. Most of our work is a flat fee; anything hourly comes with an estimate.
Written for the adult children, too.
Most first calls come from a son or daughter, often late at night, often from another city. We talk with you, explain what is happening in plain words, and then meet with your parent, because the plan has to be theirs.
With your parent's permission, we keep the whole family in the loop with one written summary everyone can read.
Medicaid, explained instead of sold.
Nursing home bills are frightening, and there is no shortage of people selling quick fixes. We start with the rules as they really are, tell you which choices make sense for your family and which do not, and put it in writing.
We never promise that an application will be approved. We promise a careful one.
Medicaid, in plain words
The five-year look-back, in one picture
When someone applies for nursing home Medicaid, the state reviews gifts and transfers made during a window of time before the application. In Virginia and most states, that window is 60 months.
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Inside the window
Gifts and transfers for less than full value are reviewed. Some may lead to a penalty period, a time when Medicaid will not pay for care.
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Before the window
Transfers made earlier are generally not reviewed. That is why planning years ahead gives families more choices.
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Not a gift at all
Paying for care, paying bills and buying things at fair value are not gifts. Keep the receipts.
Rules differ by state, and a few states handle the look-back differently. This picture is general information, not legal advice. We check the current Virginia rules for every plan.
Planning ahead, while you can still choose.
Not every call is a crisis. Many couples come to us in their sixties and seventies to put powers of attorney in place and think through how care might be paid for one day. It is the calmest kind of planning, and it keeps the most doors open.
In their own words
What families say about working with us, in good weeks and hard ones.
Read all reviews“We called on a Tuesday after Dad's rehab said he couldn't go home. Margaret met us that Thursday and explained Medicaid in a way my brother and I finally understood. She was honest that we would have to pay privately for a few months first.”
“I'm 81 and I don't like being talked down to. Nobody here did. They came to my house to sign my papers and read every page with me at my kitchen table.”
“Guardianship for my mother was the hardest thing I've ever done. Daniel told us what the guardian ad litem would ask, and the hearing was calm. He made sure Mom's own voice was heard, too.”
“Priya helped with my father's VA application and told us plainly what the fee rules were. It took months, but we were never left wondering where it stood.”
“Good advice and kind people. The paperwork took longer than I hoped, mostly waiting on old bank records, but Rosa kept after it every week.”
“After a paid helper took money from my aunt, we didn't know where to turn. They helped us cancel the power of attorney and work with Adult Protective Services. We didn't get it all back, but it stopped.”
“Settling Mom's estate from three states away felt impossible. A short to-do list every month made it something I could actually manage.”
Reviews on this sample site are fictional. Every family's situation is different, and no review or past result promises a similar outcome.
Questions families ask first
Do I need my parent's permission to call you?
No. Adult children call us every day, and a first conversation is a good place to start. If your parent becomes our client, we will want to speak with them directly, and we will ask their permission before sharing details with the family.
Who is your client, me or my parent?
Usually the older adult is our client, even when an adult child calls, books and helps pay. That means we take our direction from your parent and keep their confidences. We will explain this clearly at the start, so no one is surprised.
What is the Medicaid look-back?
When someone applies for nursing home Medicaid, the state looks back at gifts and transfers made in the months before the application. In Virginia and most states that window is 60 months, or five years. Gifts in that window may lead to a penalty period. Rules differ by state.
Doesn't Medicare pay for the nursing home?
Medicare can cover a short skilled nursing or rehab stay after a hospital admission, under certain conditions. It does not pay for long-term custodial care, which is help with daily living over months or years. That is where Medicaid, savings, VA benefits or insurance come in.
Talk it through with someone who does this every day.
Book a consultation online in about three minutes, or call and a real person will answer. We return every call within one business day.