Convenient Zoom Meetings Available
Welcome to Our New Home
18820 Bagley Road, Suite 135, Middleburg Heights, Ohio 44130. Please park in the front parking lot and enter the building from the side entryway. We hope you enjoy the new space.
About West Side Elder Law
Why West Side Elder Law?
Some of you who visit this website may be going through one of the most difficult journeys in life. Watching a loved one decline in health can bring great sadness and stress to your life. Erin Eurenius created West Side Elder Law to help guide families through the process of caring for a loved one. Erin is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA®) by the National Elder Law Foundation.She is also certified as a specialist in Elder Law by the Ohio State Bar Association. She practices in the areas of estate planning, special needs planning & elder law because she personally experienced what it was like to care for a loved one in declining health. Her grandmother was a second parent to her throughout her childhood. She was diagnosed with dementia and later suffered a stroke and spent seven and a half years in a care facility. She know the toll that the process of Guardianship and Medicaid took on her family. They had nothing in place ahead of time and did not know where to turn. It is her goal to help you down that path.
What is a Certified Elder Law Attorney?
A Certified Elder Law Attorney® is more than just an attorney who specializes in the field of elder law. CELAs are committed, through certification, to maintaining and improving their proficiency with continual practice and continuing legal education. Becoming certified in elder law validates a lawyer’s specialty to handle issues that affect older adults.
A CELA® is in a unique position to serve the interests of older, maturing populations by having met comprehensive and strict requirements and must:
- Be licensed to practice law in at least one state or the District of Columbia.
- Be actively practicing law and must have practiced law for at least five years prior to applying for certification.
- Be a member in good standing of the Bar Associations in all places where licensed.
- Have spent an average of at least 16 hours a week practicing elder law during the three years preceding the application. The attorney must also have handled at least 60 elder law matters during those three years with a specified distribution among a wide variety of topics.
- Have participated in at least 45 hours of continuing legal education in elder law during the three years preceding the application.
- Be favorably evaluated by five elder law attorney specialists.
- Pass a one time full-day certification examination.
- CELAs are required to renew their certification every five years
Elder law attorneys are certified by the Board of Certification of the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF), a nonprofit organization founded in 1993. NELF is dedicated to developing and improving the professional competence of lawyers in the focused area of elder law and special needs. The certification program identifies those lawyers who have the specialized knowledge, skills, experience and proficiency to resolve issues that affect older people. For more than twenty-five years, NELF’s Elder Law Certification Program is the only elder law program accredited by the American Bar Association.
*All language regarding CELA® designation is written by the National Elder Law Foundation.
Services Provided
We want to work with you to assist you with your estate planning, special needs planning, and elder law needs. Many comprehensive packages are offered to ensure that your family is on the right path. Whether you may be looking for assistance with:
- Long term care cost planning (Medicaid/VA Planning),
- Special needs planning,
- Guardianship work,
- or Probate work I am here for you.
I also prepare estate planning documents including
- Last Will & Testament
- Trusts (Revocable or Asset Protection), or
- Power of attorney documents.
Let us help you figure out what your best next steps are. The sooner you have a plan of action, the better prepared you are for a secure tomorrow!
ACCESSIBILITY
I am here to help in whatever way that I can. I can hold video conference meetings. I also can meet you at any location of your choice. During this unique time of social distancing, I will offer to sit on your porch or near a window so that we maintain a safe distance from one another.
Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA®)
Ohio State Bar Association Certified Specialist in Elder Law
