We recently had the chance to connect with Jason Neufeld Esq. and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Jason, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
When people hear “medicaid planning” they may tune out thinking to themselves “I may not have the net worth of Elon Musk, but I certainly have more assets than what people on medicaid have.”
I want people to recognize – first I agree that Medicaid Planning is not for high-net worth individuals. BUT, Medicaid Planning is absolutely something that anyone over the age of 70, or younger if in need of care, should consider if they have less than $1,000,000 to their name. This is because paying for long-term care (at home or in a facility) can be very expensive. Medicaid does NOT pay for everything. So, if we can legally and ethically protect our client’s assets to fill in the deficits that are not covered by Medicaid, we can dramatically improve the quality of our client’s life while also making it more likely that they’ll have something to pass onto the next generation (or charity) of their choice.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a Board-Certified Elder Law Attorney, serving the entire state of Florida. I am on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys. I help teach other attorneys about Medicaid Planning and Estate Planning. I have also created a phenomenal team that is committed to providing an excellent client experience. We pride ourselves on taking a very stressful time in our client’s lives and bringing a sense of peace and relief to them and their families.
Our firm focuses on Medicaid Planning, Estate Planning, Probate and we will soon introduce Life Care Planning.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
I always idolized my father, who is also an attorney. From a very young age I had the privilege of witnessing his work ethic. He was (and still is) a highly successful personal injury attorney who before a trial would lock himself in his home office for many hours at a time to ensure he gave his clients his very best.
But this isn’t the well-worn story about a workaholic attorney who put the office above family. When he wasn’t in trial, he was a very involved father and devoted husband. He coached little league, helped me with my homework and made sure my siblings and I knew he was always there for us. He regularly brought my mother home flowers, and every Saturday night was date night.
In short he showed me how to be both devoted to his craft and how to make time for what is truly important.
When did you last change your mind about something important?
I started my legal career as a litigator (before I got into Elder Law). I realized that litigation was not for me and thankfully, I found my calling as a lawyer (i.e. serving seniors and the disabled through elder law and Medicaid planning).
Many of my clients need help paying for home care. What I quickly found out was that Medicaid often does not approve sufficient hours (what they approved was helpful, but not always what the client truly needs to safely remain at home). There is an appeals process that involves sort of a “mini-trial” where we can argue for more home care hours (bringing evidence, giving opening arguments, cross-examining witnesses, etc…) called a fair hearing.
I initially shied away from letting clients engage me for the fair-hearing appeal because I did not think of myself as a litigator. I quickly realized that there were very few attorneys in Florida who are willing to fight with Medicaid. As a result, if I remained stubborn and unwilling to help, there was a very high likelihood of the people who approached me -to fight Medicaid- going without any kind of help whatsoever. It turned out that my limited time as a litigator gave me a huge advantage in navigating the Medicaid fair hearing process. As I started taking on these cases – and winning, I started to teach other elder law attorneys how to successfully argue on behalf of other Medicaid Waiver recipients.
With humility, this change of heart led me to become a sought-after guest lecturer and leader in this area of law.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I am honored that my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@elderneedslaw) has become a trusted resource for both consumers and attorneys in Florida. This is because I answer very specific questions.
I believe one of the reasons for its popularity is because I am using my real and genuine voice to simplify very difficult estate planning and Medicaid planning concepts.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
I am constantly learning and trying to become both a better lawyer and a better elder law firm owner. As a result, I attend a lot of educational seminars and conferences. For a while, I endeavored to add a high-net worth estate planning practice section to the firm. While I learned a tremendous amount about tax-planning for the wealthy, I quickly realized that it would simply be too much of a burden to continue my efforts both keeping up with the laws that I use to asset protect my usually middle-class clients AND keep up with the tax laws that are designed to protect the ultra-wealthy. Because I take great pride in my work and the services we offer and it’s not good enough to be just “good enough” (I want us to be among the best elder law firms in the state), I realized that it would be more productive to focus on providing the best cutting edge planning tools to the clients we already serve as opposed to adding a new practice area to cater to the ultra-wealthy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elderneedslaw.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elderneeds/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elderneedslaw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderNeedsLaw/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/elder-needs-law-aventura
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elderneedslaw
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Medicaid-some-your-long-term-expenses/dp/1513634712
Image Credits
headshots are: Jason Neufeld, Alyssa Neufeld, Carrie Felice and Jody Miller (all attorneys with the Firm)
