Kristen R. Matthews, CELA
When your family faces difficult decisions, experienced guidance matters.
Kristen Matthews Law is an Elder Law & Estate Planning Law Firm that helps families in Chester County and Southeastern Pennsylvania protect their homes, savings, and loved ones from the high cost of long-term care with the compassion and experience your family deserves.
- Certified Elder Law Attorney
- Super Lawyers PA Rising Star
- Main Line Today Top Lawyer
- Top Lawyer of Chester County
Not All Estate Planning Attorneys Are The SAme.
Kristen is one of fewer than 70 Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Pennsylvania.
The CELA designation, awarded by the National Elder Law Foundation and recognized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, is held by less than 3% of Pennsylvania attorneys. It requires years of specialized experience, a rigorous examination, and peer recommendations. There are only 4 Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Chester County.
What that means for your family: when you work with Kristen, you’re working with an attorney whose entire career has been devoted to Medicaid planning, long-term care, and asset protection.
The Difference in Practice
A general estate planning attorney can write a will. A Certified Elder Law Attorney understands what happens when that will meets a nursing home bill and how to plan so your family isn’t left choosing between care and everything you’ve worked for.
Associations & Memberships
- National Elder Law Foundation
- Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc
- Net-Care
- Elder Law Answers
How We Help Families Protect What Matters Most
Elder Law
When aging brings new challenges such as a dementia diagnosis, a sudden hospitalization, or a nursing home decision, elder law addresses both the legal and human dimensions.
We help families understand their rights, protect their assets, and navigate Pennsylvania’s complex system of benefits and care options.
Key Services Include
Estate Planning
Wills, powers of attorney, advance healthcare directives, and living wills — all explained in plain language and tailored to your family’s specific situation.
Estates & Trusts
Trusts are powerful tools for protecting assets and ensuring your wishes are carried out exactly as intended. We help families understand whether a trust makes sense — and if so, design one that truly works.
Guardianships
When a loved one can no longer make safe decisions and hasn’t put legal protections in place, we guide families through the Pennsylvania guardianship process with compassion and clarity.
Tax Planning
We help clients understand the tax implications of their estate plans and coordinate with financial advisors to achieve the best outcomes for the whole family.
Trust & Estate Litigation
When a will is contested, a trustee has acted improperly, or a vulnerable family member has been taken advantage of, we advocate with the same care we bring to every client relationship.
Experience Matters
Recent Representations
Every family situation is unique, but the fears are often the same. Here are examples of how we’ve helped real families protect what matters most. Details changed to protect client privacy.
ASSET Protection
Assisted husband in efficiently obtaining Medicaid benefits for his wife, preserving family assets directly above the statutory maximums.
Surviving Spouse
Planned and implemented a strategy to assist a surviving spouse in obtaining Supplemental benefits to cover the cost of her medical care.
Special Needs Planning
Counseled parents of a special needs child in establishing a Supplemental Needs Trust for their child’s benefit, preserving eligibility for government needs-based entitlement programs.
About Kristen
Trusted by families during life’s hardest transitions.
Kristen R. Matthews has spent her career doing one thing: helping families protect what they’ve worked for when aging and long-term care bring everything into question. She understands Medicaid inside and out. She knows what nursing homes can and cannot ask families to sign. She has helped hundreds of Chester County families preserve their homes, protect a healthy spouse, and navigate the emotional and financial weight of a loved one’s care, often when families felt it was too late to do anything.
What Our Clients Say
Families trust Kristen
with the decisions that matter most.
“Kristen is very knowledgeable about estate planning. She has provided estate planning to three generations of our family. We found her fees to be very reasonable, especially when compared to the large Philadelphia firms who do not provide the same personalized services.”
Chester County Client Estate Planning — Three Generations
“I know this might sound over the top but every bit is true. Kristen Matthews is not only an unbelievable attorney but I believe she is an angel. She helped getting my mother into a nursing home and helped transferring my father to the same home. Kristen was a liaison between the nursing home and myself.”
Adult Daughter Nursing Home Placement & Coordination
“Where do I even begin? Kristen is the most educated, thoughtful, thorough and qualified attorney to handle your estate or elder law needs. She has assisted many of my clients over the years and each one has always had raving reviews.”
Legal Professional Referring Clients to Kristen Matthews Law
Associations & Memberships
Get In Touch
Your family's future is worth protecting.
We're here to help.
Kristen Matthews Law serves families in Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, and throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania from our office in Exton, PA.
- 14 E. Welsh Pool Road, Exton, PA 19341
- 484-874-2987
- [email protected]
- Virtual consultations available, including for adult children who live out of state