Kristen Matthews Law > Practice Areas
Elder Law in Southeastern Pennsylvania
At Kristen Matthews Law, we help families across Chester County and southeastern Pennsylvania protect what they have spent a lifetime building and make informed legal decisions for the people they love.
What is Elder Law?
One Area of Law, Many Moving Parts.
Elder law brings together the legal, financial, and family decisions that become more important as a person ages. It may involve long-term care planning, Medicaid planning, asset protection, estate planning, powers of attorney, guardianship, and special needs planning.
Our goal at Kristen Matthews Law is not just to prepare paperwork, but also to help families understand their options, avoid costly mistakes, and make decisions before a crisis limits what can be done.
It connects long-term care planning, Medicaid eligibility, asset protection, estate planning, powers of attorney, guardianship, and special needs planning into one coordinated strategy.
The common thread running through all areas of Elder Law is timing. The earlier a family plans, the more options may remain available.
Why a Certified Elder law Attorney Is the Right Choice
Aging touches law, finance, and family at the same time.
Kristen R. Matthews is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) who devotes her practice exclusively to elder law and estate planning. The CELA designation is awarded by the National Elder Law Foundation and recognized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Fewer than 70 attorneys in Pennsylvania hold it, and only three have primary offices in Chester County.
When you work with Kristen Matthews Law, you are working with someone who handles these complex, interrelated issues every day and understands how each decision may affect both your assets and your family’s future.
The Strategic Reality:
Early guidance from a Certified Elder Law Attorney can make a meaningful difference in helping families understand their options, avoid costly mistakes, and preserve what the rules allow.
The CELA Difference
How Professional Guidance Can Change Outcomes
A Certified Elder Law Attorney coordinates issues such as:
- How care is paid for without exhausting savings
- Whether and how the home is protected
- Protection for a healthy spouse who remains at home
- How assets are structured and titled
- Powers of attorney and decision-making authority
- Guardianship or special needs concerns, where they arise
Families navigating alone may:
- Trigger avoidable penalties and delays
- Spend down assets that could have been protected
- Sign documents that don't do what they assumed
- Leave a healthy spouse financially exposed
- Miss timing windows that close permanently
- Discover too late that a will was never enough
If you are unsure where your family stands, schedule a planning consultation before taking further action.
How we help Pennsylvania Families
Our Elder Law Practice Areas
Medicaid & Long-Term Care Planning
Positioning assets and care properly can make a significant difference in how long-term care is paid for and what resources may be preserved.
Crisis Medicaid Planning
When a loved one already needs care or is entering a facility, options are more limited and timing is critical. Even at this stage, an experienced CELA can often help families understand what may still be possible.
Protecting Your Home From Nursing Home Costs
For many families, the home is the largest asset at stake. Thoughtful planning may help protect it from being consumed by care costs.
Healthy Spouse Protection
When one spouse needs care and the other remains at home, there are laws that may help protect income, assets, and financial stability when applied correctly and in time.
Guardianship
When a loved one can no longer make decisions and no plan is in place, guardianship may provide a legal path to protect their wellbeing.
Special Needs Planning
Protection for a loved one with a disability must be carefully structured so benefits, care, and long-term support are not unintentionally jeopardized.
Planning ahead vs. planning in a crisis
Two situations. Two approaches. One firm that handles both.
Advance Planning
It allows time to structure assets, update legal documents, clarify wishes, and plan for future care costs while more options are available.
This is the approach Kristen most often encourages families to pursue because planning is usually strongest before a crisis arrives.
Crisis Planning
Options are usually more limited, and timing matters. Even so, an experienced CELA can often help families understand available choices, avoid preventable mistakes, and protect more than they assumed possible.
- If you are in crisis, call us now: 484-789-9137
Certified Elder Law Attorney
Why work with a Certified Elder Law Attorney
A general estate plan may cover wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. Elder law introduces additional layers of complexity, including Medicaid rules, asset protection, application timing, care coordination, and family decision-making.
The Certified Elder Law Attorney designation requires demonstrated concentration in elder law, years of experience, peer recommendations, and a rigorous examination. For families, that means a CELA-led plan can account for issues that may not arise in a traditional estate planning conversation.
Myths & Facts
Common Questions about Elder Law in Pennsylvania
An elder law attorney helps aging adults and their families plan for long-term care, protect assets from nursing home costs, qualify for Medicaid, prepare powers of attorney and estate documents, and handle guardianship or special needs matters, coordinating these areas into a single plan rather than treating them as separate documents.
A CELA is an attorney certified by the National Elder Law Foundation, which requires demonstrated experience, peer recommendations, and a rigorous full-day examination. Fewer than 70 attorneys in Pennsylvania hold the designation, and only three have their primary officies in Chester County. Kristen R. Matthews is one of them.
The best time is before a crisis, while an aging parent or spouse is still healthy enough to make decisions and there is time to structure assets and care. But meaningful options remain even after a loved one needs care or is already in a facility, which is when crisis planning becomes critical.
Often, yes. A standard will or estate plan rarely addresses how long-term care costs are paid, how a healthy spouse is protected, or how assets are positioned for Medicaid. Elder law looks at care and asset protection during a person’s lifetime, not only what happens after death.
Not necessarily. Even in crisis situations, an experienced Certified Elder Law Attorney can often preserve assets. The strategies are different andm ore time-sensitive, which is exactly why working with a CELA at that stage matters.
No. Middle-class families often have the most at stake, because the cost of long-term care can consume a lifetime of modest savings. Thoughtful planning is frequently what allows an average family to protect a home and the assets they have left.
Locations We Serve
Serving Chester County & Southeastern Pennsylvania
Kristen Matthews Law serves aging adults and their families throughout:
Chester County
Montgomery County
Delaware County
Surrounding Southeastern Pennsylvania communities
Virtual consultations available. Distance is not a barrier to proper planning. We regularly assist adult children who live out of state while their parent is in Pennsylvania.
Our Firm
About Kristen Matthews Law
Kristen R. Matthews is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) devoted exclusively to elder law and estate planning.
She holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law. That advanced tax training provides a deeper understanding of the financial structures involved in Medicaid planning.
Kristen has been recognized as a Top Lawyer in Elder Law by Main Line Today every year since 2015, including as the #1 ranked elder law attorney in that category in 2016 and 2019. She has also earned the Pennsylvania Rising Star designation, awarded to fewer than 3% of attorneys in the Commonwealth, every year since 2017.
Her clients are homeowners, spouses, and adult children who want to protect what their families spent a lifetime building. She explains complex rules in understandable language and remains available long after the initial planning is complete.
Schedule a consultation
Ready to protect your family's future?
Contact Kristen Matthews Law for a planning consultation — in person in Exton or via video, wherever you are.