Medicare

Elizabeth Durnell-Maier, founder and owner of Durnell Maier Law, LLC, is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation and the Ohio Bar Association.

Over the past decade of working in elder law, Elizabeth has assisted hundreds of families qualifying for government benefits they didn’t realize were available to them, along with preserving a portion of their assets at the same time. She has also helped hundreds in setting up the proper documentation to ensure that their loved ones didn’t have the hassle, publicity, or expense of probate before opening Durnell Maier Law.

After seeing so many worst-case scenarios over the years of clients facing probate and losing their assets, Elizabeth has led countless seminars educating Ohioans on the importance of having a proper plan in place. She is passionate about teaching clients how to avoid all of them, creating the best-case scenarios for their future instead.

Elizabeth belongs to the Ohio NAELA chapter, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Shelby County Bar Association, the Sidney Kiwanis Club and sits on the New Choices Board of Directors, where she is currently the President. She is also a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Newport, where she also lectors.

Practice limited to persons needing help to prevent or solve problems relating to aging, disability, or special needs:
*Retirement & retirement housing planning.
*Nursing homes.
*Obtaining and paying for long-term care while maximizing quality of life.
*Medicaid.
*Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
*Medicare.
*Medigap & long-term care insurance.
*Wills.
*Living trusts & special needs trusts.
*Financial & health care powers of attorney.
*Living wills & end-of-life decision-making.
*Decision-making capacity.
*Guardianship.
*Elder abuse.
*Planning for child with disabilities turning 18.
*Planning for child with disabilities when parents no longer available.
*Ohio STABLE accounts.
*Personal injury settlements.

Statement on Practice by Attorney

My role is to prevent and solve the legal problems of older persons and persons with disabilities or special needs so as to maximize their independence and quality of life and to ensure that they receive any help or care they may need.

What I love about my practice is that it is intensely personal, a one-on-one relationship with my client and my client's family to maximize my client's independence and quality of life and to ensure that my client receives the help or care he or she needs. If you call my office, you talk with me and no one else.

My key accomplishment is meeting my client's needs. In addition, I chaired the Professionalism and Ethics Committee of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys during the drafting of both the First and the Second editions of the Aspirational Standards for the Practice of Elder Law and Special Needs Law.

I went to law school because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. My practice has allowed me to do that in numerous areas of the law: long-term care, retirement planning, estate planning, special needs trusts, Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, etc.

I am totally dedicated to meeting the needs of my clients. To do so, I in 1995 was certified as an Elder Law Attorney in the first class of 29 attorneys from across the country to be certified. I also became accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs, served as President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and chaired the Elder Law committees of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Cincinnati Bar Association.

The biggest change in law during my 43 years as an attorney has been how complicated and specialized it has become. That is why I limit my practice to persons who need help to prevent or solve problems relating to aging, disability, or special needs and why I became certified by the Ohio State Bar Association and the National Elder Law Foundation to do so.