LibGuides: Elder Law Research Guide: Practice Guides

Practice Guides

Practice Guides are secondary legal sources that provide practical, step-by-step guidance on how to handle specific legal tasks, procedures, or areas of law. They are typically written by experienced practitioners and combine legal analysis with forms, checklists, and procedural instructions. Unlike treatises, which focus on theory and doctrine, Practice Guides are designed to help lawyers and law students apply the law in real-world contexts.

Why Consult a Practice Guide for Elder Law?

Students studying Elder Law may want to consult Practice Guides because:

Practical Application: Elder Law involves complex, real-life issues such as estate planning, guardianship, long-term care, and public benefits (e.g., Medicaid). Practice Guides offer concrete strategies for navigating these areas.
Procedural Insight: They explain how to file petitions, draft documents, and comply with jurisdiction-specific rules—skills essential for clinical work or internships.
Forms and Templates: Many guides include sample forms and checklists that are invaluable for understanding how legal documents are structured and used.
State-Specific Guidance: Elder Law varies significantly by state. Practice Guides often focus on jurisdiction-specific procedures and laws, which is crucial for accurate legal research and practice.

California Practice Guides

Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) Practice Guides

Most of the relevant practice guides for California are available on:

CEB Practitioner
Access to CEB's numerous California-focused practice guides, action guides, legal reporters, and forms, as well as searchable primary case law. The platform also includes unlimited access to CEB's library of CLE videos. Free to UC Law SF students, faculty and staff. Registration required; to register, go to www.ceb.com/solutions/law-schools and use code HCX26 to register.

CEB OnLAW
California practice guides published by CEB (Continuing Education of the Bar). Ninety publications include links to case law, statutes and forms. No sign-in required, but the site DOES NOT provide access to CEB's MCLE videos or the practitioner tools available on the CEB Practitioner platform.

Russell S. Balisok, California Elder Law Litigation: An Advocate's Guide
California Elder Law Litigation: An Advocate’s Guide is a comprehensive practice guide published by CEB (Continuing Education of the Bar) that focuses on litigation strategies and procedures in elder abuse cases under California law. Designed for advocates representing elderly clients, this guide covers:

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Actions against skilled nursing facilities and residential care facilities
Litigation under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (EADACPA)
Claims involving financial abuse, unfair business practices, and fiduciary misconduct
Procedures for obtaining protective orders
This resource combines substantive law with practical tools, including procedural checklists, sample pleadings, and strategic insights from experienced practitioners. It is especially valuable for law students interested in elder law, clinical practice, or public interest advocacy, offering a real-world perspective on protecting vulnerable adults through civil litigation.
Marilyn D. Anticouni, California Elder Law Resources, Benefits and Planning: An Advocate's Guide
This practice guide offers a comprehensive overview of the legal tools and planning strategies available to support older adults in California. It covers a wide range of topics including:

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Medi-Cal eligibility and planning strategies
Other government benefits and resources
Financial management and health care decision-making
Planning to stay at home
Medicare appeals
Long-term care insurance
Reverse mortgages
Leslie Ann Barnett, Special Needs Trusts: Planning, Drafting, and Administration
Understand complicated special needs trust issues and public benefit laws affecting persons with disabilities with the first book to completely cover this rapidly expanding field.

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Public benefits primer including SSI and Medicare, as well as an analysis of Medicaid program expansion under the Affordable Care Act
Establishing Medicare set-aside arrangements (MSAs)
Required and recommended first- and third-party special needs trust provisions
Considering special needs trust alternatives
Pooled special needs trusts with a full description of every California pooled trust
Special needs trusts administration and appropriate distributions
Special needs trusts taxation, accounting, termination, purchase of a home, and hiring of caregivers
Qualified settlement funds
Complete form first- and third-party special needs trusts
Richard Aiello, California Estate Planning
Get the most current, detailed coverage available on issues pertinent to today's California estate planning practice.

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Nonprobate and nontrust transfers
Wills and revocable trusts
Estate and gift and GST taxes
Marital deduction planning and income tax basis planning
Real property tax planning
Taxing income of estates and trusts
Valuation freeze techniques and asset protection
Life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and IRAs
Charitable giving
Health care decisions and Medi-Cal planning
Amir Atashi Rang, California Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives
Serve your clients better—understand all aspects of using California powers of attorney for financial management planning and health care decision planning for persons who lose capacity, including successfully drafting forms and enforcing their terms.

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Assisting clients with medical decisions, including do-not-resuscitate orders, organ donation, and end-of-life decisions
HIPAA and CMIA, and medical marijuana
Understanding the new California End of Life Option legislation
Using power of attorney for estate planning decisions when the principal loses capacity
Alternatives to using power of attorney and advanced health care directives, and ethical obligations of the attorney in drafting documents and enforcing their terms, including judicial proceedings
Pamela Jester, California Will Drafting
Draft wills with confidence—for every type of client and every type of estate.
Complete will forms for single and married persons (trust and nontrust)
Client intake questionnaire (foreign spouse? digital assets? IRA?)
Testamentary trusts: trusts for children; QTIP/QDOT; bypass trusts; disclaimer trusts; SNTs

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Trust distributions: clauses and taxation
Planning for generation-skipping transfer tax
Charitable gifts: outright or split-interest trusts
Priscilla Camp, Capacity and Undue Influence: Assessing, Challenging and Defending: Here's How and When To Do It
Explains the issues involved in assessing capacity and undue influence in the office or in litigation.
Covers:

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Determining Who is the Client; Effect of HIPAA and CMIA
How to Apply DPCDA
Assessing and Litigating the Issues of Testamentary Capacity, Capacity to Marry or Enter Into a Domestic Partnership, to Contract and Appoint Agents, to Nominate a Conservator, to Create a Trust, to Manage Personal and Financial Affairs, to Make Medical Decisions, to Authorize Release of Protected Health Information, to Qualify for Long-Term Care Insurance, and to Drive
Assessing and Litigating Issues of Undue Influence
Neuropsychologist’s Participation

Lexis Practice Guides

Zimring and Bashaw, California Guide to Tax, Estate & Financial Planning for the Elderly
The first baby boomers are approaching retirement age. They are mapping out their own future, providing for children and grandchildren, and caring for aging parents. And they all have lots of questions - about financial planning, health care, charitable gifts, nursing homes, housing and a host of issues related to aging. You also need to meet the needs of your current elderly clients by keeping abreast of this rapidly evolving area of practice.

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Now, thanks to California Guide to Tax, Estate & Financial Planning for the Elderly, you'll be able to answer their questions and act in their behalf, whether you specialize in elder law and estate planning or maintain a general practice. This newly published compendium from LexisNexis places the range of issues facing the elderly in the context of California law. It's your single source for in-depth discussions of such issues as: * Medi-Cal * Conservatorships * Wills and trusts * Income and estate taxes * Estate planning * Nursing homes and home health care agencies * Planning for incapacity California Guide to Tax, Estate & Financial Planning for the Elderly has been specifically designed to help increase your effectiveness and productivity. * A glossary of acronyms at the beginning of the book will help you identify state and federal agencies and initiatives. * A section of common client questions that begins each chapter will lead you directly to the information you'll use most often. * Hundreds of practice notes throughout the text provide useful tips and suggestions, while cautionary notes alert you to areas of special concern. * Checklists at the end of each chapter will help ensure that you have addressed your client's needs methodically and completely.

Westlaw Practice Guides

Russell S. Balisok, California Elder Abuse Litigation
Elder Abuse Litigation provides expert guidance and pointers for effective multidisciplinary practice under California's Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. The deskbook places significant focus on the law of financial abuse and remedies, as well as physical abuse and neglect. Sample elder abuse action allegations, motions in limine, and other essential forms are included. Topics covered include:

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Standing
Avoiding conflicts and ethical issues
Attorney-client fee agreement
Elderly or frail victims
Protective orders
Abduction
Financial abuse
Elder neglect and physical abuse
Skilled nursing facility liability
Nursing facility administrator liability
Board and care facilities liability
Hospice liability
Managed care liability
Physician liability
Statute of limitations
Arbitration
Pretrial discovery
Trial of elder abuse case based on neglect or physical abuse
Settlement
Handling settlement or judgment proceeds
Legislative history
Phillios W. Cheng, California Fair Housing and Public Accommodations
The Rutter Group Civil Litigation Series: California Fair Housing and Public Accommodations provides a comprehensive treatment of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Unruh), and related state and federal caselaw on the subjects of housing discrimination and public accommodations.

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This deskbook uniquely covers these issues from the perspective of California practitioners. It is a succinct and user-friendly guide for both experienced practitioners and newcomers to the field. This practical resource fills a gap in existing works on civil rights and is sure to be an essential addition to your library. Topics include:
Part I Fair Housing

Housing prohibited acts
Discrimination in land use, planning, and development approval
Protected classes
Proper defendants or who may be liable?
Proof
Defenses
Procedural considerations
Remedies
Attorney's fees, costs, and expenses in fair housing and public accommodation case
Part II Public Accommodations
Unruh Civil Rights Act: prohibited acts, protected classes, and proper defendants
Discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations
Americans with Disabilities Act and its incorporation into California law
Other public accommodation statutes
Civil statutes protecting against hate violence
Proof issues under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and related statutes
Defenses
Procedural considerations
Remedies
Bruce S. Ross, California practice guide. Probate
The Rutter Group’s California Practice Guide: Probate contains expert guidance through the probate process, from premortem planning to opening probate through to creditor claims, distributions, and discharge. It also includes a thorough treatment of non-probate alternatives, spousal set-asides, and estate and fiduciary income taxes, and extensively discusses will contests and other probate litigation.

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The text integrates local rules; cites the latest cases available, plus statutes and rules of court; and features illustrations that are based on actual cases.

Contents cover:

Preliminary considerations
Alternatives to probate
Commencing probate proceedings
Spousal/domestic partner set-asides; passage of property to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner without administration
Office systems and procedures
Marshaling and inventorying assets
Family protection
Creditors' claims
The Independent Administration of Estates Act
Federal estate tax
California estate tax
Deathbed and postmortem planning and fiduciary income tax considerations
Obtaining and investing funds for the estate; preserving assets of the estate
Special problems in probate administration
Litigation
Accountings, distributions, compensation, and discharge
Each topic and procedure is developed step by step, showing you what, when, where, and how to proceed. You'll also find proven strategies, tactics, and time-saving tips from experienced practitioners and sample practice-tested forms with comments and suggestions for their use.

Thomson Reuters Practical Law for California and other States:

Practice Notes, Standard Documents, Standard Clauses, Checklists, Toolkits, and Articles.

Federal Practice Guides on Elder Law

A. Kimberly Dayton et al., Advising the Elderly Client
Advising the Elderly Client offers a comprehensive survey of the major legal issues facing elderly clients. It provides in-depth analysis and guidance in the field of elder law and the special planning needs of older clients:

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financial planning; estate planning; major entitlement programs such as Social Security income, pension and retirement benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid; health care considerations; planning for incapacity, including living wills, durable powers of attorney, and right-to-die issues; and discrimination against the elderly.
Jennifer L. VanderVeen, Elder Law: Advocacy for the Aging
A broad overview of the many different areas of law and practice that are encompassed within elder and special needs law. As practitioners from other areas of law have turned towards elder law and the first generations of lawyers are emerging from law school with the intent of becoming elder and special needs law attorneys, the practice has not only evolved to include wider areas of the law, such as tax and family law, more is being asked of elder law attorneys in terms of client counseling, working with a client's fiduciaries and helping solve non-legal problems.

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Focuses on related areas of elder law in the areas of social security, public benefit programs, long-term care, handling incapacity, medical decision-making, age discrimination, family rights and responsibilities and health care for senior citizens.
The Lawyer's Guide to Elder Injury and Accident Compensation
5th Stacks ; KF390.A4 F75 2000

Elder Law Research Guide