My life changed in the early to late 1990?s, although I didn't recognize it at this time. That is, when my wife's grandfather was living independently in Chevy Chase, Maryland. One night I received a call from my mother-in-law. It was late at night. It was unusual for the phone to ring that late, so I answered the phone, with a feeling of foreboding, only to hear my mother-in-law's voice say that her father, my wife's grandfather, had fallen. Shortly after that, he was taken to the hospital. After medical treatment at the hospital, he was taken to a nursing home. I was the attorney in the family, so everything was left to me. During this time, I had lots of questions: what options were available; what if granddad had to stay in the nursing home, would we be able to find a good one and would he get good care there; and if so, how were we going to pay for it? I tried to find answers to these questions, that I now answer for others. But I could only catch glimpses of the big picture. That research was my first act into the practice of elder law.
