How Hutchings Barsamian Mandelcorn, LLP Helps with Elder Law and Special Needs Planning

Updated

Hutchings Barsamian Mandelcorn, LLP lists Elder Law & Special Needs Planning as a distinct practice area at its Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts office, alongside estate and trust planning, probate, employment law, litigation, and real estate. For families facing questions about incapacity, long-term care, or planning for a family member with a disability, the firm presents these services as part of a broader estate planning practice—meaning elder law questions can be addressed together with wills, trusts, and related planning rather than in isolation. The firm's website does not publish service-level detail, fees, or eligibility guidance for this practice area, so the sections below describe what can be confirmed from its published materials and what to verify directly.

What the firm's published materials show

The site's practice area list includes:

  • Estate & Trust Planning
  • Advanced Estate Planning & Tax
  • Business Formation & Business Succession Planning
  • Estate Settlement & Probate
  • Elder Law & Special Needs Planning
  • Employment Law & Mediation
  • Business, Employment & Probate Litigation
  • Commercial & Residential Real Estate

The site also maintains a "Planning for Incapacity" FAQ among its resources, alongside FAQs on estate planning, estate taxes, living trusts, and business law. This suggests incapacity planning—decisions about who manages affairs when someone can no longer do so—is treated as a topic the firm expects clients to ask about, though the FAQ content itself is not reproduced in the available material.

The firm's stated positioning is "We Measure Our Success By the Success of Our Clients," and its contact details are published as 110 Cedar Street, Suite 250, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481, phone 781.431.2231.

How elder law and special needs planning typically connect to the firm's other services

Because the practice areas sit together, a family can reasonably expect a single engagement to touch several of them. The table below maps common family situations to the practice areas the firm lists; the mapping reflects how these areas generally relate, not a published description of the firm's workflow.

Family situation Practice areas the firm lists that may apply
An aging parent wants documents in place before capacity declines Elder Law & Special Needs Planning; Estate & Trust Planning; Planning for Incapacity FAQ
A family member has a disability and may need needs-based public benefits Elder Law & Special Needs Planning; Estate & Trust Planning
A parent has died and the estate must be settled Estate Settlement & Probate; Estate Litigation (if disputed)
A business owner wants the business to pass to the next generation Business Formation & Business Succession Planning; Advanced Estate Planning & Tax

The practical value of a combined practice is coordination: a special needs plan and an estate plan can conflict if drafted separately—for example, an outright inheritance can affect a beneficiary's eligibility for needs-based benefits, which is why special needs planning is usually done alongside, not after, the estate plan. The firm's structure allows that coordination in one place.

What to confirm before engaging the firm

The published materials do not state:

  • Which specific elder law services are offered (for example, long-term care planning, guardianship or conservatorship, MassHealth/Medicaid planning, or special needs trust drafting)
  • Whether consultations are free or what the fee structure is
  • Attorney assignments for this practice area
  • Whether the firm handles matters outside Massachusetts

The team page lists Anthony J. Barsamian, Howard M. Mandelcorn, Karen L. Argetsinger, Lisa A. Sedrakian, Robert Feigin, Theodore M. Hess-Mahan, Sara Palombo, and Barbara Vecchione, but does not map individual attorneys to practice areas in the available material.

When you call or use the site's contact form, ask directly:

  1. Scope — "Do you handle special needs trust drafting and long-term care planning, or referrals for those?"
  2. Process — "What information should we bring to a first meeting?" (Typical: existing wills and trusts, deeds, account statements, benefit award letters, and any prior planning documents.)
  3. Cost — "How are fees structured for an initial consultation and for the planning itself?"
  4. Timing — "How soon can we be seen, and what should we do in the meantime if capacity is declining?"

Where to start on the site

  • Practice Areas → Elder Law & Special Needs Planning for the firm's own description
  • Resources → FAQs → Planning for Incapacity for general guidance before a consultation
  • Contact Us or 781.431.2231 to confirm scope and scheduling

If your situation involves an urgent guardianship or a benefits deadline, say so when you call; the site does not indicate emergency availability, so confirming response times is part of the first conversation.