Jones Elder Law, LLC

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Jones Elder Law, LLC Helping Missouri and Illinois families protect their home, savings and spouse through elder law and estate planning. Jones Elder Law now two locations! Our St.

Louis office is by appointment only.
2085 Bluestone Drive, St. Charles, Missouri 63303

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JonesElderLaw

Connect with us on LinkedIn by following are company page: http://www.linkedin.com/company/jones-elder-law-llc?trk=hb_tab_compy_id_2779372

Find us on YouTube at JonesElderLaw

You can view our blog where we get all of our articles from at http://www.joneselderlaw.com/?page=1

If you'd like to view the Jones Elder Law attorneys you can find both on LinkedIn and Avvo! Just look for Rosalind M. Robertson, or Stephen C. Jones!

You found Mom's original will in a desk drawer. Now what?In Missouri, whoever has the original must deliver it to the pr...
10/17/2026

You found Mom's original will in a desk drawer. Now what?

In Missouri, whoever has the original must deliver it to the probate court after the death, even if the family does not plan to open probate. But delivering it does not make the will work. It must be presented for probate, with a petition asking the court to admit it, generally within one year after death. If someone already opened an estate, the deadline can be six months from the first published notice. Miss it, and the will is forever barred.

Until then, keep the original exactly as you found it. Do not unstaple it or write on it, and look for a later will or a trust.

Read the full step-by-step guide: https://joneselderlaw.com/found-original-will-missouri/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=blog_2026_10_17&utm_content=firm_page

Questions? Call our St. Charles office at (636) 493-3333.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Medicare Open Enrollment is underway, and it's worth twenty minutes of your time. But no amount of plan-switching fixes ...
10/16/2026

Medicare Open Enrollment is underway, and it's worth twenty minutes of your time. But no amount of plan-switching fixes the bigger problem: Medicare was never designed to pay for long-term nursing home care, no matter which plan you choose.

Plans change quietly year to year. Your prescriptions can move to a different tier. Your doctor can leave the network. Your premium can shift. Reviewing your coverage now, before December 7, can save real money and real headaches.

But if the concern is who pays for an extended nursing home stay, that's a different question entirely, and Open Enrollment doesn't answer it. Read exactly what Medicare never pays for in a nursing home, and what actually does, on our blog at https://joneselderlaw.com/medicare-open-enrollment-nursing-home-missouri/.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Your parent just moved into a nursing home, and the staff offered to handle the Medicaid application. Is that enough?Som...
10/15/2026

Your parent just moved into a nursing home, and the staff offered to handle the Medicaid application. Is that enough?

Sometimes it is. If your parent is single, has savings at or below Missouri's $6,220.50 resource limit, and gave no money to family in the last five years, the nursing home's help may be all you need.

But that help is paperwork help. The person helping works for the nursing home and is not set up to protect savings for a spouse at home, review past gifts, or decide when to file. If a spouse lives at home, savings are well above the limit, or money went to family in the last five years, get a legal review before the application goes in.

Read the full guide: https://joneselderlaw.com/nursing-home-medicaid-application-help-missouri/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=blog_2026_10_15&utm_content=firm_page

Questions? Call our St. Charles office at (636) 493-3333.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Medicare Open Enrollment opens today, and it's worth twenty minutes of your time. But no amount of plan-switching fixes ...
10/15/2026

Medicare Open Enrollment opens today, and it's worth twenty minutes of your time. But no amount of plan-switching fixes the bigger problem: Medicare was never designed to pay for long-term nursing home care, no matter which plan you choose.

Plans change quietly year to year. Your prescriptions can move to a different tier. Your doctor can leave the network. Your premium can shift. Reviewing your coverage now, before December 7, can save real money and real headaches.

But if the concern is who pays for an extended nursing home stay, that's a different question entirely, and Open Enrollment doesn't answer it. Read exactly what Medicare never pays for in a nursing home, and what actually does, on our blog at joneselderlaw.com.

"Long-term care" isn't one thing. It's a spectrum, and knowing where your family might land on it changes how you plan.I...
10/14/2026

"Long-term care" isn't one thing. It's a spectrum, and knowing where your family might land on it changes how you plan.

In-home care means a caregiver comes to you, best for people who need some help but not constant supervision. Assisted living means your own apartment with meals, activities, and staff available, a good middle ground for many families. Skilled nursing means 24-hour medical care for people who need it. Memory care means a specialized, secured setting built specifically for dementia and Alzheimer's.

The costs are different for each one. The payment sources are different. The planning strategies are different. Assuming one plan covers all four is where families run into trouble.

If you're not sure which level of care your family should be planning for, or how to pay for it, that's a conversation worth having now.

Reverse mortgages get a lot of noise around them. Here's the plain version, and why it matters for Medicaid planning spe...
10/13/2026

Reverse mortgages get a lot of noise around them. Here's the plain version, and why it matters for Medicaid planning specifically.

If you're 62 or older with meaningful home equity, a reverse mortgage lets you convert some of that equity into cash without a monthly mortgage payment. Interest and fees build over time, though, and the loan comes due when you move out, sell, or pass away, which can reduce what's left for your heirs.

Here's the part that doesn't get enough attention: a reverse mortgage interacts with Medicaid eligibility in ways that catch families off guard. The cash you draw counts as an asset the month you receive it, and drawing it at the wrong time, or in the wrong amount, can complicate an application you're trying to protect.

A reverse mortgage isn't automatically good or bad. It's a tool with real tradeoffs, and those tradeoffs deserve a conversation with someone who understands both the mortgage and the Medicaid rules before you sign anything.

Living will, health care power of attorney, or DNR? Most Missouri adults need the first two, and the third is a differen...
10/12/2026

Living will, health care power of attorney, or DNR? Most Missouri adults need the first two, and the third is a different kind of document.

A health care power of attorney names who decides for you. A health care directive, or living will, says what you want. A DNR is a medical order you sign with your doctor, usually once you are seriously ill.

One Missouri surprise: the state's statutory living will does not cover feeding tubes. If you want your agent to have that authority, your power of attorney has to say so specifically.

Read the full guide: https://joneselderlaw.com/living-will-health-care-power-of-attorney-dnr-missouri/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=blog_2026_10_12&utm_content=firm_page

Questions? Call our St. Charles office at (636) 493-3333.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Personal Representative. Trustee. Power of attorney. Healthcare agent. Four different roles, and people mix them up cons...
10/11/2026

Personal Representative. Trustee. Power of attorney. Healthcare agent. Four different roles, and people mix them up constantly.

In Missouri, your Personal Representative handles your estate after you die: filing paperwork with the probate court, paying valid debts, distributing what's left according to your will or state law.

Your trustee manages your trust, which can start working while you're alive and continue long after you're gone.

Your financial power of attorney acts for you while you're living, if you can't act for yourself. That authority ends the moment you die.

Your healthcare agent makes medical decisions, and only medical decisions.

They can all be the same person. Often, for the sake of checks and balance or simply workload, they shouldn't be.

If you're not sure who holds which role in your own plan, or whether you even have one for each, that's worth finding out now, not during a crisis.

Dad died years ago, and the house is still in his name. Can the family sell it?Usually not yet. In Missouri, if no proba...
10/10/2026

Dad died years ago, and the house is still in his name. Can the family sell it?

Usually not yet. In Missouri, if no probate estate was opened within a year after Dad's death, the court generally cannot open one now. The usual fix is a court case called a determination of heirship, which confirms who inherited the house so the owners can sign a deed to a buyer.

One surprise: if Dad's will was never presented to the probate court in that first year, Missouri's inheritance law decides who owns the house, not the will.

Read the full guide: https://joneselderlaw.com/house-still-in-deceased-parents-name-missouri/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=blog_2026_10_10&utm_content=firm_page

Questions? Call our St. Charles office at (636) 493-3333.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Here's a question worth asking before you write your estate plan: do you want your child to inherit outright, or do you ...
10/09/2026

Here's a question worth asking before you write your estate plan: do you want your child to inherit outright, or do you want to protect what they inherit?

Leaving an inheritance outright means it becomes your child's personal asset the moment they receive it, exposed to their creditors, a lawsuit, or a divorce, even a divorce from a spouse you like. Leaving it in a properly structured trust for your child's benefit keeps it protected, while your child can still access and benefit from it.

This isn't about distrust. It's about making sure what you built for your family actually stays with your family, whatever life throws at your kids down the road.

If you're thinking through how to leave an inheritance that actually holds up, call our office at (636) 493-3333.

Address

2085 Bluestone Drive, Suite 204
Saint Peters, MO
63303

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+16364933333

Website

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