About Elder Law and About Us:
Elder law is a specialty of law that caters to the needs of older clients and those with disabilities. It encompasses such areas as long-term care planning; care coordination; Medicare, managed care, and payment for health care; Social Security and retirement income planning; Medicaid and other public benefits eligibility planning; planning for persons with special needs and special needs trusts; housing and residential care options, such as retirement living communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes; financial and health care decision-making through the use of durable powers of attorney; health care and end-of-life decision-making through the use of advance directives; probate and estate administration; and estate and tax planning.
Elder law is the only are of law defined by the clients we serve rather than the areas of law in which we practice. We like to deal “holistically” with our clients in talking about long-term planning for health care and financial viability; family dynamics, health care and long-term care decisions, personal values and personal preferences. Under this holistic approach, not only does this office handle general estate planning issues and counsel clients about planning for incapacity with alternative decision making documents, but we also assist our clients in planning for possible long-term care needs. Locating the appropriate type of care, coordinating private and public resources to finance the cost of care, and working to ensure our client’s right to quality care are all part of our practice.
Mary Wanderpolo, Esq., CELA, has twenty years of experience in the fields of Estate Planning, Elder law and Disability planning. A member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s distinguished Council of Advanced Practitioners, Mary has a reputation for incisive legal resourcefulness as well as warm, personal concern for the whole family’s welfare.
Mary WanderPolo has been Certified by the National Elder Law Foundation as a Certified Elder Law Attorney since 1997. After passing a 6 hour examination the Certification process requires the attorney to demonstrate, through documented cases handled, that she has extensive experience in all areas of elder law. Ms. WanderPolo has passed this certification process, and the equally grueling recertification process since 1997.
Shana Siegel, Esq., Senior Associate, is an attorney specializing in empowering seniors and families by helping them take a proactive approach to life decisions. Ms. Siegel has been involved in health and long term care issues for over fifteen years. She is a senior associate with WanderPolo Law in Montclair and previously was an associate with a prominent elder law firm in New York. Prior to her legal career, she worked as an advocate and regulatory specialist at AARP.
Ms. Siegel is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, NJSBA Elder Law Section, Women Lawyers in Bergen and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is also a certified health care compliance specialist. Ms. Siegel is a regular contributor to Matthew Bender’s Health Care Law Monthly. She was also a contributing author for the NYSBA treatise, Guardianship Practice in New York State. Ms. Siegel earned her JD with honors from Georgetown University and her BA with honors from Barnard College.
Maureen Roger, Paralegal, has been working with Mary for the last 4 years. She has a diverse work background, specializing in many areas that affect our elderly clients, such as dealing with credit and collections matters, judgments, real estate purchases and sales, foreclosures, reverse mortgages. Maureen also has a tremendous amount of experience with Wills and Estates, Probate, Estate Administration, Guardianships, Document preparation such as Wills, Trusts, Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, Living Wills. If you have a question that needs an answer, Maureen is the first place to seek the answers.
Maureen graduated Summa Cum Laude with an Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies, (an ABA approved program) from Berkeley College, is a member of Lambda Epsilon Chi (a National Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies), a member of LAANJ, and New Jersey State Bar Association for Paralegals. She also member of the Advisory Board for the Paralegal Department at Berkeley College, Garrett Mountain location. Currently, she is preparing for her Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) Exam, offered by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
Lynet Gaia, Legal Assistant, has worked for Fortune 500 corporations as a Computer Systems designer, Internal Audit manager, Project Management and Implementer of business process and workflow improvements. Lynet’s experience and skills are particularly useful for managing complex Medicaid applications and for obtaining Medicaid eligibility for our clients.
Lynet has a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hunter College, CUNY.
Heather Thomson, Client Services Coordinator, is a cheerful and compassionate, very well-organized. She has many years of diversified work experience in an office setting. Heather handles all of our incoming calls and insures each one is handled in a timely manner. She greets our clients when they arrive for their appointments and makes sure the office runs smoothly, giving general administrative assistance to not only our staff members, but our clients as well. She is a hard working evening student at Montclair State University, studying Early Childhood Education, and will make a wonderful teacher someday.
Debra Sepko, bookkeeper.
