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Debra Schuster

Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal

Debra Schuster

Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal

Debra Schuster

Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal

Debra Schuster is the founder of Debra K. Schuster, P.C., a holistic, client-centered law firm, dedicated to assisting elderly and disabled individuals and their families with the complex legal and care challenges they face.

Debbie Schuster is a native of Buffalo, New York and has lived in St. Louis, Missouri since 1985. Ms. Schuster did coursework at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor toward her B.A. in Physical Anthropology, received from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1985. Ms. Schuster received her Master of Health Administration from Washington University in 1987 and her Juris Doctorate degree from St. Louis University in 1991.

Ms. Schuster is a member of the Life Care Planning Law Firm Association, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Missouri End-of-Life Coalition, the Missouri Association of Attorney Mediators, and Association for Conflict Resolution.  She is a Past President of the Breakthrough Coalition, a multi-disciplinary group of senior care providers in the greater St. Louis region. She is also a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and the Missouri and Illinois Bar Associations. Ms. Schuster is licensed and practices in Missouri and Illinois.

Ms. Schuster’s passion, empathyand understandingof Elder law and Life Care Planning are borne from very personal experiences caring for family members who have dementia. Ms. Schuster is a volunteer speaker for the Alzheimer’s Association, the St. Louis Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, The MS Society and various other groups. She has been a Board member for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, the Past Co-Chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’s Elder Law Committee and is a current Board member of VNA of Greater St. Louis, The Huntington Disease Association of America and the chairperson of the Outreach Committee for STL Village. She is a frequent, enthusiastic speaker who provides her time free of charge to professional and public groups to enable individuals to be better informed about the legal documents they need, the benefits available to pay for long-term care and disability services and to self-advocate for their needs.

Firm Description

Services Provided:

  • Life Care Planning
  • Advice and representation with Decedent's Estates (Probate Administration)
  • Preparation of Durable Powers of Attorney, Living Will Declarations, Simple Wills and Trusts
  • Preparation of Special Needs Trusts
  • Dispute Resolution advice about and negotiations with nursing home administration and multidisciplinary staff
  • Medicare and Medicaid Appeals
  • Asset protection and Medicaid planning
  • Long-term care, health insurance and long-term disability contract review and advice
  • Representation in contested and uncontested Guardianship and Conservatorship matters
  • Representation in Involuntary Commitment and ECT hearings
  • Advice and representation regarding long-term care, health insurance and long-term disability coverage, benefits and appeals
  • Advice and representation regarding financial exploitation, elder neglect and abuse
  • Presentations regarding all of the above

Hours

Please contact this attorney for firm hours by clicking here.

Cost

What Is an Elder Law Attorney?

Main Office

165 N. Meramec
Suite 110
Clayton, MO 63105

On the web

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Medicaid 101
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

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How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

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Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

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What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

READ MORE
How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

READ MORE
Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

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Medicaid Planning Strategies

Careful planning for potentially devastating long-term care costs can help protect your estate, whether for your spouse or for your children.

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Estate Recovery: Can Medicaid Take My House After I’m Gone?

If steps aren't taken to protect the Medicaid recipient's house from the state’s attempts to recover benefits paid, the house may need to be sold.

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Help Qualifying and Paying for Medicaid, Or Avoiding Nursing Home Care

There are ways to handle excess income or assets and still qualify for Medicaid long-term care, and programs that deliver care at home rather than in a nursing home.

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Are Adult Children Responsible for Their Parents’ Care?

Most states have laws on the books making adult children responsible if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves.

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Applying for Medicaid

Applying for Medicaid is a highly technical and complex process, and bad advice can actually make it more difficult to qualify for benefits.

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Alternatives to Medicaid

Medicare's coverage of nursing home care is quite limited. For those who can afford it and who can qualify for coverage, long-term care insurance is the best alternative to Medicaid.

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ElderLaw 101
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

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Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

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Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

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Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

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Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

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Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

READ MORE
Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

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Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

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Long-Term Care Insurance

Understand the ins and outs of insurance to cover the high cost of nursing home care, including when to buy it, how much to buy, and which spouse should get the coverage.

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Medicare

Learn who qualifies for Medicare, what the program covers, all about Medicare Advantage, and how to supplement Medicare’s coverage.

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Retirement Planning

We explain the five phases of retirement planning, the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA, types of investments, asset diversification, the required minimum distribution rules, and more.

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Senior Living

Find out how to choose a nursing home or assisted living facility, when to fight a discharge, the rights of nursing home residents, all about reverse mortgages, and more.

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Social Security

Get a solid grounding in Social Security, including who is eligible, how to apply, spousal benefits, the taxation of benefits, how work affects payments, and SSDI and SSI.

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Special Needs Planning

Learn how a special needs trust can preserve assets for a person with disabilities without jeopardizing Medicaid and SSI, and how to plan for when caregivers are gone.

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Veterans Benefits

Explore benefits for older veterans, including the VA’s disability pension benefit, aid and attendance, and long-term care coverage for veterans and surviving spouses.

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