Senior Placement Advisor Referral Program
When a Senior Moves Into Care, Their Home and Assets Need a Legal Structure That Matches the Move.
A client transitioning into assisted living or memory care is often leaving behind a home in their personal name, accounts with no clear beneficiary, and an estate plan that was drafted before any of this was contemplated. We put the legal structure in place — before the move or after — so the family is not dealing with probate on top of a care transition.
Set Up a Partner Call
The Asset Picture When a Senior Moves Into Care
The Home Is the Biggest Asset. It's Almost Never in a Trust.
Most seniors who transition into assisted living or memory care have lived in their home for decades. The home is their largest asset. And in the vast majority of cases, it is titled in their personal name — not in a trust. When they die, that home goes through probate. The family cannot sell it, cannot refinance it, and cannot distribute it until a court says so, nine to eighteen months later.
The same is often true for the accounts, the car, and any investment assets that were never re-titled. The estate plan that exists — if one exists — was usually drafted years ago and does not reflect the current asset picture or the fact that the client is now in a care facility with significantly different financial circumstances.
You are in the best position to see this gap. Senior placement advisors meet with clients and families at the exact moment they are making decisions about the home, the finances, and what comes next. A referral to an estate planning attorney at that moment is one of the most useful things you can do for the family — and it costs you nothing but one phone number.
What the Transition Exposes
- A home titled in the client's personal name — not a trust — goes through probate when they die, regardless of what the will says or what the family assumed
- A power of attorney that names only the deceased spouse leaves no one legally authorized to manage the client's finances during a care transition
- An estate plan drafted before the client moved into care may not reflect their current asset picture — accounts, the home, and care facility contracts
- A client who sells their home to fund care without a trust in place sends the proceeds through a distribution process the family cannot control at death
- Adult children who assume joint ownership of the parent's home creates a taxable gift and can complicate Medicaid eligibility within the look-back period
How It Works
From Placement to Protected
You see the gap
During a placement consultation, you recognize that the home is in the client's personal name, the estate plan is outdated, or the family has not thought about what happens when the client passes. You share one contact: Melissa's office. That is the referral.
We coordinate around the timeline
Your client's family hears from Melissa's office within 24 hours. We review the existing documents, assess the asset picture, and draft what needs to change — trust, will, powers of attorney, and the retitling coordination for the home.
The family is protected
When the legal structure is in place, we let you know. The home is in the trust. The accounts are coordinated. The family will not face probate when the client passes. You helped make that happen with one phone number.
How the Partnership Works
One Referral. The Family Avoids Probate.
Senior placement advisors have told us the same thing: they see the estate planning gap during every placement consultation. The family is so focused on finding the right facility and figuring out how to pay for it that the legal structure of the assets never comes up. Then the client passes away, and the family discovers the home is in probate and cannot be sold to cover the care costs that are still accruing.
This program gives you a reliable handoff. When you see the gap — a home in a personal name, an estate plan that predates the client’s current financial situation, a family that has not thought about what happens after — you share Melissa’s contact. We respond within 24 hours and work around the placement timeline.
We handle the trust, the pour-over will, the powers of attorney. We coordinate the retitling of the home into the trust. We update the beneficiary designations on the accounts. When the legal structure matches the family’s actual situation, we let you know. The family is protected. You helped make that happen.
Most senior placement advisor referral relationships with an attorney end after one placement. The family gets moved in, the legal work gets done, and then both sides go quiet until the next crisis. This one is built to stay active between placements.
Beyond The Referral
Every other estate attorney asking senior placement advisors for referrals says the same things: fast turnaround, no poaching, no referral fees. That is what everyone offers. Here is what comes with being an active partner, whether you send families this month or next year:
A Free Personal Estate Plan
Once you complete partner orientation, we draft your will at no cost. Not a discount. Free, one time, no strings.
A Spot in a Small Group of Vetted Professionals
We connect active partners with other professionals who serve the same clients you do, so referrals move in more than one direction.
A Feature in a Real Client Story
When a shared client agrees to it, we build a short video covering their situation and how the plan came together, and you are part of that story.
An Annual Look at Your Own Practice
Once a year, we review your book from an estate-planning risk angle and flag anything your own clients are exposed to.
Training Built Around What Comes Up in Your Client Meetings
Tell us the questions you are fielding, and we build a session around it you can send to your own client list.
We Send Families Back to You
Every senior client we work with gets asked about their living situation and who helped them find it. If they mention a placement advisor they trust, and they are open to reconnecting about updates to their plan as their care level changes, we make that introduction. If that advisor is a partner, we reach out directly.
When we help a family fund a trust, update a power of attorney after a cognitive decline, or navigate guardianship, there are often follow-on placement questions that fall outside our scope. We route those conversations back to the advisor on the file. If that is you, it is ongoing contact with a family you already placed.
The People Behind the Work
We are a husband-and-wife firm. The families you send work with Melissa directly, never a paralegal.
Melissa Breyer
Estate Planning Lawyer
Handles the family’s plan start to finish.
Shawn Breyer
Operations & Marketing
Handles onboarding, operations, and marketing.
Our promise
When you send us a family, you are putting your name on us. We treat every family like your reputation depends on it, because it does. You will hear from us within one business day, and again when the work is done. You will never wonder what happened.
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer works with seniors and their families at the point where the financial transition into care intersects with the need for updated legal documents. She understands that these clients are often overwhelmed and that the estate planning conversation needs to be clear, direct, and actionable. When you refer a client to her, she handles the legal complexity and coordinates with the family at whatever pace they need.