Mark Shalloway: Profile of An Attorney With A Mission for Giving
Mark Shalloway’s mission in life is to be an educator.
And as an elder care and special needs attorney in West Palm Beach, he has plenty to teach.
He prepares family caregivers for the long roads ahead with Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease, roads that could last for a decade or more.
According to Alzheimer’s Community Care, an Alzheimer diagnosis can last anywhere from two to 20 years, making proper legal and financial planning of paramount importance. Those with Parkinson’s disease can have similar lengthy illnesses and their families need excellent legal advice and planning as well. Whatever the illness, there is advice for an elderly loved one’s legal and financial care. And healthy families looking ahead are welcome as well at Shalloway & Shalloway.
Mark Shalloway also provides legal advice to families caring for loved ones with special needs including loved ones with Multiple Sclerosis.
In addition to his role as special needs attorney, helping families to make the legal choices necessary to care for a loved one with MS, Shalloway sits on the board of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
March is National MS and Awareness Month and it’s the opportunity to learn more about MS, the MS community and their families and all they do every day to care for someone living with MS.
Shalloway gives free seminars on elder care planning, including a two-day seminar on estate planning for the Judge Advocate General (JAG) corps in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
He publishes articles on elder care and estate planning such as how to negotiate the right insurance for your parents. Another article explains the steps to take to optimize financial planning for elder care.
With an aim on educating, Shalloway also writes about a living will, a qualified income trust, a special needs trust, when you should update estate planning documents, a durable power of attorney, and what you need to know about a health care power of attorney.
Anna Bartholemy, an elder care and legal consultant, explains the importance of planning for the future concerning elder care: “It is estimated that more than 87 million Americans over 40 do not have any retirement savings or strategy to deal with their care or the care of their parents. This is a very serious family and economic issue that needs more awareness and more press as health care costs for those over 60 continue to skyrocket.”
That he should write on a variety of topics makes sense because the practice of his law firm Shalloway & Shalloway, a law firm with his father, is wide ranging. It covers Medicaid, long term care, asset protection, veteran benefits, life and health care planning, special needs planning, guardianship, trustee services, and probate and trust in its practice areas.
Shalloway’s goal is to help people prepare for a loved one’s future with dignity and financial security.
And it is a goal that moves him deeply as well. When people plan ahead and prepare for the care of themselves or that of a loved one, when they make the right insurance choice when they learn the financial stakes of preparing for a better retirement, they’ve been empowered to live better lives.
So Shalloway goes about doing just that, reaching out by giving seminars, writing articles, volunteering on the board for Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, all so people can make better elder care and special needs choices. And so families are ready for whatever the future may bring. What he does changes people’s lives. And he knows it.
His credentials match his heart.
Shalloway is one of 135 certified Elder Law attorneys in the United States to be certified by the National Elder Law Foundation. He is a member of the charter class of attorneys board certified in elder law by the Florida Bar. He is an accredited Veteran’s administration attorney.
He has served as president and is a fellow for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
At the Florida state level, he has served as president of the Academy of Florida Elder Law. He serves as the chairman of the Florida Bar Elder Law Section Medicaid Committee. As a committee member, he provides technical assistance to the Florida Legislature on Elder Legislation.
At the local level, he is the founding chairperson of the Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Elder Law Committee.
He is an avid teacher and educator as well. He has taught special needs trust at Stetson College and at the national Absolute Litigators Conference on special needs in Las Vegas.
He teaches as adjunct faculty at Palm Beach State College on estates and administration. He also teaches the Palm Beach County guardian education course.
He has served as chairman of the board of directors of Alzheimer’s Community Care and he chairs its annual education conference. He is a member of the State and Treasure Coast chapters of the Florida State Guardianships Association. He is also a member of the Palm Beach Country Partnership for Aging.
Whether helping clients make sound legal decisions for a loved one’s care, encouraging a client to plan ahead for their own long term care needs, whether writing articles making legal terms and strategies accessible to readers, or giving talks on elder care or special needs topics, Shalloway is always teaching.
And what he teaches empowers people to take better care of themselves and their families in the future and right now. Choosing the right insurance plan, having health care power of attorney, looking ahead to a future when a healthy loved one might not be well may make a huge difference to that loved one’s quality of life in the years to come. And it takes a huge weight of worry off the family and puts an end to the procrastination that may accompany difficult topics such as elder care and estate planning.
Taking those steps is empowering and Mark Shalloway knows it and that is why he is there for families every step of the way when they step in the door as clients of Shalloway & Shalloway.
Mark Shalloway serves as president and shareholder with his father in the law firm of Shalloway & Shalloway.
Located in West Palm Beach, Shalloway & Shalloway serve clients in Palm Beach, Broward, Dade, Okeechobee, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
Mark Shalloway received his Juris Doctor from Nova University Center for the Study of Law.
