Dallas Leigh Atkins
Santa Barbara, CA
Licensed for 44 years
Law Degree
Awards
Primary Practice Area
Estate Planning
Language
English
About
Dallas Atkins is an elder care and estate planning attorney. She helps seniors and their loved ones plan for long term care, quality of life, autonomy, and asset preservation. Her work includes Medi-Cal estate planning, Medi-Cal applications for nursing home benefits, court petitions to preserve the assets and income of couples with a spouse in a nursing home, VA pensions for Aid and Attendance benefits for home care and assisted living care, estate planning documents geared towards long term care planning, revocable and irrevocable trusts, protection of the home without endangering public benefits, nursing home admissions and contracts, and special needs trusts.Dallas assists seniors, elders, persons with disabilities, and their families prepare for and meet the challenges of aging, disability, and incapacity. The focus of her practice is planning and problem solving to maximize legal and financial options for quality care at home, in the community, in assisted living facilities, and in skilled nursing facilities. Aging well in place by finding, getting, and paying for quality care is a major goal of her work. She values ensuring quality care across the life span, not protecting wealth to the exclusion of the elder’s quality of life.The Section Head of the Elder Law Section of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association in 2003 and 2004, Dallas is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and ElderCounsel. She is a frequent contributor to professional journals and other publications. A dynamic and popular speaker, she has presented seminars before community groups, elder care organizations, UCSB, the Omega Program of SBCC Adult Education Department, the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, law firms, training conferences for tax professionals and lawyers, and other public and private organizations and events.A graduate of Bryn Mawr College (A.B. 1970), Villanova University School of Law (J.D. 1975), and University of California, Santa Barbara (M.A. in Counseling Psychology 1988), she was admitted to the California State Bar in 1977. She practiced as a legal aid attorney and then a private adoption attorney prior to finding elder law in 1999. She became licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1991 and continues to enjoy the integration of psychology and law through her elder law and special needs practice.
Practices Areas
Estate Planning
Elder Law
Language
English
Contact
Law Offices of Dallas Leigh Atkins5290 Overpass Road Suite 209Santa Barbara, CA, 93111
Office: N/A
Website: N/AReviews
Dallas is an extremely skilled elder law expert and has 20+ years of experience specifically with Medi-Cal. This extends far beyond the preparation of the application: she understands the inherent nuances of a very complicated program and is able to analyze and advise you as a client based upon your personal profile. I would not have been able to apply on behalf of my father without her guidance and help! We hired Dallas to help us file an application and she did so much more: She worked with us on a thorough strategy, took us through the process and went above and beyond to work directly with my fathers' nursing home and other entities that needed to provide us with back up documentation. She understands the system and the loopholes. She is a lifesaver and so incredibly knowledgeable in her field. I am so thankful that we started the process with a professional expert. She will save you money and bring you great benefit and peace of mind. I don't know how we could have done it without her! Thank you so much Dallas, we mean it! I would highly recommend her services to anyone needing assistance in the Elder Law field.
Ms. Atkins is a very special type of attorney. She took the time to explain the process and applicable laws so that I could make informed and safe decisions. Even though it was possibly not the most cost-effective manner of proceeding from her point of view, Ms. Atkins worked to connect with me on a personal level. She took the time to listen to me as I walked through the background of my experiences, and treated me as though my feelings and needs were of utmost importance. She helped me to set up complex and varied health care documents (including advanced health care directives, HIPAA documents, and others) while avoiding pitfalls I would never have been able to identify on my own. She was honest and forthright, but also kind and compassionate...truly the perfect blend of humanity and skill.
She dragged out the consultation in order to charge more money. She was supposed to contact me with important information about my document she was going review, but I didn't hear from her for 2 and a half weeks. I finally called her, and she had not even looked over the documents. If you're looking for a real special needs trust attorney I recommend you look elsewhere!
Dallas is an extremely skilled elder law expert and has 20+ years of experience specifically with Medi-Cal. This extends far beyond the preparation of the application: she understands the inherent nuances of a very complicated program and is able to analyze and advise you as a client based upon your personal profile. I would not have been able to apply on behalf of my father without her guidance and help! We hired Dallas to help us file an application and she did so much more: She worked with us on a thorough strategy, took us through the process and went above and beyond to work directly with my fathers' nursing home and other entities that needed to provide us with back up documentation. She understands the system and the loopholes. She is a lifesaver and so incredibly knowledgeable in her field. I am so thankful that we started the process with a professional expert. She will save you money and bring you great benefit and peace of mind. I don't know how we could have done it without her! Thank you so much Dallas, we mean it! I would highly recommend her services to anyone needing assistance in the Elder Law field.
Ms. Atkins is a very special type of attorney. She took the time to explain the process and applicable laws so that I could make informed and safe decisions. Even though it was possibly not the most cost-effective manner of proceeding from her point of view, Ms. Atkins worked to connect with me on a personal level. She took the time to listen to me as I walked through the background of my experiences, and treated me as though my feelings and needs were of utmost importance. She helped me to set up complex and varied health care documents (including advanced health care directives, HIPAA documents, and others) while avoiding pitfalls I would never have been able to identify on my own. She was honest and forthright, but also kind and compassionate...truly the perfect blend of humanity and skill.
She dragged out the consultation in order to charge more money. She was supposed to contact me with important information about my document she was going review, but I didn't hear from her for 2 and a half weeks. I finally called her, and she had not even looked over the documents. If you're looking for a real special needs trust attorney I recommend you look elsewhere!