As president-elect of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), Shirley Whitenack is a seasoned attorney who believes in the power of reverse mortgages to help seniors age in place.

Whitenack, a New Jersey-based elder law attorney, will take over as president of NAELA this June. With approximately 4,500 members nationwide, NAELA is an association designed specifically for members who practice elder and special needs law.

“Most NAELA attorneys utilize a holistic approach to the legal issues of aging,” Whitenack says. “We cover things like housing options as people get older, financing long-term care, incapacity issues, documents to name surrogate decision-making and end-of-life issues.”

Whitenack says NAELA members learn about the possibilities afforded by the HECM from the organization’s continuing education courses, newsletters and twice-yearly journal.

“It’s an important product that can be utilized by people who are elderly, particularly people who have low incomes but may have a significant amount of equity in their home that allows them to age in place, which for many, many people is very important,” she says. “We all try to keep up-to-date with reverse mortgages because it is an important tool in the elder law toolbox.”

Whitenack, who once worked as a commercial litigator, has practiced elder law for 23 years. “As exciting as it was to deal with high-profile clients and major corporations, I enjoyed the concept of being able to do well by doing good,” she says, “and helping real people with real problems.”

One of the ways in which she helps her senior clients is by recommending, in the right situation, a reverse mortgage loan. Whitenack says she has recommended HECMs to clients when she feels the product would be a sound solution to their particular problem.

“We have people who have lived in their homes for many years, and they may not have any income and have no choice but to either think of selling the home and moving to an assisted-living facility, or try to get a stream of income to supplement what they get from Social Security,” she says. “They may not have done a lot of saving or they may be so old that they might have actually outlived their savings. So in those cases, we’ll often talk to them or their family members about obtaining a reverse mortgage so they can continue to live in their house, maybe use the money so they can continue to pay the property taxes, pay for home improvements or repairs if necessary, or even pay for an [in-home] health aid.”

When she suggests a reverse mortgage, Whitenack says she sometimes has to address popular misconceptions. “A lot of times, they think they are giving the house to the bank or the financial institution, and we need to explain that that’s not actually what’s happening here—that it’s a function of how long and how much is paid out. There’s also a misconception about how much can be borrowed, and a misconception about how that plays into the whole concept of Medicaid planning,” she says. “There is also sometimes confusion with the product and how it relates to the whole issue of long-term care insurance, and whether it’s a good idea to get reverse mortgages to pay for long-term care insurance products.”

Whitenack says once the details of the loan are fully explained, the most common concern for clients tends to be the loan’s closing costs. But, she says, this concern does not typically deter clients. “For most people who we recommend reverse mortgages to, everyone is fine with it. Even if they think that the closing costs are too high, they still feel that it is the best solution for the family.”

Whitenack says in her experience, a HECM usually leads to a happy ending. “I’ve never had a client [who had taken] a reverse mortgage then come back and say, ‘This was a terrible idea,’ because in most of the cases [in which] I recommend that product, I really do believe it is a viable solution to what the elderly person and their family really wants, which is mainly to keep them in the home.”

While she is informed about the product, Whitenack says she is aware that the program has recently undergone substantial change. “I cannot tell you that I am fully briefed on the latest, and I wouldn’t even know how to find out about that necessarily.”

One way reverse specialists can connect with elder law specialists and keep them informed, she says, is by attending local or regional meetings. “Most states require attorneys to take courses every year in continuing legal education—it’s mandatory. Many of these continuing legal education courses all over the country look for corporate sponsors or exhibitors, and reverse mortgage companies often exhibit at these conferences or at these programs for continuing legal education. Even if that’s not the topic that’s being addressed, people can speak to a reverse mortgage specialist on a one-on-one basis and get literature on what it’s all about.”

Whitenack says connecting with reverse specialists at these meetings would be extremely helpful, because it’s often hard to reach former contacts. “One of the frustrating things that we find is that many times there are companies that are going in and out of the business, and there are specialists who are moving somewhere else, and you can’t even find them anymore; the card that they gave you is no longer good,” she says. “So it’s really important I think for people who are in the reverse mortgage area to keep up with elder law attorneys whom they’ve met and keep them apprised of where they are and what the newest products are.”

Exhibiting at these continuing education programs locally or nationally would be a great way for reverse specialists to connect with elder law attorneys, she says. “In New Jersey, we have these programs that often have 120-150 elder law attorneys—you can’t get a better audience than that. And these programs always try to make time for [attendees] to visit the various exhibitors and vendors. It might cost a few hundred dollars to do that, but it’s probably well worth the money to be in front of these people and get to meet them. It would also be helpful, once they make the connection, to keep up with it.”