Howard S. Krooks

Howard S. Krooks, CELA, CAP, a member at Cozen O'Connor, an Am Law 100 firm with more than 775 attorneys in 31 offices, is admitted to practice law in New York (1990) and Florida (2004). He splits his time between New York and Florida, where his professional practice is devoted to elder law and trusts and estates matters, including representing seniors and persons with special needs and their families in connection with asset preservation planning, supplemental needs trusts, Medicaid, Medicare, planning for disability, guardianship, wills, trusts and health care planning with advance directives.

Howard is certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation and currently serves on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar Elder Law Section as the chair-elect and the board of trustees of the NAELA Foundation. Howard received the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Award from the New York Chapter of NAELA for serving as co-chair of a Special Committee on Medicaid Legislation formed by the NYSBA Elder Law Section to oppose New York Governor George Pataki’s budget bills containing numerous restrictive Medicaid eligibility provisions that, if enacted, would severely impact the frail elderly and disabled populations. He was named Member of the Year in 2010 by the Florida Bar Elder Law Section for his work in obtaining Medicaid approval for the use of promissory notes in Medicaid planning in Florida. He also was recognized for serving as co-chair of the NYSBA Elder Law Section Compact Working Group, which received national attention for developing alternative methods of financing long-term care. Additionally, Howard served as chair of a Special Committee created by the NYSBA Elder Law Section to address the Statewide Commission on Fiduciary Appointments formed by Chief Justice Judith Kaye. Howard received an award for spearheading the effort on behalf of NAELA seeking the enactment of the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 13, 2016.

Howard has consistently been selected as a Florida Super Lawyer and a New York Super Lawyer, named to Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, a Top 25 Westchester County Attorney, and is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Howard is a frequent lecturer and has addressed many organizations, including Barron’s, NAELA, Stetson Special Needs Conference, ALI-ABA, WealthCounsel, ElderCounsel, the National Guardianship Association, various bar associations and attorney organizations, estate planning organizations, Berkeley College, the United Federation of Teachers, the New York State United Teachers, and the New York State Civil Service Employees’ Association. He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Kiplinger’s, USA Today, The New York Post, Newsday, The Journal News, and the Boca Raton News. Howard has appeared on PBS, the CBS Early Morning Show, and local elder law-focused television programs. Howard has written extensively on the topic of elder including “Creative Advocacy in Guardianship Settings: Medicaid and Estate Planning Including Transfer of Assets, Supplemental Needs Trusts and Protection of Disabled Family Members,” included in Guardianship Practice in New York State and “Long-Term Care Insurance in New York,” included in Estate Planning and Will Drafting in New York, both published by the New York State Bar Association.

Howard is a founding principal of ElderCounsel LLC, the premier elder law and special needs planning document drafting solution for attorneys.

Howard earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from SUNY Albany and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.