Townsend Allala, Coulter & Kludt, PLLC

What the firm handles

Elder law is the main field of this El Paso practice. Known by the initials TACK, the firm carries the legal name Townsend Allala, Coulter & Kludt, PLLC. It helps older and critically ill clients deal with the cost of medical and nursing care. Much of that work runs through Medicaid planning, where the firm assists families applying for benefits.

The practice reaches past benefits work. The firm prepares wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, and it handles probate administration once an estate reaches court. Asset protection, special needs planning, and guardianship fill out the list of areas on its pages. In my opinion, the mix points to a firm built around the legal needs that arrive with age and serious illness.

The firm also helps families respond to the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program. That program is how a state recovers care costs from an estate after a benefits recipient dies. Handling it places the firm at both ends of a Medicaid case: the application at the start and the estate questions at the end.

The attorneys the site names

Three attorneys appear under the firm's partners heading, each listed as Attorney at Law. Stephanie Townsend Allala practices elder and Medicaid law. She works with elderly and critically ill clients on paying for medical and nursing care. That includes families whose Medicaid benefits were denied in the past.

Jessica Marie Kludt practices in the same fields and is the daughter of Stephanie Townsend Allala. Jennifer Coulter is a partner at the firm and also concentrates on elder and Medicaid law, with attention to elderly and critically ill clients. All three share one core practice, which gives the firm a steady line of work across its named lawyers.

The About menu lists more team members by name. The site does not state whether they are attorneys or support staff, so a reader cannot place their roles from the pages alone. As a reviewer, I read the depth of the named partner group as the clearest signal of who carries the legal work.

Offices and the area served

The firm runs two offices. The main office sits in El Paso, Texas, and a second office is in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. That pairing crosses the state line, which fits a client base drawn from both Texas and New Mexico.

Its stated service area covers El Paso County, Midland, Odessa, and the wider stretch of West Texas. On the New Mexico side, the firm lists Santa Teresa and Las Cruces. The about page says the firm has over 45 years of experience serving El Paso and Las Cruces. The site does not list a founding year alongside that figure.

Two offices across a state line also shapes the kind of file the firm sees. Care rules, Medicaid programs, and probate courts differ between Texas and New Mexico. A practice with rooms in both states can meet clients on whichever side their case sits.

Medicaid and long-term care work

Medicaid planning for long-term care follows a set path. An applicant must meet income and asset limits set by the program. Much of the planning work involves arranging finances so a client qualifies while keeping what the rules allow.

The application and appeal steps

Applications go to the state agency that runs the program, and the agency measures the paperwork against its limits. A denial can be challenged through an appeal, which is a formal review of the decision. The firm's stated work with denied cases sits at this stage. This is general background on how such cases run, and not a claim about any single result at the firm.

Timing carries weight here. Some planning steps work well ahead of any need for care, while others still help once a crisis has begun. A lawyer's job is to sort which options remain open given where a family already stands.

Why families make the call

The cost of nursing care can climb quickly, and families often reach a lawyer once a bill or a benefits letter forces the question. The firm frames its Medicaid work around that pressure. Its pages tie the service to elderly and critically ill clients facing care they cannot easily fund.

Guardianship, special needs, and asset protection

Guardianship takes a different route through the courts. When an adult can no longer make decisions, a court can name a guardian to act for them. That appointment follows a hearing with medical evidence and notice to close family.

Special needs planning often uses a trust so a person with a disability can hold resources without losing public benefits. The trust holds the money, and the rules on public aid treat it apart from the person's own assets. Asset protection covers steps a client can take to shield property within the limits of the law. Each of these areas appears on the firm's practice list.

These areas often overlap inside one family. An aging parent may need a guardian while a child with a disability needs a trust, and the estate itself may need protecting at the same time. The firm's list suggests it can take those threads together in one office.

Estate planning and probate work

The firm drafts the core documents of an estate plan. A will directs how property passes and names an executor. A trust can hold assets during life and move them outside probate. A power of attorney lets one person act for another, which matters most when age or illness limits a client's capacity.

Powers of attorney deserve a note of their own. A financial power of attorney lets an agent manage money and property, while a medical power of attorney covers health decisions. Both take effect while a person is alive, which is why elder law practices lean on them so heavily. The firm lists powers of attorney among its core documents.

Probate administration starts after a death, when a will enters court and an estate is settled under a judge's oversight. In my opinion, a firm that both writes these documents and administers them later can follow a matter across its full span. The firm's pages list probate administration alongside its planning and elder law work.