Nursing Home Costs and Contracts: The Continuum of Care

My entire professional career has focused on death, dying, and pre-planning. I started out my professional career as a licensed mortician. It is not all as macabre as you may think! I find peace in helping my clients and their family prepare for the "inevitable" (death and taxes), and make life's transitions easier.

I help clients navigate estate planning, as they focus on asset growth, to long-term care planning, where the focus shifts to asset preservation and care. After a death occurs, I help resolve contested Will or Trust issues (litigation), counsel on Medical Assistance claims, and guide families through the probate process.

I obtained my law degree from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and earned Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Minnesota in Biology, Physiology, and Mortuary Science. My background and experience as a licensed mortician provides me with a unique perspective in both estate planning and elder law.

I enjoy a broad-based Estate and Elder Law practice, with emphasis on long-term care planning, asset protection, government benefits, estate planning, estate administration (probate), trusts, litigation, and mortuary law.

Karren Pope-Onwukwe is a prominent elder law and disability rights attorney, bar leader and community activist; her practice is centered around helping clients plan for aging, disability, and wealth transfer. Attorney Pope-Onwukwe also serves as General Counsel to small and non-profit business entities and towns. Attorney Pope-Onwukwe is the editor of the 2010 edition of Practical Aspects of Adult Guardianship published by the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers.

Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Karren to the State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life where she served from 2007 until 2017. Karren is past president of the Elder Law and Disability Rights Section Council of the Maryland State Bar Association and co-founder and past co-chair of the Elder Law Section of the Prince George’s County Bar Association, and an active member of J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association. The County Executive appointed Karren as chair of the Prince George’s County Aging Advisory Committee (2004-2012). Karren is the past president of the Prince George’s chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland.

Attorney Pope-Onwukwe sits on the Trustee Board of Reid Temple A.M.E. Church and the Prince George’s County Hospital Foundation Board. In 2017 she was appointed to the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission and to the Prince George's County Adult Public Guardianship Review Board.

Karren is currently a member of the Maryland Attorney General's COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force. In 2018 Karren was appointed to the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging. She was also appointed to the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division governing Council as well as the following publication boards: Book Board and Voice of Experience Editorial Board. In 2017, Karren was appointed to the Opioid Summit Steering Committee of the American Bar Association Senior Lawyer’s Division. In 2016, Karren was appointed vice-chair of the Program Committee for the American Bar Association Senior Lawyer’s Division and in 2013, she was appointed the vice-chair of the National Bar Association’s Elder Law Task Force.

In 2018 Karren was awarded the Consumer Advocate of the Year Award by the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. Karren received the 2012 Good Citizenship Award from the North Atlantic Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Maryland Governor's Leadership in Aging 2012 Trailblazer Award. Karren was named the 2009 Distinguished Alumna for the University of Maryland University College. The Baltimore Daily Record named Ms. Pope-Onwukwe as one the 100 Top Women of Maryland in 2014.

Attorney Pope-Onwukwe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Kentucky University; a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland University College and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. Karren has been blessed with one adult son, Charles, Jr.