309 N Parsons Ave. Brandon, FL 33510

813-661-5297

Mon–Thurs: 8:30–4:30pm | Fri: 8:30–Noon

Hemness Faller Elder Law Planning Protection Preserving

About Us

Navigating the complexities of elder law and special needs planning, from estate planning to guardianship, to ensure quality care and financial security in the Tampa Bay area.

security, safety, and comfort

Danielle Faller and Emma Hemness standing back to back smiling

Why Choose Us?

Our mission

Providing people with counsel and planning to take care of their families, secure their futures, and access all benefits to which they are entitled.

Our vision

People have the comfort of knowing that they, their children, and their families have the resources to live with security, safety and comfort.

Certified and Recognized

We’ve earned the certifications, recognition, and admittance into selective organizations that demonstrate the level of our expertise. We are board-certified by The Florida Bar, and members of The Florida Bar Elder Law Section, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Special Needs Alliance, and Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys. Florida Super Lawyers Magazine recognizes Emma Hemness as one of the top attorneys in the Tampa Bay area and Danielle Faller as a Rising Star.

Officially Board-Certified as Experts

While often overlooked, the distinction of being able to use the prestigious title Expert in Elder Law is specifically limited to a select group of attorneys in Florida who have dedicated over 5 years to practicing predominantly Elder Law, passed a rigorous examination to demonstrate their expertise, and achieved high marks for ethics and professionalism among their peers to earn the esteemed “Board-Certified” designation from the Florida Bar. No attorney who has not been deemed “Board-Certified” by the Florida Bar is allowed to use this prestigious distinction or claim “specialization” in this field of law.

Compassionate Advocacy

We go beyond explaining the law — we actively advocate for better laws for all. Emma distinguished herself as a staunch advocate for seniors by challenging harmful  administrative regulations and proposed legislation. Meanwhile, Danielle was named Member of the Year by the Elder Law Section of the Florida Bar for her work organizing educational events to educate her elder law attorney colleagues.

Hemness Faller team dressed in bright purple standing outside in front of their sign

Meet the Team

We’re proud to boast an experienced, all-female legal team of establishing and rising stars in the realms of elder law and special needs planning.

Emma Hemness

Emma Hemness

A Florida attorney with a profound dedication to elder law, has spent her career advocating for seniors’ rights, challenging legislative restrictions, and earning prestigious recognitions such as the Elder Law Super Lawyer title for multiple consecutive years.  She is board-certified in Elder Law on a state and national level.

More About Emma

Danielle Faller

Danielle Faller

A Board-Certified Elder Law attorney, has been recognized as a Rising Star by Florida Super Lawyers Magazine, for her expertise in the field of Elder Law and for holding many leadership roles within the Florida Bar’s Elder Law Section and memberships in several legal associations.

More About Danielle

Dana Kemper

Dana Kemper

A Florida Board Certified Elder Law Attorney, has decades of experience in the areas of Social Security Disability, insurance defense, nursing home negligence and medical malpractice. She is a member of both the National and Florida Academies of Elder Law Attorneys.

More About Dana

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Molly Rogers

Molly Rogers

Office Manager

About Molly

Jessica Wassmer

Jessica Wassmer

Guardianship and Guardian Advocacy Legal Assistant

About Jessica

Erika Gale

Probate Legal Assistant

About Erika

Kimberly Lerma

Kim Lerma

Medicaid Planning Legal Assistant

About Kim

Rily Scaife

Front Desk Operations

About Rily

Photo of Harvey the dog

Harvey Dent

Director of PUPlick Relations

About Harvey

caring
and committed

Rave reviews from our clients

I want to say thank you to Danielle and her team for helping my family to take care of our mother during a difficult time. Our mother had suffered multiple strokes and as a result was unable to take care of herself after a lifetime of being a strong and independent woman.

We needed to find an assisted living facility that could help her with the tasks of daily living. We needed to be able to assist her in making decisions for her health care and assist her with financial matters.

Danielle met with our family and shed so much light on our situation. It was obvious she had been through this many times before and was able to guide us in the right direction. She and her team drafted a Power of Attorney, Living Will, and Health Care Surrogate for our mother giving us the tools we needed to make sure she got the advance care she required.

Everyone at this office is so kind and professional. After meeting with Danielle we felt relieved and confident that whatever comes down the road everything would be okay. I can't say enough about this office and I would highly recommend them to anyone who has a loved one in this situation.”

Emma first did our paperwork in 2004. We revised it about 10–15 years later, as laws had changed. Basically, Emma has done paperwork for six of us, and two of those have been executed. One was cleanly executed, the other was litigated and stood up in court.

I did not realize that Special Needs law was so closely related to Elder law, making Emma the de facto expert and speaker for a FDLRS presentation by HCPS a few years ago. Highly recommend her to people in the Sandwich Generation—she can help your parents, she can help you, she can help your special needs kids.

My sister and I really needed legal advice in regards to our Mom who has dementia and we weren't sure how to get started. From our very first Zoom call with the Attorney we felt so much better. She was very kind and gave us advice on how to get the process started. 

Molly was always available to help and quick to respond with our many questions at a time when we were incredibly stressed. Both attorney's were knowledgeable and got us started on the pathway to help. My sister and I honestly don't know how we would have done it without them. I would highly recommend them.

I did my will with Emma Hemnes and she was very helpful explaining the procedure and brought several things to my attention that I was not aware. She gave me plenty of time to ask her questions to make sure I understood what she was going to do. All of the staff very helpful and professional. I highly recommend the law office of Emma Hemness.

Emma and her staff answered all our questions regarding the ins and outs of my 99 year old mom and what might be to our advantage in the future. Thank you!

Great working with this team. Very knowledgeable. Got our will and trust taken care of. Thank you.

They are very respectful of their clients.

Molly Rogers

Molly Rogers

Office Manager

Molly became a staff member at Hemness Faller Elder Law in February 2015 as the firm’s receptionist. She was promoted to the firm’s office manager in 2017, where she is responsible for organizing and coordinating office operations, as well as bookkeeping and providing administrative support. Molly received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida in 2022.

Molly was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. She currently lives in Riverview, with her husband, Jaime, and her Giant Schnoodle, Porter. In her free time, you can find her kayaking, hiking, playing with her dog, or watching The Office.

Fun Fact about Molly: Despite her quiet demeanor, she enjoys exciting activities which includes zip-lining and sky-diving!

Jessica Wassmer

Jessica Wassmer

Guardianship and Guardian Advocacy Legal Assistant

Jessica joined the firm in November of 2015 and has assisted on all Guardian Advocacy and Guardianship matters since this time. She also has over 17 years of experience as an officer and administrative assistant and over 26 years of experience as an investor in various private business consulting companies. Jessica received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of South Florida Tampa campus in late 2008.

Born in Rockford, Illinois but mainly raised in Valrico, Jessica currently resides in Riverview with her husband, Vaughn, a technology teacher in Saint Petersburg and their amazing daughter, Nagisa. Jessica loves hanging out with her family and visiting Walt Disney World any chance she gets.

One fun fact about Jessica: I have been an annual passholder for Walt Disney World Orlando for the past 29 years and counting!

Erika Gale

Probate Legal Assistant

Erika rejoined the firm in March of 2018, having previously been a member of our team from May of 2014 to August 2015. Erika is an experienced paralegal having spent time at another elder law firm in Atlanta, Georgia assisting with matters involving Estate Planning, Long Term Care Planning, Probate and Guardianship. At Hemness Faller Elder Law, she assists our clients with Probate, Trust Administration, and Special Needs Trust matters. Prior to joining the legal field, Erika worked extensively in the customer service industry. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Science in Psychology from the University of South Florida.

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Erika now lives in Valrico, Florida with her husband, Wayne, their son, Wayne III (“Little Wayne”), and their dog, Gronk. In their free time, they enjoy traveling, spending time at the beach, and exploring all the family fun the Tampa Bay Area has to offer including, but not limited to, The Florida Aquarium and ZooTampa at Lowry Park.

Fun Fact about Erika: Prior to their son being born, Erika and Wayne spent most of their free time traveling abroad. Some of their adventures include swimming with the dolphins in Curaçao, running with the bulls during Sao Joaninas on Terceira Island, and picnicking under the Eiffel Tower. They are looking forward to experiencing new adventures with Little Wayne once he is past the toddler phase.

Kimberly Lerma

Kim Lerma

Medicaid Planning Legal Assistant

Kim was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She moved to Brandon in 2021 and joined the firm as our receptionist. She quickly moved into her current role as our Medicaid assistant to help with all Medicaid and Long-Term Care planning related matters. Although new to the legal field, she has always had a passion for serving her community. Prior to joining our firm, Kim helped prepare young high school student innovators through an entrepreneurial learning course for a Texas non-profit organization.

As a first generation student, Kim received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Texas A&M University with a double minor in Spanish and Journalism. Throughout her time at A&M she served as a voter registrar and helped register over 2,000 Texas residents to vote. She also had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain, immersing herself in the culture and language which helped fortify her native tongue—Spanish.

On the weekends Kim serves frothy lattes at her part time job at a local coffee shop in South Tampa. In her free time, she enjoys challenging herself through weight training. Kim is also an avid music lover and thoroughly enjoys dancing her heart out at music festivals with her friends.

Fun Fact about Kim: Kim loves learning about her friends’ personality types. She is an ENFJ on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and an enneagram type 3W2.

Rily Scaife

Front Desk Operations

Here to provide positive and patient support to you and your loved ones from the front desk of Hemness Faller Elder Law, Rily Scaife has been whole-heartedly serving the greater Brandon/Valrico community since she was fifteen.

Proudly spending her teenage years as a volunteer with the Campo Family YMCA Leaders’ Club, Rily attended a yearly Blue Ridge Leaders’ School in North Carolina, which is where she found her insatiable love of travel and the mountains. In 2017 along with her now fiancé Trey, Rily thru-hiked the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, and has traveled all over the country adventuring everywhere. Equipped with a “healthiness is happiness” mindset, Rily can often be found tending to her plant babies, practicing yoga, running with her dog, Panda, or breathing the fresh air in our state’s parks.

Along with over a decade in customer service, Rily has previously worked as an ESE Paraprofessional at Bloomingdale Senior High School, her 2010 alma matter, and thoroughly enjoyed her time serving the students there. Throughout the years, Rily has also spent significant time aiding and caring for her declining grandparents. With a huge heart for the elderly and those with special needs, Rily is thrilled to be a part of Hemness Faller Elder Law to further assist our flourishing community.

Fun Fact about Rily: Rily and Trey previously lived in a Ford Transit van and worked for the cast and crew of a traveling Cirque du Soleil show. In 2019, they operated as the caregivers of Hiker’s Welcome hostel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Photo of Harvey the dog

Harvey Dent

Director of PUPlick Relations

Harvey Dent is the Director of PUPlick Relations at Hemness Faller Elder Law.  In 2019, Mr. Dent graduated 4 Lucky Dogs Pet Rescue when he was adopted by Doug and Danielle Faller. He started his career at our firm immediately after.  At Hemness Faller Elder Law, Harvey ensures that every interaction at our firm is filled with warmth and loyalty.  His dedication to fostering positive relationships, both human and canine, makes him an indispensable member of our team.  When Harvey isn’t busy sniffing out how to help the firm, you can find him boating with his adoptive parents and playing “chase the rabbit” with his fur siblings Oakley, Lady Bear, and Copper Tail.