The battle for a secure retirement is about to get even tougher. Several new surveys of company executives show that they plan to reduce or suspend their company’s retirement-plan contributions this year. Dozens of employers in the past year have already slashed such costs. The trend means one important thing for workers: smaller nest eggs,.. read more →
Under the veterans’ compensation benefits system, a veteran, a veteran’s dependents or a veteran’s survivors are required only to submit a “plausible claim” for an entitlement to VA benefits. Once a plausible claim has been submitted, the burden to fully and completely develop evidence to support that claim lies with the Department of Veterans Affairs.. read more →
On February 17 and 18, 2009, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issued a series of eight Social Security Rulings clarifying and updating the SSA’s process for determining childhood disability under the “functional equivalence” rule. The functional equivalence rule is used to determine if a child meets the SSA’s definition of “disabled” when a child does.. read more →
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the stimulus bill). This law provides for a one-time economic recovery payment of $250 to most Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries who were eligible under the programs during November or December.. read more →
Highly regarded Certified Elder Law Attorney among just five percent of lawyers in state to be recognized with prestigious professional designation. Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq., with offices at 242 St. Paul Street, Westfield, NJ, has been selected as a “New Jersey Super Lawyer” in the areas of Elder Law and Estate Planning in 2009. Mr… read more →
Over the past several years, nursing homes have become dumping grounds for young and middle-age people with mental illness, according to Associated Press interviews and an analysis of data from all 50 states. And that has proved a prescription for violence, as Jackson’s case and others across the country illustrate. Younger, stronger residents with schizophrenia,.. read more →
According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, shrinking staff levels, a dramatically increasing workload and more complicated disabling impairments will lead to an exploding backlog of claims for social security retirement and disability claims. Staffing in Social Security field offices dropped 4.4 percent from 2005 to 2008. The agency also estimates that.. read more →
Earlier this month, the state Senate approved, by a vote of 21-14, bipartisan-sponsored legislation that would require all palimony agreements to be in writing and signed in order to be enforceable. The bill, s-2091, amends N.J.S.A. 25:1-5, which already requires that prenuptial agreements be put into writing. The bill is intended to overturn recent “palimony”.. read more →
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpolitical, nonpartisan research institute, recently published its Sixth Annual Report on the State of the News Media in the United States. The Project editor called it “the bleakest report ever issued.” I found the report fascinating. I grew up reading newspapers, and still subscribe to.. read more →
Congratulations to my colleague, Deirdre Wheatley-Liss, on being chosen as one of New Jersey’s 50 Best Women in Business by NJBIZ magazine. Here is a press release about the achievement. I know of at least three of Deirdre’s achievements: she has earned an LLM in taxation from NYU (wow), she has been board-certified as an.. read more →
In January 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit disbarred an attorney who backdated a deed for Medicaid planning purposes and engaged in self-dealing. in-re-cook (U.S. Ct. App., 6th Cir., No. 08-3026, Jan. 6, 2008). In 2001, Ohio attorney Linda S. Cook assisted an elderly woman with estate and Medicaid planning. The woman.. read more →
A Union County judge has ordered life support resumed for a patient who has been in a vegetative state for 14 months, restraining a hospital from taking it upon itself to discontinue or suspend treatment, and rejecting arguments that public health considerations take precedence over the patient’s family’s wishes. Ruben Betancourt has been unconscious since.. read more →
An advance directive for mental health care (ADMHC) is a legal document similar to an advance medical directive which governs end-of-life decision-making. However, an ADMHC is used to express preferences and give instructions in advance to family members and medical providers for future mental health treatment, including medications, voluntary admission to inpatient treatment, electroconvulsive therapy.. read more →
In only the second administrative law case of its kind decided in New Jersey, an administrative law judge (ALJ) recently decided that an annuity purchased by a community spouse with retirement assets formerly held in the community spouse’s IRA was exempt in determining the eligibility of the institutional spouse for nursing home Medicaid benefits. I.. read more →
According to Aspen Publishers, there are seven common mistakes made by elder law attorneys that, though relatively easy to avoid, cause problems for the uninformed practitioner and his/her client. The publisher created a pamphlet entitled The Seven Deadly Sins of Elder Law Practice, which identifies the seven common mistakes and proposes solutions. A summary follows:.. read more →
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