Social Security Disability (“SSD”) and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) are two programs available from the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) that may play an important role in an elder law practice. SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY (“SSD”) BENEFITS: Available to a blind or disabled worker who: applies for benefits; has not reached full retirement age; has sufficient social.. read more →

Veterans and their families should be aware of the various benefits that may be available to them through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”). I.       GENERAL HEALTH AND OTHER PROGRAMS The VA offers many special programs for veterans, among which are the following: Benefits for returning veterans: Health care for 5 years.. read more →

A few years ago I published an article on this blog entitled the “Top 10 New Jersey Elder Law Blogs” = https://vanarellilaw.com/?p=475. At about the same time, I also published a list of the “Top 10 New Jersey Mediation Blogs.” Since I was a new blogger at the time the lists were published, having started.. read more →

PLEASE NOTE: The National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers is now known as the Aging Life Care Association. This post was edited on 7/26/19 to reflect that change. With Americans living increasingly long lives, coping with the physical, emotional, cognitive and financial issues attendant to the aging process is a challenge faced by a.. read more →

A few years ago I published what I called the “top 10 NJ mediation blogs” = https://vanarellilaw.com/?p=622. The list of blogs was published in October 2008, about 6 months after I started my blogging adventure (an adventure which hasn’t yet ended.) I compiled a list of “awarding winning” blogs by listing the mediation blogs I.. read more →

Below I’ve listed the most popular posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog in November 2011. NJ Appellate Court Rules That Awarding Attorneys Fees To The Wrongdoer In An Undue Influence Case Is An “Abuse Of Discretion” Issues From Recently Filed Claims For VA Pension Benefits Does The VA Consider Assets Transferred To A Special.. read more →

Effective December 1, 2011 The COLA increases for major Pension benefits follow. Charts showing COLA increases for all Pension benefits and for all parents’ Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits are attached here. Single Veteran Base Pension: $12,256 annually; $1,021 monthly Supplements: Housebound: $14,978 annually; $1,248 monthly Aid & Attendance: $20,447 annually; $1,703 monthly Veteran.. read more →

  Several weeks ago, on Sunday, November 20th, I was a guest on The Caring Generation, a radio show airing on 630 KHOW-AM, a Talk Radio Station broadcasting from Denver, Colorado, and on the internet. The show is hosted by Pamela D. Wilson, who identified herself as the “Care Navigator.” The Caring Generation is about.. read more →

Family and divorce mediation is a process in which a mediator, an impartial third party, facilitates the resolution of family disputes by promoting the participants’ voluntary agreement. The Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation are the product of an effort by mediation-interested organizations and individuals to create a unified set of standards.. read more →

A Pennnsylvania trial judge recently ruled that a person had “no expectation of privacy” in Facebook postings and, therefore, the postings must be produced in lawsuit. The case arose out of a chain-reaction auto accident. Plaintiff Keith Largent was driving a motorcycle, with plaintiff Jessica Largent as a passenger. At an intersection, defendant Jessica Rosko.. read more →

Keeping the Peace Through Elder Mediation Training Schedule Registration and Breakfast 1. Introduction (Donald Vanarelli) Elder Mediation in New Jersey NJAPM Special Interest Section Goals of Training Session Housekeeping items 2. “Setting the Stage” (Theater Group/Gabrielle Strich/Benni Versaci) 3. What is Elder Mediation? (Donald Vanarelli) Goals of Elder Mediation Overview of Presenting Issues in Elder.. read more →

Earlier this year the New York State Legislature, prompted by the Governor’s Medicaid Redesign Team, amended Section 369 of the Social Services Law to increase New York’s right to recover money from the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient. The amendment expands the definition of the term “estate” in the Medicaid Law to include non-probate.. read more →

Divorce is never easy, but if a child or spouse with special needs is involved, there are special considerations. At the same time, family law attorneys aren’t always familiar with how to best protect a spouse or child with special needs during a divorce. Elder law attorneys can provide information to family law attorneys who.. read more →

  General Divide all property according to divorce decree. Re-title ownership of assets, including your home and all motor vehicles, and inform  mortgage company, if any, of changes in ownership of real estate. Change the name of responsible party on utility bills, and notify auto insurer. Update your mailing address with credit card companies, banks,.. read more →

(Below I have reproduced a portion of the legal argument section in a brief we recently filed to support an application asking the court to effectuate the intent of a decedent by reforming a trust created by the decedent into a special needs trust so that the decedent’s surviving adult disabled child could maintain her.. read more →

Following are descriptions of several of the issues which attorneys at my law office have confronted in recent claims we filed on behalf of veterans and their dependents seeking non-service connected pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which may be of interest to readers. Life Insurance The face value of a life.. read more →

Below I’ve listed the most popular content on the Vanarelli Law Office blog and website in October 2011. Assignment Of Income Streams To Special Needs Trusts The Top Ten Lessons Steve Jobs Can Teach Us Assessing the Need for Guardianship Medicaid Eligibility And The Pickle Amendment Financial Exploitation of The Elderly: Impact on Medicaid Eligibility.. read more →

(The Fall 2011 issue of Mediation News, the newsletter of the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM), contains a short article on NJAPM’s newly-formed Estate and Elder Mediation Special Interest Group. The article is reproduced below. If you have an interest in this emerging practice area, please contact me or simply come to a.. read more →

(This is part 4 of a 4-part blog post on the subject of the assignment of various types of income to a special needs trust. This post discusses the assignment of annuities, IRAs and other retirement benefits to a special needs trust. Prior blog posts on this subject can be found here, here and here.).. read more →

As readers of this blog may know, representing veterans in connection with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims is an emerging practice area that is becoming an increasingly important component of an elder law practice. Lawyers at my firm have been retained with increasing frequency in recent years to represent veterans in claims for both.. read more →

(This is part 3 of a 4-part blog post on the subject of the assignment of various types of income to a special needs trust. This post discusses the assignment of child support to a special needs trust. Prior blog posts on this subject can be found here and here.) Child Support   SSI’s treatment.. read more →

Federal district court in New Jersey denied a Medicaid applicant’s request for an injunction directing the state to disregard his wife’s purchase of a life estate in their daughter’s home when determining his eligibility for nursing home Medicaid benefits.  The Court ruled that issues of fact were in dispute, preventing an injunction from being issued… read more →

Lawrence Toppin was a juror in a criminal trial in Bergen County. Jury selection took 6 days. As part of voir dire questioning, the Court asked the jurors whether they could abide by his direction to limit their consideration only to those facts which “are from the testimony and exhibits introduced at the trial. You.. read more →

(This is part 2 of a 4-part blog post on the subject of the assignment of various types of income to a special needs trust. This post discusses the assignment of alimony to a special needs trust. The first post in this series can be found here.) Alimony and Child Support In a nation with.. read more →

In a September 30, 2011 unpublished opinion, our Appellate Division considered the duty owed by the scrivener of a will to third parties, and declined to extend that duty to the stepson of a decedent who had been omitted from the decedent’s will. In Taffaro v. Connell, No. A-4928-09T2 (App. Div. Sept. 30, 2011), Dolores.. read more →