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 →