The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is causing Medicaid applicants to be incorrectly denied benefits due to the way the federal agency is reporting the VA pension benefit to state agencies for the purpose of determining Medicaid eligibility. In that regard, the VA is issuing letters to state Medicaid agencies which breakdown the VA benefit.. read more →
When I started blogging in 2008, I reviewed many other law blogs in New Jersey and elsewhere in an effort to understand what blogging was all about, who else was blogging, and what subjects were covered by other blogging lawyers. I also tried to compile a list of the top 10 elder and special needs.. read more →
In the New Jersey Advance Directives for Health Care Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-53 et seq., the State of New Jersey recognized that a competent adult has a statutory right to plan ahead for health care decisions through the execution of advance medical directives, and to have the wishes expressed in those documents respected. A more recent.. read more →
Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted a Petition for Certification I filed asking the Court to review a decision of the appellate division denying a request by my client, a retired fireman, to designate as beneficiary of his public pension death benefits a special needs trust he established in his Last Will and Testament. This.. read more →
Vanarelli & Li, LLC is proud to announce that two professionals in the firm have been named to the 2013 Super Lawyer List in New Jersey. Partner Donald D. Vanarelli has been named to the 2013 Super Lawyer List in three practice areas: Elder Law, Estate Planning and Probate, and Estate and Trust Litigation. Associate.. read more →
Earlier this month, Hon. Robert P. Contillo, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division, Bergen County, New Jersey, set aside a decedent’s Last Will and Testament, ruling that the Will was the result of undue influence by one of her adult children who was the principal beneficiary of the will. In doing so, Judge Contillo made.. read more →
On June 27, 2013, attorney Donald D. Vanarelli will be moderating a panel of speakers at a seminar sponsored by New Jersey’s Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) entitled “Special Needs Trusts: Key Strategies for Successful Planning and Administration.” A distinguished panel of estate and elder law practitioners will speak at the ICLE seminar: Dana.. read more →
On March 25, 2013, attorney Donald D. Vanarelli will be addressing the Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly on the topic of Elder Mediation / Negotiation Skills at the Ombudsman’s Quarterly Regional Meeting held in Freehold, New Jersey. In attendance will be NJ’s State Ombudsman, Jim McCracken, his investigative staff and Volunteer Advocates. .. read more →
In August, the VA’s inspector general said the weight of paper files at the agency’s Winston-Salem, N.C., office had compromised the structural integrity of the building. Photo Credit: Office of the Inspector General/Department of Veterans Affairs and the Center for Investigative Reporting read more →
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