Every year we release the key dollar amounts that are frequently used in elder law, estate administration and special needs trust planning, including Medicaid figures, Medicare premiums, Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income. Be sure to check back often, as we will add any information that has not yet been released and update the.. read more →

If you are injured because of someone else’s negligence, you may have to resort to a personal injury lawsuit in order to obtain payment for the medical care you will need in the future and to compensate you for your pain and suffering. If your injury falls under the workers’ compensation system, or if you.. read more →

Every year we release the key dollar amounts that are frequently used in elder law, estate administration and special needs trust planning, including Medicaid figures, Medicare premiums, Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income. Be sure to check back often, as we will add any information that has not yet been released and update the.. read more →

On October 15, 2020, Attorney Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. presented a live Webinar in which attendees learned how to Protect their Assets from the Catastrophic Costs of Probate, Long-Term Care and Nursing Home Expenses. Webinar Topics Included: Care options and typical costs of care in New Jersey in various settings. How to qualify for government.. read more →

Every year we release the key dollar amounts that are frequently used in elder law, estate administration and special needs trust planning, including Medicaid figures, Medicare premiums, Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income. Be sure to check back often, as we will add any information that has not yet been released and update the.. read more →

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the amount taxpayers can deduct from their 2020 income as a result of buying long-term care insurance. Premiums for “qualified” long-term care insurance policies are tax deductible for the taxpayer, his or her spouse and other dependents to the extent that the premiums, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses.. read more →

In 1995, Frances and Larnie Shaw, prepared a number of estate planning documents. One of the documents, a testamentary trust created by Frances, was known as “Credit Shelter Trust.” Larnie and Janice, one of the Shaws’ three daughters, were designated as co-trustees of the Credit Shelter Trust. The Shaws’ other daughters were Carolyn and Shirley… read more →

Louis Keppel hired Donna Thomas as a home health aide. Thomas was employed by Angela’s Angels Home Healthcare and Angela’s Angels, LLC. Keppel died intestate. Dolores Guttmann and Thomas Loikith were appointed co-administrators of his estate. Guttmann and Loikith discovered that Thomas misappropriated 192 checks from Louis Keppel over a two-year period. In that regard,.. read more →

Each year the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds report on the current and projected financial status of the two programs. Last month, the Board of Trustees released its 2019 Social Security Trustees Report, which is  summarized below. SOCIAL SECURITY The report provides an annual assessment of the financial health of the.. read more →

Is your medical item or service covered by Medicare Part A and/or Part B? Now there’s a quick way to check! Medicare’s free “What’s Covered” app delivers accurate cost and coverage information right on your smartphone. Now you can quickly see whether Medicare covers your service in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or anywhere else.. read more →

Medicare’s annual open enrollment period runs from October 15 to December 7–the period when enrollees can shop for new coverage. Now is the time to review your options to determine if you should switch plans. During Medicare’s annual open enrollment period, you may (1) enroll in a Medicare Part D (prescription drug) plan; (2) change your Part.. read more →

The Alzheimer’s Association has issued its 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report. The report is “a statistical resource for U.S. data related to Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, as well as other dementias.” Aside from providing a definition of Alzheimer’s disease (“Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of.. read more →

Below are figures for 2016 that are frequently used in the elder law practice or are of interest to clients. Medicaid Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Figures for 2016 These figures are unchanged from 2015.  The minimum community spouse resource allowance (CSRA) is $23,844 and the maximum CSRA remains $119,220. The maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance is $2,980.50. The minimum monthly.. read more →

In this case, a surviving spouse’s claim to her deceased spouse’s life insurance proceeds was rejected by an appeals court in New Jersey because the deceased spouse named others as beneficiaries. Fromageot v. Fromageot, Docket No. A-1099-13T1 (App. Div.,  December 2, 2015) The decedent, Paul Fromageot (“Paul”), had two life insurance policies. One was a.. read more →

Medicare is the federal government’s principal health care insurance program for people 65 years of age and over. In addition, the program covers people of any age who are permanently disabled or who have end-stage renal disease (people with kidney ailments that require dialysis or a kidney transplant). The Medicare program insures 49 million Americans.. read more →

A New Jersey appeals court rejected a surviving spouse’s public policy argument to adopt a rule that marriage creates a “presumptive right” to a deceased spouse’s life insurance benefits when someone else was designated as the beneficiary of the policy, holding that the creation of any such presumptive right would have to come from the.. read more →

On Thursday, February 4, 2014, I, along with amicus counsel, argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of Thomas Saccone, a retired Newark fireman with a disabled adult child named Anthony. Anthony, now 40 years old, has received public benefits based on need, specifically SSI and Medicaid benefits, since he was age 18… read more →

This is the agenda posted outside the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday, February 4, 2014 when the Court heard oral argument in Saccone v. Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System in which the Court will decide whether public employees should be allowed to direct their pensions’ death benefits to special-needs.. read more →

(A news report published in the New Jersey Law Journal on yesterday’s oral argument in the New Jersey Supreme Court is republished in full below.) Court Weighs Designating Trusts as Beneficiaries in State Pension Plans Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal, February 04, 2014 New Jersey’s high court is deciding whether public employees should be.. read more →

Thomas v. Thomas, Docket No. A-2388-11T2 (N.J. Super. App. Div. June 4, 2013), involved competing claims against a $1 million life insurance policy maintained by the decedent. Mr. Thomas was survived by a wife, as well as an ex-wife, with whom he had 2 children. Pursuant to the Property Settlement Agreement (“PSA”) between Mr. Thomas.. read more →

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced increased deductibility levels for individuals with long term care insurance policies in 2013.  According to Revenue Procedure 2012-41, the deductible limits range from a low of $360 to as much as $4,550 per person. The limits represent an increase from 2012, as follows: Attained Age Before Close of Taxable Year.. read more →

The settlement of Jimmo v. Sebelius, Docket No. 11-cv-17 (D.Vt., January 18, 2011), a nationwide class-action lawsuit, has resulted in a significant change in Medicare coverage rules. Under the settlement, Medicare will scrap a decades-old practice that required beneficiaries to show medical or functional improvement before Medicare would pay for skilled nursing and therapy services… read more →

New Jerseyans with an autism spectrum disorder gained two laws recently which, it is hoped, will give them a better chance to lead meaningful, productive and independent lives. The first of the new laws, A-4226, expands New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law, the Law Against Discrimination, to ensure that no one who has autism and related neurological.. read more →

In Rodbart v. County of Union, 2009 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 3084 (December 21, 2009), Union County was sued by three retirees who expected the County to pay their Medicare Part B premiums for life if they accepted early retirement. Two of the retirees were former Union County assistant prosecutors and the other served as.. read more →

The IRS has announced the 2010 limits on the tax deductibility of qualified long term care insurance premiums. Deductible limits were increased for every age group, ranging from $10 for the youngest group to more $130 for the oldest. For the first time, the maximum deductible limit for an individual exceeds $4,000. The 2010 limits.. read more →