Top 10 Blog Posts on www.VanarelliLaw.com in 2015
Happy New Year to clients, supporters, friends and readers. Last month, an article on this blog ranked the 25 most popular blog posts and website articles on the Vanarelli Law Office website in 2015. Since then, I decided to narrow my focus a little. In this post, I focused solely on blog posts, and created.. read more →
The New Jersey Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act became law today. Under the new Act, New Jersey’s Department of Human Services and the Department of the Treasury are required to establish the ABLE Program pursuant to federal law. Under the program, persons who became disabled before age 26 and are found to meet.. read more →
As explained in previous blog posts here, here and here, an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account is a tax-advantaged account that can be used to save funds for the disability-related expenses of the account’s designated beneficiary, who must be blind or disabled by a condition that began prior to the individual’s 26th birthday… read more →
In this case, a Medicaid application filed by the beneficiary of a special needs trust was denied by the Medicaid agency and upheld on appeal because the special needs trust, funded with the proceeds from a personal injury lawsuit but lacking a Medicaid payback provision, violated applicable law. D.W. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J… read more →
An appeals court holds that the Massachusetts Medicaid is not required to recognize the reformation of an applicant’s trust after the original trust was considered an available asset. Needham v. Director of Medicaid (Mass. Ct. App., No. 14-P-182, Oct. 20, 2015). Maurice Needham, a Massachusetts resident, created two trusts. The first, a revocable trust, held the family.. read more →
The decedent, Tracy Solivan, had been disabled at birth as a result of medical malpractice at a Hudson County hospital. Her parents had obtained a $172,400 settlement on her behalf, which was held in the Hudson County Surrogate’s account until she turned eighteen. In 2002, after she turned 18, Tracy Solivan’s mother was appointed as.. read more →
The 18th Annual Elder and Disability Law Symposium was held on September 29, 2015 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, NJ. As in past years, I presented the case law update at the opening plenary session. This year I summarized 30 elder and disability law cases decided from September 2014 through August.. read more →
A federal district court concluded that a decision of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to permanently discontinue a recipient’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits because of temporary mismanagement of a special needs trust required remand to the agency for reconsideration of whether the trust is forever an includable resource. Elias v. Colvin (M.D. Pa., No. 3:15-CV-263,.. read more →
In a recent press release, the Internal Revenue Service announced the release of proposed regulations implementing a new federal law authorizing states to offer tax-favored ABLE accounts to people with disabilities who became disabled before age 26. The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) legislation was signed into law in December 2014. ABLE accounts are.. read more →
After advocates criticized the Social Security Administration (SSA) for refusing to allow court-established Special Needs Trust to qualify as exempt resources for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) purposes, the SSA has issued an Administrative Message, AM-15032, clarifying its policy regarding these trusts. The Administrative Message explains that the rejection of court-established Special Needs Trust is appropriate.. read more →
Top 10 New Jersey Elder Law and Special Needs Planning Cases Decided in 2014
The 17th Annual Elder Law Retreat, presented by the New Jersey State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law Section, was held on April 21 – 23, 2015 in Philadelphia, PA. At least two significant events occurred at the Retreat this year. First, I was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing my “advocacy in elder and.. read more →
A federal district court ruled that a public housing authority properly counted distributions from a special needs trust as income in concluding that the beneficiary of the trust was ineligible for a Section 8 housing voucher. DeCambre v. Brookline Housing Authority (D. Mass., No. 14-13425-WGY, March 25, 2015) Kimberly DeCambre, a disabled, 59 year old resident.. read more →
The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act became law on December 19, 2014. The new law creates an option for people with disabilities and their families to save for the future, while protecting eligibility for public benefits, without creating a special needs trust or similar estate planning instrument. What is an ABLE Account? .. read more →
On February 3, 2015, U.S. Representatives Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-05) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) in the House, along with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) in the Senate introduced the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015 (H.R.670/S.349). This legislation would enable a disabled individual’s assets to be held in a trust and.. read more →
Earlier in December, Congress passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014, or the ABLE Act. The ABLE Act provides individuals with special needs and disabilities to own tax-free savings accounts while preserving their needs-based government benefits. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law. Beginning in 2015, the disabled and.. read more →
On December 12, 2014, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 (NDAA). Among other provisions in the NDAA, Section 624 protects the disabled children of military families by allowing their parents’ survivor benefits to go into a special needs trust. This new law permits a disabled child to benefit from a parent’s military.. read more →
On December 3rd, I presented at the 72nd Semi-Annual Tax and Estate Planning Forum sponsored by the NJ Institute for Continuing Legal Education. My presentation focused on recent developments in planning for disabled beneficiaries, including my recent victory in the New Jersey Supreme Court in the Thomas Saccone v. Board of Trustees of the Police and.. read more →
Reversing a trial court, an appeals court ruled that a beneficiary’s Social Security benefits, though deposited each month into a special needs trust, were correctly counted as income by Louisiana’s Medicaid agency. Moore v. Louisiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals (La.App.Ct.1st Cir., No. 2014CA0422, Nov. 7, 2014). Jess Moore, a disabled resident of Louisiana, lived in.. read more →
72nd Semi Annual Tax and Estate Planning Forum Presented by the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education Wed, Dec 3 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM $220.00 General Tuition S12700W5 Location: Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel 515 US Highway 1 South Iselin, NJ (732) 634-3600 Don’t miss out – register today to hear from a virtual “who’s who”.. read more →
NAELA Aids Win for Children With Disabilities of Retired New Jersey Police and Firefighters New Jersey Supreme Court decision allows survivor benefits to be designated to a special needs trust. The New Jersey supreme court’s decision to allow children with disabilities of retired police and firefighters to receive their parent’s survivor benefits without the risk.. read more →
Appearing Above, Left to Right: NAELA Board member Ron Landsman, Esq., CAP, who filed a brief for the Special Needs Alliance and argued the cause before the Court; NAELA member Donald Vanarelli, CELA, CAP, who represented Mr. Saccone and argued before the Court; and NAELA members Robert F. Brogan, CELA, CAP, and Dan Jurkovic, CELA,.. read more →
Court OKs Trusts for Disabled Kids of Cops and Firefighters For Plaintiff-Appellant Thomas Saccone: Donald D. Vanarelli (Law Office of Vanarelli & Li, LLC, attorney; Mr. Vanarelli and Whitney W. Bremer, on the brief). For Defendant-Respondent Board of Trustee of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System: Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney General (John J. Hoffman,.. read more →
There are different rules regarding the imposition and repayment of Medicaid liens prior to funding special needs trusts (as opposed to the imposition and recovery of Medicaid liens from estates of deceased recipients.(Notably, the lien rules are different in the context of institutional liens (see N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.1) and DDD services (see N.J.A.C. 10:7-6.1). The differences.. read more →
(In the midst of my oral argument before the New Jersey Supreme Court held on February 4, 2014 on behalf of Thomas Saccone. A video of the entire oral argument can be found on my website here.) Reversing contrary decisions by lower courts and administrative agencies, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the disabled.. read more →
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an historic effort by the government to extend medical insurance coverage to all Americans, increase the quality of care, increase accountability, and reduce cost. It’s been said that the ACA changes the relationship between government, health care providers and all who receive health care in the U.S. However, at.. read more →
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