Judges, like everyone else, have been affected by the treasure trove of information available on the internet, and have slowly begun basing judicial decisions on internet sources. However, until recently citing internet sources in judicial opinions has been a haphazard affair, with little guidance provided anywhere on how to identify reliable sources, how to present.. read more →
About 50 million retired and disabled Americans receive Social Security benefits. The average monthly benefit for retirees is $1,153 this year. Social Security benefits are increased each year to keep pace with increases in the cost-of-living. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is pegged to inflation. However, since inflation has been negative this year, the trustees who.. read more →
A new New York form updating and replacing the old New York Power of Attorney form has been developed and is available below on this blog. Also available on this blog is the new New York Statutory Major Gifts Rider form that must be completed in order to grant an agent under a power of.. read more →
The Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey (EMC-NJ), a collaborative alliance of independent mediators, attorneys and a geriatric care manager, will present a training session for mediators who wish to expand their knowledge of the specialized field of elder mediation. The training session, to be held on November 10, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00.. read more →
As I blogged here, the New Jersey appellate court, in N.M. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, 405 N.J. Super. 353 (App. Div. 2009), certif. den., 199 N.J. 517 (2009), held that an annuity purchased for the sole benefit of the community spouse after the effective date of the Deficit Reduction Act of.. read more →
Gregory Herman-Giddens, Esq., an attorney and certified financial planner, writes the North Carolina Estate Planning Blog, a good source of news from the estate planning arena. On August 5th, Gregory blogged about his prediction for upcoming legislative events involving the federal estate tax. He says the prediction is based on “inside sources”, and it does.. read more →
Based upon comments I’ve read on blogs throughout the blogosphere, there appears to be a great deal of confusion about about three issues involving VA benefits: who can assist a veteran or veteran’s family with a claim for VA benefits; who can charge a fee for providing assistance to a veteran; and, when can the veteran be charged a fee?.. read more →
As reported on my blog, Judge John Malone, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division of the Superior Court in Union County, entered an Order authorizing the Administrator of an intestate estate, i.e., an estate of a decedent who died without a will, to establish a Special Needs Trust, often referred to as a Supplemental Benefits.. read more →
The case of Detloff v. Absecon Manor Nursing Center, Docket No. A-5941-07T2 (App. Div., August 4, 2009) arose out of the care and treatment provided to decedent while she was admitted at defendant Absecon Manor, a long-term care facility. Plaintiff, executrix of the estate of Mary Mazzei, filed a complaint alleging nursing malpractice supported by.. read more →
In Lerman v. Lerman, Docket No. A-1953-07T3 (App. Div., August 4, 2009), the trustees of a trust established and funded by defendant David Lerman’s deceased mother, Pearl Lerman, appealed from an order of a Family Court Judge in New Jersey directing that Bank of America turn over $50,000 of the trust’s assets to the Bergen.. read more →
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national non-profit, public interest legal organization committed to advancing the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families. Since 1999, NCLR’s Elder Law Project has been helping LGBT seniors gain access to and obtain equal treatment in law, public policy, health.. read more →
The National Elder Law Foundation (NELF) is an organization established in 1993, primarily by members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, known as NAELA. NELF assists the public in identifying attorneys qualified to practice the legal specialty of elder law by providing the only national certification in the field of elder law approved.. read more →
In a recent article published in Inside Jersey magazine, collaborative divorce is described as “the newest method of alternative dispute resolution.” The author explained the collaborative divorce process as follows: Rather than two sides preparing for a knockdown, drag-out fight [in court], the collaborative process is designed to allow spouses to negotiate with each other’s.. read more →
Aging Well is a magazine for professionals involved with the aging and elderly population. Aging Well magazine also maintains a website, here. In the July/August 2009 edition, Aging Well magazine published an article which I wrote entitled “Assessing the Need for Guardianship”. The article attempts to explain the concept of competency or capacity, and the.. read more →
The economic stimulus legislation enacted in February 2009 provides a one-time payment of $250.00 to nearly all Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who were eligible for a benefit payment in any one of the following months: November 2008, December 2008, or January 2009. SSA made these payments in May 2009. I previously blogged about the.. read more →
A. Stepchildren. Care should be taken to identify and address issues of step-children with an estate planning client. Although a client may consider and refer to a step-child as his “child,” for purposes of estate administration, New Jersey’s statutory definition of a “child” includes “any individual, including a natural or adopted child, entitled to take.. read more →
Increasingly, couples are seeking more constructive and less expensive alternatives to litigating their divorce, child custody and support issues in court. One alternative is collaborative divorce (also known as collaborative law, collaborative practice and collaborative family law). In a collaborative divorce, lawyers, mental health professionals and financial specialists work together with the divorcing couple to.. read more →
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the proceeds from a home sale held in an escrow account pending an agreement between a divorcing couple as to their final distribution are countable resources for purposes of determining eligibility under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. In Kelley v. Commissioner of Social Security (3rd… read more →
According to an article in the July 14th edition of the New York Times, a flood of veterans, young and old, are seeking disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for psychological and physical injuries connected to their military service. The backlog of unprocessed claims for those disabilities is now over 400,000, up.. read more →
When advising clients about how to plan for the possibility of needing long-term care, elder law attorneys generally put long-term care insurance (LTCI) at or near the top of the list of planning strategies, provided the clients can afford the coverage and are insurable. But are elder law attorneys walking the walk for themselves and.. read more →
In May of this year, the Internal Revenue Service provided guidance on when a taxpayer may avoid the 10% penalty on IRA distributions before age 59 by claiming to be disabled. In Chief Counsel Advice 200922041, the IRS explained the meaning of “disabled” as it relates to Internal Revenue Code 72(m)(7), the disability exception to.. read more →
Here is updated information on trends in the characteristics and numbers of nursing home residents in the United States. The Division of Health Care Statistics (DHCS), the National Center for Health Statistics, has announced the internet release of Series 13, No 167 of the National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) Overview Report for the year 2004… read more →
A court of equity in New Jersey is empowered to reform a trust in order to accomplish the settlor’s objectives, even where the terms of the trust are unambiguous. Bogert, The Law of Trusts and Trustees §§991, 994 at Ch. 47; see In re Crichfield Trust, 177 N.J. Super. 258, 261 (Ch. Div. 1980) (“A.. read more →
Here are 10 arguments that can be used effectively when appealing the denial of a Social Security or Supplemental Security Income disability claim by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ): Failure to properly evaluate mental impairment(s). The ALJ may have erred in failing to evaluate the claimant’s mental impairment and resulting functional limitations as required by.. read more →
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has left elderly borrowers vulnerable to abusive lending practices, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The study raises concerns about the adequacy of consumer protections for reverse mortgage borrowers, who are sometimes subjected to misleading marketing and inappropriate cross-selling of other financial.. read more →
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