N.S., who was 87 years old and residing in a nursing home, submitted an application for Medicaid benefits through his authorized representative, L.P. Prior to his admission to the nursing home, N.S. resided with his wife, D.S., who was 86 years old. For months after the application was filed, the Medicaid caseworker requested additional documents.. 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 →
The National Center on Law & Elder Rights recently published the following 10 Tips for Guardians of Older Adults: When courts appoint a family member or friend as a guardian or conservator of an adult, the guardian is sometimes left with minimal training on their new role. The family member or friend must step into the.. read more →
A power of attorney does not have to return money she took from her now deceased principal because the power of attorney removed the money for Medicaid planning purposes. In re Estate of Hirnyk (Pa. Super. Ct., No. 84 WDA 2018, April 16, 2019). Maria Hirnyk, a Ukrainian immigrant, did not drive and required assistance with.. read more →
Sally Rosenthal passed away on February 16, 2015. She was unmarried, had no children and died intestate as she had never executed a will. In order to locate decedent’s potential heirs, the temporary administrators of the decedent’s estate hired an expert to conduct a genealogical search for the decedent’s family members. Although the expert attempted.. read more →
Z.P. was a resident of Aristacare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Z.P. filed for Medicaid benefits and was found to be medically and financially eligible as of December 1, 2016. However, Z.P. made transfers for less than fair market value within five years of the application date for Medicaid. As a result,.. read more →
A Texas appeals court held that the state could not count the assets of a Medicaid applicant as “available resources” under the Medicaid rules because the applicant was incapacitated and not able to liquidate the assets. Texas Health and Human Services Commission v. Marroney (Tx. Ct. App., No. 03-18-00190-CV, May 24, 2019). Anna Marroney suffered a.. read more →
Earlier this month, New Jersey’s Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS), the State Medicaid agency, announced an increase in the penalty divisor from $343.85 to $351.84 per day, or $10,701.80 per month, effective April 1, 2019. This is an increase of only $7.99 per day, a very small increase when compared with prior.. read more →
On April 26, 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a Notice to state housing agencies concerning the impact of ABLE accounts on eligibility for Section 8 vouchers, public housing and a host of other federal housing programs. ABLE accounts were created in 2014 by the passage of the Achieving a.. read more →
Petitioner, a severely impaired young woman, resides at home with her father, her primary caregiver. She requires monitoring 24 hours a day. She cannot eat or speak, and is unable to sit, stand or change positions on her own. She is fed and hydrated through a gastrostomy tube. She experiences frequent seizures, which occur even.. read more →
Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present at the 2019 “Elder Law in a Day” seminar given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education on July 10, 2019 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mr. Vanarelli will provide the case law update, summarizing the most significant legal developments.. read more →
In a decision by Honorable Robert P. Contillo, P.J.Ch. that was affirmed by our Appellate Division, the court analyzed complex family relationships to determine if gifts were made in good faith or the result of undue influence. The decedent had two children. Her daughter (the plaintiff) was the executrix and a beneficiary of her estate… read more →
J.G., an indigent nursing home resident, applied for Medicaid benefits. While his Medicaid application was pending, J.G. passed away. Thereafter, the Essex County Division of Family Assistance and Benefits, the county welfare agency, denied J.G.’s Medicaid application, concluding he was ineligible as he died before eligibility could be met. Future Care Consultants, J.G.’s designated authorized.. read more →
New Jersey appeals court allows an assisted living facility pursue a tortious interference with contractual relationship claim against a discharged resident’s son after the son refused to move his mother out of the nursing home or allow her to discuss her removal with the facility staff. The Orchards at Bartley Assisted Living v. Schleck (N.J… read more →
Petitioner, J.F., through his daughter and power of attorney, M.P., applied for Medicaid benefits. The county welfare agency requested five years of bank statements from his checking account and told him the application would be denied if the requested information was not provided by April 23, 2015. M.P. asked for an extension of time. In.. read more →
The decedent’s godchildren sought to probate a purported will that the decedent had neither reviewed nor signed. The decedent, who was 90 and in fragile health, had had a telephone conversation with an attorney she had never met. Based upon that conversation, the attorney drafted the decedent’s 17-page will. The decedent never had the opportunity.. read more →
After Mrs. Dreher died and her son probated her will, her daughter filed a complaint objecting to the probate. The plaintiff claimed that the will was the product of undue influence, and that her mother lacked testamentary capacity to sign the will. After four days of trial, the parties settled the case, and the terms.. read more →
Question: My mother deeded her house to my sister and me more than seven years ago, meaning that the transfer is beyond Medicaid’s 5-year look-back period and should not affect my mother’s eligibility for Medicaid benefits. My family moved into her home (which is now owned by my sister and me) approximately 4 years ago.. read more →
The decedent’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren filed an action seeking to set aside the decedent’s 2016 will that disinherited them, and to admit a prior will and codicil. They claimed that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity to make the 2016 will, and that the decedent’s daughter had exercised undue influence to cause the decedent to disinherit.. read more →
The New Jersey legislature has passed a medical aid in dying bill which Governor Murphy has indicated he will sign. The new law states that [New Jersey] affirms the right of a qualified terminally ill patient, protected by appropriate safeguards, to obtain medication that the patient may choose to self-administer in order to bring about.. read more →
Executors of the estate filed an Order to Show Cause requesting approval of the estate’s final accounting in a summary manner. The Order to Show Cause was entered and a return date was scheduled. Opposing family members filed a responsive pleading, in which they accused the executors of withholding financial information and commingling estate assets… read more →
Congressman John Garamendi, D-CA, recently introduced the Fair COLA for Seniors Act, H.R. 1553, to end inadequate retirement cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that don’t account for the effects of inflation on older Americans. H.R. 1553 would require a switch to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage.. read more →
Shortly after their father’s death, plaintiff (one of the decedent’s sons) filed a caveat against the estate, based on allegations of undue influence and payments made to his siblings prior to their father’s death. After his brother filed a complaint in the Superior Court, Probate Part to admit the father’s will to probate, plaintiff voluntarily.. read more →
Free Seminar “Planning For The Catastrophic Costs Of Long-Term Care” Wednesday, April 3, 2019 4:00 PM Free Seminar Law Office of Vanarelli & Li, LLC 242 St. Paul Street Westfield, NJ 07090 Health care issues increase as we age, and become more complex. Please join Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq., Certified Elder Law.. read more →
Wayne Lippincott’s widow Anne probated a will dated two days before his death in 2015. The couple had been married 28 years, and each had grown children from prior marriages. Wayne’s children and grandchildren challenged the will, claiming undue influence, lack of capacity, forgery, and failure to comply with the formalities of execution. They sought.. read more →
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