For additional information concerning special needs trusts and disability planning, visit: NJ Special Needs Trusts and Disability Planning read more →

On May 18, 2023, Vanarelli & Li, LLC partners, attorneys Donald D. Vanarelli and Chen Li, presented a webinar entitled “Planning for Your Child with Special Needs.” Attorneys Vanarelli and Li showed the webinar attendees how to utilize Special Needs Trusts and accounts established under the “Achieving a Better Life Experience” Act (better known as.. read more →

In 2009, Petitioner executed a power of attorney (POA) in favor of her daughter, Vera. Ten years later, petitioner became a nursing home resident because she suffered from dementia and was no longer capable of managing her affairs. In January 2019, a social worker at the facility filed an initial Medicaid application on petitioner’s behalf… read more →

Before she died, Dorothy Dreher (“Dorothy”) had her attorney prepare a power of attorney naming her son David as her agent. Dorothy later had that same attorney prepare a Last Will and Testament, which favored her son David over her daughter Rebecca. Rebecca became concerned about David’s actions under Dorothy’s power of attorney, and had.. read more →

         After their father’s death, one of the decedent’s sons filed litigation against his siblings in their capacities as co-executors of the estate. The plaintiff did not challenge the validity of the will; he sought to compel an accounting of the estate.           In response to plaintiff’s lawsuit,.. read more →

Listed below are the top ten (10) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog and website articles with the highest readership in 2021, as measured by the number of “unique page views” of each blog post. The title of each article is hyperlinked to the original posting on the blog so that each article is.. read more →

Being able to make health care decisions for ourselves is very important, but what happens if you become incapacitated and are unable to voice an opinion concerning your medical care?  If you don’t have a health care proxy or guardian in place, state law chooses who can make those decisions. A few states, such as.. read more →

Ralph Sandor died on January 20, 2018, at the age of 107. The Court appointed an Administrator Pendente Lite of the decedent’s estate (the “Administrator”). The Administrator filed an action seeking to set-aside gifts made by decedent’s grand-nephew, Anthony Russo, Jr. (“Russo”), by and through a power of attorney. The Administrator alleged that the transfers.. read more →

In this case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that property in an irrevocable trust is not countable by Medicaid even if the grantor/applicant retains a limited power of appointment over the property in the trust. Patricia A. Fournier vs. Secretary of the Exec. Office of Health & Human Services (SJC-13059, July 23, 2021) (SJC-13059,.. read more →

Guardianships and Medicaid Planning – Video 3 On June 15, 2021, I participated in the 2021 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education via ZOOM videoconference webinar. I presented a paper and discussed Medicaid planning in the contest of guardianships in New Jersey. Medicaid planning involves the strategic transfer.. read more →

Guardianships and Medicaid Planning – Video 2 On June 15, 2021, I participated in the 2021 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education via ZOOM videoconference webinar. I presented a paper and discussed Medicaid planning in the contest of guardianships in New Jersey. Medicaid planning involves the strategic transfer.. read more →

Guardianships and Medicaid Planning – Video 1 On June 15, 2021, I participated in the 2021 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education via ZOOM videoconference webinar. I presented a paper and discussed Medicaid planning in the contest of guardianships in New Jersey. Medicaid planning involves the strategic transfer.. read more →

A few months prior to his death in 2008, the decedent executed a codicil to his will, in which he appointed the defendant as executor of his estate, and included the defendant as a beneficiary. The defendant-executor was a relative of the decedent, and a New Jersey attorney. In 2011, a beneficiary of the estate.. read more →

The New Jersey Supreme Court has amended the Court Rules governing guardianships to establish a new state-wide policy for background screenings of proposed guardians of incapacitated persons.  The amendments are effective as of May 15, 2021. The new policy is intended to safeguard the vulnerable population of incapacitated adults against risks of potential abuse, neglect,.. read more →

2021 Elder Law College Format/Skill Level: ZOOM Webinar Location: Online Date: June 15, 2021 Time: 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM ET Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present at the 2021 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education on June 15, 2021 via ZOOM videoconference webinar. Mr. Vanarelli will.. read more →

Christine D. Cenaffra (decedent) had six children, two of whom were the parties in this lawsuit. Diane Cenaffra was the plaintiff, and her sister Patricia Stollenmaier was the defendant. Decedent died in 2015. Her Last Will and Testament named defendant as the executrix. Defendant also was her mother’s power of attorney (POA). Decedent resided with.. read more →

The Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 (Strengthening Protections Act) amended the Social Security Act to allow for the advance designation of representative payees for recipients of Social Security and other governmental benefits. The  Strengthening Protections Act requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) to promulgate regulations specifying the information Social Security beneficiaries.. read more →

In this case, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, (1) restricted a guardian’s ability to make gifts to those individuals expressly named as residuary beneficiaries of the ward’s Last Will and Testament; (2) limited the amount of gifts to $14,000 per person each year pursuant to a power of attorney which the ward executed.. read more →

An Ohio appeals court dismissed a nursing home’s lawsuit to recover a resident’s unpaid fees from his son who signed an admission agreement as his father’s agent under a power of attorney. Village at the Greene v. Smith (Ohio Ct. App., 2d, No. 28762, August 14, 2020). On June 22, 2018, Robert Smith (“the father”) granted.. read more →

Millions of Americans manage money or property for a loved one who’s unable to pay bills or make financial decisions. To help financial caregivers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB, worked closely with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging to prepare four (4) consumer guides: Help for agents under a.. read more →

Based on reports from the police department, Adult Protective Services of Sussex County (APS) opened an investigation into the well-being of then eighty-five-year-old Sally DiNoia, who was living in her home with her adult son, John. Sally’s husband Paul had passed away, and John had been Sally’s primary caregiver for several years. . APS’s investigation.. read more →

In New Jersey, all guardians are appointed by the Superior Court of New Jersey. A “guardian” is a person appointed by a court to make decisions regarding the person or property of an incapacitated adult. A person is “incapacitated” under the law if he or she “is impaired by reason of mental illness or mental.. read more →

Millions of Americans manage money or property for a loved one who’s unable to pay bills or make financial decisions. To help financial caregivers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB, worked closely with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging to prepare four (4) guides: Help for agents under a power.. read more →

The New Jersey appellate division sustained the denial of Medicaid benefits based upon the applicant’s failure to submit documents necessary to verify his eligibility. Even though the Medicaid applicant was incapacitated due to dementia, could not speak, and whose agent under his power of attorney failed to assist, the court held that the Medicaid agency.. read more →

B.M. was incapacitated since birth. E.M. and plaintiff L.M. are her siblings. L.M. lived with B.M. for twenty-seven (27) years. and she provided for B.M.’s care, After her mother’s death, B.M. was declared mentally incompetent. L.M. was the appointed guardian of B.M.’s person, and E.M. was the appointed guardian of B.M.’s property. The two guardians.. read more →