Elder and Disability Law News for March 2019 from the Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli
You are invited to attend our upcoming Free Seminar – “Planning for the Catastrophic Costs of Long-Term Care” on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, at 4:00 PM at the Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli, 242 St. Paul Street, Westfield, NJ 07090. Light food and drink will be served. Please join Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq., Certified Elder Law.. 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 Donald D. Vanarelli 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 Attorney,.. read more →
For additional information concerning NJ elder law and special needs planning visit: NJ Elder Law and Estate Planning Services _______________________________________________ ABOUT DONALD D. VANARELLI Donald D. Vanarelli has been a practicing attorney since 1983 in New Jersey and New York. Don provides legal services in the areas of elder law, estate planning, trust administration, special education,.. read more →
This blog post discusses recent changes in how the Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates disbursements from trusts, particularly special needs trusts. SSA regulations are published by the agency and compiled in the Program Operations Manual System (POMS). The POMS is a primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process claims for Social.. read more →
For additional information concerning special needs trusts and disability planning, visit: NJ Special Needs Trusts and Disability Planning _______________________________________________ ABOUT DONALD D. VANARELLI Donald D. Vanarelli has been a practicing attorney since 1983 in New Jersey and New York. Don provides legal services in the areas of elder law, estate planning, trust administration, special education, special.. read more →
Elder and Disability Law News for January 2019 from the Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli
_______________________________________________ ABOUT DONALD D. VANARELLI Donald D. Vanarelli has been a practicing attorney since 1983 in New Jersey and New York. Don provides legal services in the areas of elder law, estate planning, trust administration, special education, special needs planning and trial advocacy, including probate litigation, will contests, contested guardianships and elder abuse trials. Don is.. read more →
Nursing Home Resident’s Son Who Filed A Medicaid Application Which Was Denied Did Not Breach Admissions Agreement
A New Jersey appeals court held that a nursing home is not entitled to summary judgment in a case alleging breach of the admissions agreement against a resident’s son based solely on the fact that Medicaid denied the resident’s application due to excess resources. Meridian Nursing and Rehabilitation Inc. v. Skwara (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No… read more →
M.K. resided in an assisted living facility (ALF) since 2006. She applied for Medicaid benefits and was approved as of May 1, 2015. Due to the income limitations of the Medicaid program, M.K. deposited all of her income in a Qualified Income Trust, or QIT. By doing so, income deposited in the QIT was not.. read more →
A Massachusetts trial court ruled that a Medicaid hearing examiner should have accepted evidence that a Medicaid applicant’s transfer of her house fell under the caretaker child exception and that the applicant’s other transfers were not made in order to qualify for Medicaid. Coko v. Daniel Tsai, Director of the Office of Medicaid (Essex Sup. Ct… read more →
After L.K.’s representative filed for Medicaid benefits, Medicaid sent a checklist of documents to be provided within thirty days, including American Funds account statements. Five months later, Medicaid sent a second letter, again seeking the same documents, again within thirty days. After that deadline passed, L.K’s representative sent some of the account statements and advised.. read more →
For additional information concerning NJ elder law and special needs planning visit: NJ Elder Law and Estate Planning Services read more →
On December 18, 2018, I presented at the 2018 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education at the Crowne Plaza, located at 690 Route 46 East, Fairfield, New Jersey. Basically, my presentation was an overview of the laws governing Medicaid Planning by Guardians in New Jersey. (I first wrote about the.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court held that the state was not required to assist a Medicaid applicant by obtaining debit card statements from her bank to verify her application. C.F.J. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-4385-16T4, Dec. 11, 2018). C.F.J. entered a nursing home and applied for.. read more →
Wyoming’s highest court ruled that the state should not have denied a Medicaid applicant’s request to reduce her penalty period because her sons partially returned transferred assets by paying her attorneys’ fees. Anderson v. State of Wyoming (Wyo.,No. 2018 WY 135, Dec. 4, 2018). Nursing home resident Lucile Anderson transferred cash and property to her sons… read more →
Kansas’s highest court suspended for six months an attorney who, among other things, charged a couple three times the going rate to qualify for public benefits based upon financial need from the Veterans Administration (VA) and Medicaid. In the Matter of Crandall (Kan., No. 117,910, Nov. 30, 2018). A couple hired David Crandall to update their.. read more →
Petitioner was admitted to Monmouth Medical Center. Thereafter, petitioner was discharged to Liberty Royal Rehabilitation and Health Care Center (Liberty Royal), a Medicaid certified nursing home. Less than one week later, he was transferred to Crystal Lake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Crystal Lake), another Medicaid certified nursing home. Petitioner remained at Crystal Lake until his.. read more →
Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present at the 2018 Elder Law College given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education on December 18, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza, located at 690 Route 46 East, Fairfield, New Jersey. Mr. Vanarelli will provide an overview of the laws governing Medicaid Planning by Guardians in.. read more →
In 2002, J.S., a Medicaid applicant, created an irrevocable trust naming his son K.S. as trustee. Under the terms of the trust, all of the annual net income generated by the trust was to be paid to J.S., while the beneficiaries of the trust corpus was K.S. and his family. The trust gave the trustee.. 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 page.. read more →
With the aging population becoming increasingly tech savvy, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has moved a lot of services online. From applying for Social Security benefits to replacing a card, the SSA has online tools to help. To access most of the online services, you need to create a my Social Security account. This account allows you to.. read more →
Nursing home care is growing ever more expensive. Contact your elder law attorney to learn how you can protect some or all of your family’s assets. For the first time, the median cost of a private nursing home room in the United States increased to $100,375 a year in 2018, up 3 percent from 2017,.. read more →
If an applicant for Medicaid signed a contract with an assisted living facility agreeing to a pay privately for a period of time, any penalty resulting from a transfer of assets cannot begin until the end of the private pay period, even if the applicant is otherwise eligible for benefits. B.K. v Division of Medical.. read more →
B.S. was ninety-two years old and residing in a nursing home when she applied to the Monmouth County Division of Social Services, the County Welfare Board (CWB), for Medicaid benefits. In response to the application, the CWB inquired about two 2010 bank withdrawals from petitioner’s accounts, one for $29,955.79 and the other for $37,085.47. Petitioner.. read more →
Reversing a lower court, a Connecticut Appeals Court held that the conservator of a nursing home resident owed a duty of care to the nursing home in which the resident resided to apply for Medicaid on behalf of the resident on a timely basis. The Court allowed the nursing home to sue the conservator personally.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that the State must hold a full evidentiary hearing before rejecting the claim of an assisted living facility resident who wanted to deduct the cost of a full-time aide from the income she paid to the facility. G.F. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App… read more →
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