The decedent, Felix Fornaro, had two children: his daughter Linda (plaintiff) and his son Carmine (defendant). In December 2011, the decedent executed a Last Will and Testament leaving 80% of his estate Carmine and 10% to Linda, with the remainder passing to his grandchildren. A year later, Mr. Fornaro died. Linda challenged the 2011 will… read more →
D.N., a 38 year-old man, was seriously injured in an automobile accident, resulting in quadriplegia. D.N. cannot sit, stand, change positions on his own, or move his arms or legs. He needs to be repositioned when he sleeps to avoid bedsores and maintain skin integrity. As a result, D.N. is eligible to receive Medicaid assistance.. read more →
T.M., a 23 year old disabled woman, has spinal muscular atrophy, is paralyzed, and is dependent on a ventilator to breathe. She resides with her grandmother who is also her primary caregiver. For many years, T.M. had been receiving private duty nursing (PDN) and personal care assistance (PCA) services through Medicaid under the Early and.. read more →
Moses Ratowsky created an irrevocable trust for the benefit of his grandson, Daniel Schreiber (hereinafter the grandson). Petitioners, the co-trustees of the irrevocable trust, filed an application to appoint the principal of the trust to a new special needs trust that would allow the grandson to retain the benefits of the original trust while preserving.. read more →
Peter and his brother Sheldon are the only children of Anna Biber. Anna owned a home in Morristown, where she lived with Sheldon. In 1994, when Anna’s health began to decline, Peter was appointed her guardian. In 1998, Anna’s healthcare expenses increased significantly. Since his mother had insufficient assets to pay for care, Peter began.. read more →
Lawsuit By Nursing Home Against Daughter of Resident Who Transferred Money to Herself Dismissed
New Jersey appeals court held that a nursing home does not have standing to bring a lawsuit against the daughter/power of attorney of a resident who transferred the resident’s money to herself, causing a Medicaid penalty period. Future Care Consultants v. M.D. (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-4565-17T1, July 5, 2019). M.D. cared for her.. read more →
M.M. filed for Medicaid benefits on three occasions. In June 2018, M.M. filed her first Medicaid application. Benefits were denied due to excess income; that is, her income exceeded the monthly cost of the assisted living facility (ALF) where she resided. She received $6,141.93 per month from an annuity she purchased for $73,673.11 in May.. 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Judgment Invalidating Incompetent Person’s Last Will And Testament While He Was Still Alive Affirmed In Pre-Death Will Contest
Harry and Jean Sable were the parents of three adult sons, Michael, Don and Barry. Harry and two partners owned a building in Philadelphia where Harry conducted Harry Sable, Inc., a jewelry business. Harry and Jean had wills prepared in 1994 and 1998 with similar provisions. Harry left his entire estate to Jean if she.. read more →
John E. Travers, Jr. died unexpectedly in 2017 at the age of twenty-two. He was unmarried and died without any children, without a will, and without any written directive regarding his funeral or the disposition of his remains. Decedent’s parents, who are divorced, differed on how their son’s remains should be disposed of, and each.. read more →
The decedent, Kathryn Parker Blair, had executed a will bequeathing her estate to her siblings and directing that, if any of her siblings predeceased her, that sibling’s share would pass to his or her surviving children. After her brother died, the decedent executed a new will omitting the brother’s child (“petitioner”) as a beneficiary. The.. read more →
In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the presumption of service-connection for certain diseases suffered by Vietnam War era veterans applied to so-called “blue water” veterans – those who served on ships in seas off the coast of Vietnam, but did not set foot on land. Procopio.. read more →
The decedent was an elderly man with no immediate family. His Last Will and Testament left his estate to a cousin, several charities and individuals, and to two Valley National Bank employees, including the defendant. One of the bank employees refused the bequest as unethical, based on the bank’s Employee Code of Conduct. The defendant.. 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 →
Anthony F. Cordasco and his wife, Louise, were living in a condominium when Louise became ill in late 2012. The Cordascos decided to sell the condominium and move in with their daughter, Roseann Altiero, who agreed to care for Louise. Anthony and Louise signed a listing agreement in January 2013 and placed the condominium on.. read more →
Mrs. Jones and her husband had three children: Barbara, David, and Walter. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had owned an investment account with Olde Discount Corporation (the “investment account”) as joint tenants with right of survivorship and, when Mr. Jones died in November 1998, Mrs. Jones became the sole owner. According to the investment firm’s policy,.. read more →
Robert B. Cohen was a man of “great wealth.” At the time of his death at age 86, he had suffered for years from a progressive form of Parkinson’s disease. His son James filed a complaint to declare that Cohen’s 2009 will, as later modified, was valid. In turn, Cohen’s granddaughter Samantha filed a complaint.. read more →
Following their father’s death and the appointment of Brandon Marrazzo (“Brandon”) as executor of the estate, Brandon’s brother Todd Marrazzo (“Todd”) filed a caveat against probate of the will. The brothers litigated the estate case, and eventually executed a consent order resolving their issues. One provision of the consent order permitted Todd the option to.. 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 →
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 →
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