(The 14th Annual Elder and Disability Law Symposium was held on September 21, 2011 at the New Jersey Law Center, in New Brunswick, NJ. This year, along with a formal presentation on assigning income to special needs trusts, I gave the case law update at the opening plenary session by summarizing the top ten (10).. read more →

Plaintiff, Disability Rights New Jersey (“DRNJ”) filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Newark, NJ against defendant Jennifer Velez in her capacity as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services (“DHS”). DHS is a state agency that provides medical care and assistance programs for economically disadvantaged or disabled residents of New Jersey… read more →

An aged, low-income tenant with disabilities recently prevailed in a lawsuit filed against the Santa Monica Housing Authority, which had incorrectly increased her monthly rent by counting as income money received in a settlement and deposited into a Special Needs Trust. Sheila Finley v. City of Santa Monica, Case No. BS – 127077 (Superior Court.. read more →

Rita Stein, on behalf of herself and as executrix of the estate of her deceased husband Milton Stein, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the County of Nassau, the Nassau County Police Department, and four emergency responders. Rita claimed that the emergency responders violated her and her husband’s rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth.. read more →

In an unpublished, per curiam decision, a New Jersey appeals court ruled that a grant of funds awarded by a state agency which were held by an elderly Medicaid recipient in a bank account for the benefit of her disabled grandson are not countable resources that would affect her Medicaid eligibility. I.M. v. Division of.. read more →

    Here are my selections for the top ten (10) New Jersey cases involving Special Needs Trusts / Disability Planning decided in 2009 and 2010. For those cases I previously blogged about,  a link to the blog post as well as the case is included below. (1)     Special Needs Trust Can Be Established Only.. read more →

Lawyers who regularly deal with elderly and disabled clients like I do often confront the issue of client capacity. Under our professional rules, a lawyer may represent a client who has less than full capacity, although a lawyer is precluded from representing a client who lacks capacity. The issue confronting the lawyer involves properly assessing.. read more →

For more than two years, I have been representing an elderly man in a contested guardianship action. My client’s son claimed that my client was incapacitated, and instituted a guardianship action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Union County in November of 2007. I opposed that guardianship action on behalf of my client, maintaining.. read more →

Yesterday, a discussion took place on a New Jersey elder and disability law listserv between several attorneys who regularly handle cases involving Division Of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) clients concerning a recent and significant change to the availability of DDD day program services. I have recreated the listserv discussion below by combining statements made in emails.. read more →

Don Vanarelli’s Unofficial List of the TOP TEN REASONS TO ATTEND THIS YEAR’S ELDER LAW RETREAT 10.     You’ll be able to hobnob with the attorneys who put the “Elder” in Elder Law. 9.     If you’re in Cape May, you’re not in your office. 8.     Congress Hall hotel has 2 bars and 1.. read more →

Each year, the Elder and Disability Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association holds its annual Elder Law Retreat, an exciting two day event for practitioners and others interested in improving the lives of the aged and disabled in our State. As Vice-Chair of the Section this year, I am in charge of.. read more →

In Duffy v. Velez, Civ. No. 09 – 5539 (D.N.J. 2010), plaintiff was a disabled person who received needs-based government benefits, including Medicaid benefits while in the community. The availability of the benefits was based upon an applicant’s income. Individuals who earn up to $2,022 per month are eligible for benefits at the “categorically needy”.. read more →

Agent Orange was an herbicide sprayed in Southeast Asia and other locations during the Vietnam Era. Exposure to Agent Orange has been related to many serious diseases, such as prostate cancer, lung cancer, larynx cancer, trachea cancer, bronchus cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s disease, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and type 2 diabetes… read more →

Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski (D) has proposed a bill that would eliminate the use of the word “retarded” in all federal programs. The new bill would replace the phrase “mental retardation,” which is used in many important pieces of federal legislation like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act, with the term.. read more →

Under the law, each public school child who receives special education and related services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP guides the delivery of special education supports and services to the student with a disability. The importance of IEP is to insure that a child with a disability who attends a public school.. read more →

New Jerseyans with an autism spectrum disorder gained two laws recently which, it is hoped, will give them a better chance to lead meaningful, productive and independent lives. The first of the new laws, A-4226, expands New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law, the Law Against Discrimination, to ensure that no one who has autism and related neurological.. read more →

Believe it or not, until a few months ago not a single court had ever held that a veteran “has a constitutional right to have his claim for veteran’s disability benefits decided according to fundamentally fair procedures.” This patently obvious right was finally recognized by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.. read more →

2009 was an exciting year of litigation in the elder and disability law arena, producing a bumper crop of significant decisions from the administrative forum, as well as state and federal courts. In stark contrast with years past, New Jersey lawyers are now in the forefront of the effort to expand legal protections to greater.. read more →

A federal district court judge in California recently ruled that the Social Security Administration (SSA) violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and its implementing regulations, by failing to provide “meaningful access” for SSA programs to all blind and visually impaired individuals. American Council of the Blind v. Astrue, No. C 05-04696-WHA (N.D.Cal. Oct. 20,.. read more →

Gov. Jon Corzine recently signed into law new legislation that requires fiduciaries of estates for developmentally disabled individuals to post bonds in Superior Court as a safeguard against theft and other improper conduct. The bill, S-550 , sponsored by Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, goes into effect in 60 days. S-550 requires that the amount of.. read more →

The House has voted to give the disabled, as well as gays and lesbians, federal protection from hate crimes. The new legislation also makes it a new federal crime to attack U.S. service members because of their sexual orientation. With passage by the Senate expected, federal prosecutors will, for the first time, be able to.. read more →

Limited public funds available for the disabled in New Jersey has forced government agencies to prioritize recipient needs, resulting in rules which impose severe restrictions on expenditures, like the “one computer per recipient lifetime” regulation highlighted in the following case. In Pichardo v. N.J. Department of Human Services (App. Div., October 1, 2009), Julia Pichardo.. read more →

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment among people with disabilities reached its highest rate in June since the government began tracking such data. The rate of unemployment grew to 14.3% in June for people with disabilities. That’s the highest unemployment rate since the government began keeping disability specific employment records. The unemployment rate.. read more →

In a landmark opinion that recognizes a new category of lawsuits, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments (FNHRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1396r et seq, gives residents of county-run nursing homes the right to bring civil rights claims to challenge the quality of their treatment. grammar-v-john-j-kane-regional-centers,.. read more →

Linda H. Davis wrote an April 4th column in the Washington Post that a tidal wave of autistic children will be entering adulthood over the next 15 years, numbering more than 380,000 people.  They will need extensive adult services, including housing, day programs, transportation to and from social programs and jobs, more-than-average medical care, supervision.. read more →