The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that an attorney who drafted a client’s Last Will and Testament may be sued for legal malpractice by a beneficiary of the will even though the beneficiary of the will is not the attorney’s client. Thorsen v. Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Va., No. 150528,.. read more →
I previously blogged a December 11, 2015 Appellate Division case, In re Estate of Fisher, in which the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division considered whether a father’s actions should bar him from receiving a share of his deceased son’s intestate estate, under N.J.S.A. 3B:5-14.1. You can review that blogpost here. In Fisher, the Appellate.. read more →
The decedent, Evelyn Berry, had been married twice. At the time of her death, the two children of her first marriage (Darryl and Tara) were adults. The two children of her second marriage (Garrett and Brook) were minors. Evelyn’s will included a testamentary trust for the maintenance, support and education of Garrett and Brook. Darryl.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that a Medicaid applicant’s daughter, who lived with her mother and provided care for 24 years before her mother was admitted to the nursing home, did not meet “caregiver child” exception to Medicaid’s transfer of assets rules because during that period care was provided by the applicant’s son for.. read more →
I represented the 84-year old petitioner in P.R.-P. v. United Healthcare , a case in which we successfully appealed the reduction in her Medicaid personal care assistant (“PCA”) hours. The petitioner suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, renal failure, blindness, and bladder incontinence, among other things. She.. read more →
In a 3-2 ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that attorneys can be held liable for counsel fees if they are found to have intentionally breached their fiduciary duty to non-clients. Peter Innes v. Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, Esq. Peter Innes and his wife, Maria Jose Carrascosa, were married in Spain in 1999, and Victoria, their.. read more →
McHugh Fuller, a law firm which focuses on nursing home abuse and neglect, ran a full-page ad in The Toccoa Record, a Georgia newspaper. The ad stated that Heritage Healthcare of Toccoa, a nursing home owned by PruittHealth, was cited for deficiencies in the care of its residents. Also in the ad, the law firm invited.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that payments to the spouse of a Medicaid recipient from an annuity purchased with the spouse’s “resource allowance” were properly considered “income” to the spouse under the Medicaid rules. J.G. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services J.G., who was married to M.G. for 67 years, suffered from Alzheimer’s.. read more →
In this case, a New Jersey appeals court held that a disabled New Jersey resident eligible for Personal Care Assistance (PCA) services since 2009 was no longer eligible for PCA services under the Medicaid requirements. J.R. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, Docket No. A-0648-14T3 (App. Div., April 18, 2016 J.R. was diagnosed.. read more →
Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that a husband’s separation from his wife and subsequent extramarital affairs deprived him of his right to an intestate share of the deceased spouse’s estate. Estate of Kathleen Talerico, __ A.3d __ (No. 728 MDA 2015, filed March 18, 2016). Kathleen and Donald Talerico were married in 2006. The couple resided in.. read more →
Vicinio v. Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC is a legal malpractice action stemming from an underlying family dispute involving the Estate of Philomena Vicinio. Philomena Vicinio’s health began to deteriorate after her husband’s death. Thereafter, Mrs. Vicinio attempted to reside with her daughter, Roseann, on several occasions, with each attempt short-lived because of.. read more →
Following bench trial, a trial judge ruled that a state law designed to protect seniors and other vulnerable customers does not (1) impose a legal duty on a bank or its employees to report fraudulent wire tire transfers to authorities, or (2) create a private right of action permitting an elderly customer who was the victim.. read more →
In an appeal from a trial court’s decision to reduce the counsel fees sought by a litigant, the appellate division ruled that counsel fees, awarded to both proponent and contestant in a will dispute at the discretion of the trial court, are disturbed on appeal “only on the rarest of occasions.” In re Estate of Riordan,.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court held that a needs-based credit applied to the accounts of residents of an assisted living facility counts as income for Medicaid eligibility purposes. R.W. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-4911-13T1, Feb. 22, 2016). This case was brought by several residents of the.. read more →
In re Trusts for Stefanidis-Perez is a consolidated case involving two trusts in which the plaintiff is the beneficiary and the defendant (plaintiff’s mother) is the trustee. The plaintiff-beneficiary moved for partial summary judgment seeking to compel an accounting and seeking the removal of the defendant-trustee, and the defendant-trustee cross-moved for summary judgment for advice.. read more →
New Jersey Appellate Division rules prospective client’s correspondence with law office secretary who did not mention the matter to the attorney failed to establish an attorney-client relationship for purposes of a legal malpractice suit. Shapiro v. Rinaldi, Docket No. A-1753-14T4 (App. Div.,March 18, 2016) After falling in a pot hole on a city street and injuring.. read more →
A trial court ruled that the plaintiff, who brought but ultimately withdrew the complaint in a contested guardianship case, must pay the legal fees of both the alleged incapacitated person and the court-appointed evaluator. Matter of Madeline H., 31441-I-2015 This contested New York guardianship case was settled after extensive conferences pursuant to a stipulation of.. read more →
In order to protect the public and and guard against elder abuse by lawyers, the New Jersey Supreme Court suspended an attorney from the practice of law for one-year after the attorney borrowed nearly $90,000 from an elderly, unsophisticated widow who he knew for many years. In the Matter of William J. Torre, an Attorney.. read more →
Plaintiff, Emmaline O’Hara, and defendant, John B. O’Hara, Jr., were married in 1955. They had two children, Robin, who is deceased, and Kevin, from whom John was estranged. John acquired approximately $6 million in assets during the marriage. In 2012, Emmaline filed for divorce. At that time, Emmaline was 80 years old, and had been.. read more →
New Jersey appellate court ruled that an anonymous online commenter must reveal his or her identity to members of a church who claim the commenter defamed them. Mauro v. Intellectual Freedom Foundation, Docket No. A-0004-15T2 (App. Div., February 26, 2016) Plaintiffs were members of the World Mission Society Church of God (WMS). WMS was founded in.. read more →
Readers of this blog know that applicants for public benefits often appeal the decisions made by the various administrative agencies involved in providing benefits. Applicants appeal for various reasons, usually based on the outright denial of benefits or an award of fewer benefits than anticipated. The appeals are considered and decided by administrative law judges.. read more →
In this will contest involving the doctrine of probable intent, Hon. Robert P. Contillo, P.J.Ch. ruled that a court cannot alter the language of a trust that is plain and unambiguous even when extrinsic evidence strongly suggests that the trust language is not what the settlor intended. Violet and Joseph Nelson had three children: Jacob.. read more →
In 1997, the decedent, Kathleen Boyer, executed a Last Will and Testament and a revocable trust. In the will, she directed that her residuary estate “pour over” into the revocable trust upon her death. She named herself as trustee of the revocable trust and, although she retained complete control of the trust assets during her.. read more →
After he was admitted to a nursing home in 2013, petitioner, R.P., accrued unpaid bills of $264,146 for nursing care services. As a result, three successive Medicaid applications were filed on R.P.’s behalf. It was undisputed that R.P. lacked the capacity to assist with any of the Medicaid applications. The first Medicaid application, filed in.. read more →
M.S. is a 73-year old residing in at a long-term care facility. She is a hemiplegic who suffers from obesity, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and COPD. Because she is completely paralyzed on her left side, she had been using a manual one-arm wheelchair. She filed an application to the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services.. read more →
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