In J.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and the Ocean County Board of Social Services, ____ N.J. Super. ____ (App. Div. 2010), petitioner was determined to be totally disabled due to a work place injury by a workers’ compensation (WC) court in New Jersey, and awarded $308 per week in WC benefits… read more →
In Matter of Jennings v. Commissioner, N.Y.S. Dept. of Social Services, a New York appellate court case, the petitioner, Mattie Lou Hammond established a third-party Special Needs Trust for the benefit of her disabled adult son. She deposited all of her income into the Special Needs Trust. Mrs. Hammond’s income consisted of social security and.. read more →
The Top 10 (NOT; Actually, The Top 15) New Jersey Elder And Disability Law Cases in 2009
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 →
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that helps aged, blind and disabled people with very low income and resources pay for food, clothing and shelter. In other words, SSI is a government program based upon financial need. SSI is often confused with Social Security Disability benefits (SSD). Although both programs are administered through.. read more →
I previously blogged about an Order entered in July 2009 by Hon. Patricia Del Bueno Cleary, J.S.C., a Superior Court Judge in Monmouth County, who granted my motion authorizing my client, the Administrator of his mother’s intestate estate, to (1) establish two Supplemental Benefits Trusts to protect the intestate shares of the estate which passed.. read more →
This past weekend, November 7 – 8, 2009, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) held a conference for members in Jersey City, New Jersey entitled “The Public Benefits and Guardianship Institute.” This was the first time that NAELA held one of its events in New Jersey. The conference consisted of a variety of.. read more →
Special needs trusts (also known as “supplemental needs” trusts) allow a disabled beneficiary to receive gifts, lawsuit settlements, or other funds and yet not lose his or her eligibility for certain government programs. Such trusts are drafted so that the funds will not be considered to belong to the beneficiary in determining eligibility for public.. 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 →
On June 22, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a federal district court’s ruling in Wong v. Daines, 582 F.Supp. 2d 475 (2008), holding that income received by an institutionalized person and then placed into a special needs trust is countable in determining the extent of Medicaid benefits to.. read more →
In a ruling seen as a major setback for disabled individuals and their families, on September 1, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit granted summary judgment in favor of the State of New Mexico, affirming a denial of Medicaid benefits and holding that the State could consider a special needs trust.. read more →
In a probate case entitled In the Matter of the Estate of Rose Rappaport, 866 N.Y.S.2d 483 (Sur. Ct. Nassau County, September 29, 2008), the decedent was survived by four adult children, one of whom was disabled. A guardian ad litem was appointed for the child with a disability. A trust was created under Article.. read more →
Attorneys certified in elder law offer something that other attorneys do not: professional expertise in the unique needs of older, maturing populations and those people with disabilities. A Certified Elder Law Attorney (also called a “CELA”) is not just an authority on legal issues affecting seniors, he or she is also familiar with other vital.. read more →
As reported on my blog, Judge John Malone, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division of the Superior Court in Union County, entered an Order authorizing the Administrator of an intestate estate, i.e., an estate of a decedent who died without a will, to establish a Special Needs Trust, often referred to as a Supplemental Benefits.. read more →
In a 2007 U.S. Bankruptcy case from the District of Minnesota, a bankruptcy trustee unsuccessfully attempted to avoid the transfer of a disabled woman’s inheritance into a special needs trust established for the disabled woman. The debtor in Schultz v. Sullivan, 368 B.R. 832 (D. Minn. 2007), was a disabled adult receiving benefits under a.. read more →
A Rhode Island court removed the co-trustees of a special needs trust established for the co-trustees’ son after the parents, who were getting divorced, commingled trust funds with their own bank accounts and spent trust funds on alcohol and their own rent and groceries. Matthew Goodness was born with cerebral palsy and received a deferred.. read more →
As discussed below, a self-settled special needs trust is a device used to protect funds belonging to a disabled person resulting from, for example, a tort action. An estate planning tool with similar features but important differences may be used to protect a disabled child’s inheritance from a parent: the testamentary supplemental benefits trust. Special.. read more →
It is well known that the vast majority of America’s 2.6 million children with special needs will need costly care long after their parents have passed away. However, a new study from Hartford Financial Services has found that three in five (62%) parents of children with special needs have no plan to cover the cost.. 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 →
On February 14, 2009, I blogged about the decision of the administrative law judge in the E.C. vs. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services case. In the E.C. case, the ALJ reversed a decision denying Medicaid benefits to a developmentally-disabled woman in a nursing home whose parents had established testamentary trusts in their wills.. read more →
A bill that would create tax-deferred savings accounts for people with special needs has been introduced in the House and Senate. If passed, the new legislation would allow family members, friends, or a person with special needs to place up to $500,000 of funds into an “ABLE” (Achieving a Better Life Experience) account that functions.. read more →
In the ec-v-division-of-medical-assistance-and-heath-services case, the petitioner E.C. was a 67 year old physically and developmentally disabled woman who resided in a nursing home. Both of her parents were deceased. The parents had established testamentary trusts in both of their wills for the benefit of E.C. and her two brothers. The trusts gave discretion to the trustees.. read more →
A new Programs Operations Manual System (POMS), used by Social Security Administration employees to administer the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, has recently been issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for trusts under the heading “SI 01120.200 Trusts – General, Including Trusts Established Prior to 1/1/00, Trusts Established.. read more →
Simply defined, a trust is an agreement between two people — a grantor who donates funds to the trust and a trustee who manages those funds according to the grantor’s wishes, which are laid out in a trust document. The funds in the trust are typically used to assist a person or group, called the.. read more →
A recent question to the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP) members-only Listserv generated a great deal of discussion about when a trustee can or should exercise discretion in approving payments from special needs trust funds for pornographic materials. The member posting the question asked “Does anyone have an argument as to why the trustee.. read more →
About one in five U.S. residents – 19% – reported some level of disability, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released recently. Among those disabled Amercians, 35 million, or 12% of the population, were classified as having a severe disability. Some of the important findings in the U.S. Census Bureau report follow: A wide.. read more →
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