For additional information concerning special needs trusts and disability planning, visit: NJ Special Needs Trusts and Disability Planning read more →
As stated in prior blog posts, Attorneys Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. Chen Li, Esq. and Matthew J. Nolfo, Esq. presented a live webinar earlier this year entitled “Protecting Your Assets from Catastrophic Nursing Home Costs in New York and New Jersey.” The webinar explains how to utilize Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Veterans Benefits, and Long-Term.. read more →
Earlier this year, Attorneys Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. Chen Li, Esq. and Matthew J. Nolfo, Esq., all of whom are admitted to practice Elder Law and Estate Planning in both New Jersey and New York, presented a live webinar entitled “Protecting Your Assets from Catastrophic Nursing Home Costs in New York and New Jersey.” The.. read more →
On May 18, 2023, Vanarelli & Li, LLC partners, attorneys Donald D. Vanarelli and Chen Li, presented a webinar entitled “Planning for Your Child with Special Needs.” Attorneys Vanarelli and Li showed the webinar attendees how to utilize Special Needs Trusts and accounts established under the “Achieving a Better Life Experience” Act (better known as.. read more →
Upcoming Webinar: Planning for Your Child With Special Needs
Upcoming FREE Webinar: REGISTER TODAY Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 4:00 PM EST (Approximately 2 hours, depending on Q & A) Learn to Utilize Special Needs Trusts and ABLE Accounts to Access Medicaid, SSI, DDD Services and Other Public Benefits to Plan for the Future of Your Child With Special Needs Attorneys Donald D… read more →
Special needs trusts (SNTs), also referred to as supplemental benefits trusts, often play an important role in helping families plan for children with special needs. SNTs allow assets to be left to a disabled or chronically ill person without disqualifying them for public benefits based on financial need, such as Medicaid. A common asset often left.. read more →
10 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Planning for a Loved One with Special Needs 1. Doing nothing. The most popular estate plan in the Unites States is doing nothing. While not a good idea for anyone, it is particularly troubling when there is a loved one with special needs. If someone does nothing and then.. read more →
If you are injured due to another person’s negligence and receive Medicaid benefits to pay for care, New Jersey (as well as other states) always had a legal right to recover the funds the state spent on your medical expenses from a personal injury settlement or award. Once the state was reimbursed for past medical.. read more →
Top Ten Most Popular Blog Posts on the VanarelliLaw Website in 2021
Listed below are the top ten (10) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog and website articles with the highest readership in 2021, as measured by the number of “unique page views” of each blog post. The title of each article is hyperlinked to the original posting on the blog so that each article is.. read more →
The maximum amount that can be contributed each year to an ABLE account for a person with disabilities rose $1,000 to $16,000 on January 1, 2022. The figure, which is tied to the inflation-adjusted value of the IRS’s gift tax exclusion, had been stuck at $15,000 since 2018. Meanwhile, all but four states now offer ABLE programs. Congress.. read more →
Top Ten Most Popular Blog Posts on the VanarelliLaw Blog in 2020
Listed below are the top ten (10) thirteen (13) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog with the highest readership in 2020, as measured by the number of “unique page views” of each blog post. The title of each article is hyperlinked to the original posting on the blog so that each article is accessible.. read more →
Although a Medicaid lien on the proceeds of a settlement in a personal injury action was satisfied before the net settlement funds were transferred to a Special Needs Trust (SNT), the State is not precluded from seeking upon the death of the SNT beneficiary repayment of Medicaid expenditures made on the beneficiary’s behalf after the creation.. read more →
IRS Issues Final Regulations For Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts
The Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations this month providing details about how Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts should operate. ABLE accounts are designed to help people with disabilities and their families save up to $100,000 without risking eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other government benefits based on financial need. Medicaid can.. read more →
The ABA Commission on Law and Aging, along with the Penn Memory Center, announced the release of a new voting guide, Assisting Cognitively Impaired Individuals with Voting: A QUICK GUIDE. Here’s the introduction to the new voting guide: Difficulties in communication can occur when interacting with a person who has cognitive impairment. The techniques and tips.. read more →
Question: How to ensure that clients have an opportunity to sign their Last Wills and Testaments, Powers of Attorneys, Special Needs Trusts, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms, Advance Medical Directives and the myriad of other estate documents we typically prepare for clients during a coronavirus pandemic when social distancing is mandatory? Answer: Conduct.. read more →
This week we lost one of my favorite clients. Thomas Saccone was a retired Newark firefighter. He and his wife are the parents of a severely disabled son who receives Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) and Medicaid, which are critical in providing for his care. As a firefighter, Tom was a member of the Police and.. read more →
In December 2019, the U.S. Congress enacted into law the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019,” also known as the SECURE Act, as part of a year-end spending bill. The SECURE Act makes major changes to retirement plan rules, including inherited plans. The effective date for the new law is January.. read more →
The 2020 “Elder Law in a Day” Seminar: Learn How To Handle Elder Law Issues And Cases Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present at the 2020 “Elder Law in a Day” seminar given by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education on January 29, 2020 at the New Jersey Law Center, 1 Constitution.. read more →
On September 19, 2019, I presented at the 2019 Fall Conference given by the Aging Life Care Association (Formerly the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers) at the Asbury Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey. My presentation was an overview of the various types of irrevocable trusts used by elder law and special needs planning.. read more →
The 2019 “Elder Law in a Day” Seminar: Learn How To Handle Elder Law Issues And Cases 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 January 29, 2020 at the New Jersey Law Center, 1 Constitution.. 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 →
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 →
(The following blog post is adapted from a summary of this case on the ElderLawAnswers website. Mr. Vanarelli is a founding member of ElderLawAnswers.) A New York appeals court ruled that a lower court erred in ordering the trustee of a special needs trust (SNT) to personally pay various fees and costs associated with the.. read more →
The decedent was estranged from her daughter Cheryl, the defendant, for almost 25 years, but they reconciled shortly before her death, when the decedent was ill. In 1996, the decedent and her husband had executed wills and a trust, excluding Cheryl from their estates. In 2006, the decedent and her husband consulted with a special.. read more →
After a trial court, expressing its disagreement with the legislative policy underlying special needs trusts, placed only a portion of the net settlement proceeds of a lawsuit brought on behalf of a severely disabled person into a special needs trust and ordered the remaining funds be paid directly to the disabled person, resulting in the.. read more →
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