Law Firm Profile

Vanarelli & Li, LLC, with locations in Westfield and Holmdel, New Jersey, is an elder law firm providing a broad range of legal services for the elderly, the disabled, and their families. We successfully guide our clients through the complex areas of estate, trust and tax laws, public benefits laws, and court procedures. We strive to provide effective legal representation and obtain positive results for our clients through careful legal review and analysis, quality work, and timely and efficient service. Our attorneys combine vigorous advocacy with the exercise of thoughtful and discerning judgment. We offer services of the highest professional standards in the following areas of practice:

• Estate and Trust Planning
• Estate and Trust Administration
• Medicaid and Public Benefits Planning
• Special Needs and Disability Planning
• Guardianship and Fiduciary Services
• Will Contests and Probate Litigation
• Medicaid Applications and Appeals
• Nursing Home Law and Litigation

Highest Rating for Legal Ability and Ethical Standards

Vanarelli & Li, LLC has been given the “AV Preeminent” rating by the Martindale-Hubbell rating system, an independent service that has rated attorneys nationwide for more than a century. According to Martindale-Hubbell, the “AV Preeminent” rating is awarded to “an elite group of approximately 10 percent of all attorneys,” and is “a designation trusted worldwide by buyers and referrers of legal services.”

New Jersey Super Lawyer Designations

In 2012, Chen Li was selected as a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star, a selection based on an evaluation of indicators including peer recognition and professional achievement in legal practice. An independent firm conducted the polling, research and selection of Super Lawyers in a process designed to identify NJ lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. According to Super Lawyers, “while up to 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.”

Donald Vanarelli was named to the New Jersey Super Lawyer list in years 2007–present. Only the top 5% of New Jersey lawyers are named Super Lawyers.

Precedent-Setting Special Needs Trust Case Decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court

Our firm represented the plaintiff in a pivotal special needs trust case decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court entitled Saccone v. Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, 219 N.J. 369 (2014). In the Saccone case, the plaintiff, who was a retired firefighter, had a severely disabled adult child who received Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid, which are public benefits based on financial need. After he retired, the fireman attempted to structure his estate plan to provide for his disabled child after his death without jeopardizing the child’s eligibility for needs-based public benefits, by executing a Last Will and Testament containing a testamentary special needs trust (“SNT”). The plaintiff then asked the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (“PFRS”) to pay the survivor benefits to which his child would be entitled upon the fireman’s death to the testamentary SNT established under the fireman’s will. The PFRS denied the request, based on a pension statute that prohibited a retiree from designating a primary or a contingent beneficiary for the receipt of the retiree’s pension death benefits in the event of the retiree’s death. This decision was repeatedly upheld on appeal until the case was considered by the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Court ruled, for the first time, that a disabled child of a retired public employee may have his survivors’ benefits paid into a special needs trust rather than directly to the child, thereby allowing the child to maintain eligibility for Medicaid and other public benefits based on financial need.

Key New Jersey Supreme Court Guardianship Case

Our firm represented the plaintiff in a seminal estate planning / guardianship case entitled In re Keri, 181 N.J. 50 (2004). In Keri, an adult child sought guardianship of his mother, and proposed to gift some of her assets to himself and his brother so that his mother could qualify for Medicaid while in a nursing home. Reversing lower court decisions, the state Supreme Court ruled, for the first time, that a parent’s assets could be transferred to the children as part of an estate plan to help the parent qualify for government nursing home benefits. This ruling was characterized by the Star-Ledger newspaper as having “broad implications for those with elderly relatives suffering from Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia.…”

Significant Federal Class Action Lawsuit Holding that VA Pension Benefits May Not Be Counted as Income by Medicaid

Our firm was co-counsel representing the plaintiff and the putative class plaintiffs in Galletta v. Velez, Civil No. 13-532 (D.N.J. June 3, 2014). In the Galletta case, a federal district judge in New Jersey ruled, for the first time, that a pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs may not be counted as income in determining eligibility for any Medicaid program. This was a significant victory for Medicaid applicants and recipients in New Jersey who receive pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Mr. Vanarelli received the Marilyn Askin Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Elder and Disability Law Section. The Lifetime Achievement Award, the Elder and Disability Law Section’s highest honor, is bestowed on an attorney with an established history of distinguished service who has made significant contributions in the field of elder and disability law throughout his or her career. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognized Mr. Vanarelli’s advocacy in elder and disability law, including a number of precedent-setting legal victories that advanced the rights of seniors and persons with disabilities.

Certified Elder Law Attorney

Mr. Vanarelli has been board-certified as an elder law attorney since 1998. Elder law is the legal practice of representing older or disabled persons and their representatives in financing long-term medical care, nursing home issues, qualifying for Medicare, Medicaid and other public benefits, estate planning, trust administration, probate, retirement benefit disputes and guardianships. Elder law is a legal specialty formally recognized by New Jersey’s Supreme Court through the ABA’s accreditation program.

Founding Member, Academy of Special Needs Planners

Mr. Vanarelli is a founding member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP). The mission of the ASNP is to maintain a professional organization of attorneys skilled in the complex areas of public entitlements, estate, trust and tax planning, and the legal issues involving individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities. ASNP members are some of the most highly credentialed attorneys in the country, dedicated to providing the highest quality service and advice in the practice of disability and public benefits law. Members of the ASNP devote a significant part of their practices to helping individuals with special needs and their families plan for the future.

NAELA’s Council of Advanced Practitioners

Mr. Vanarelli is a founding member of the Council of Advanced Practitioners (CAP) of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). CAP is comprised of premier attorneys, representing the most credentialed and talented Elder Law attorneys in the country. CAP panelists must be members of NAELA for at least 10 years, Certified Elder Law Attorneys, and “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell.