Vanarelli & Li, LLC is pleased to provide the following Newsletters.
This Newsletter addresses two types of Veteran’s Benefits which, though not very well known, are available to and can provide critical monetary benefits to senior citizens and the disabled who need assistance paying for health care costs: Housebound benefits and Aid & Attendance benefits…
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Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq., with offices at 238 St Paul Street, Westfield, NJ, has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” in the areas of Elder Law and Estate Planning. The selection of outstanding lawyers identifies the top 5% of all lawyers in New Jersey who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement…
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Aging is a transition that poses physical, legal, financial, and emotional challenges for individuals, families, and professionals. Meeting these challenges can put a tremendous strain on all, as they try to plan for and adapt to the changes. Thus, it is not surprising that families frequently avoid making decisions when they are faced with disagreements and/or lack of information. Unfortunately, this avoidance can result in significant financial and emotional costs…
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Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq., Certified Elder Law Attorney, is pleased to announce that he is a charter member of The Academy of Special Needs Planners. “Special needs” law deals with the financial and care needs of individuals with physical, mental or learning disabilities — many of whom are the middle-aged children of aging Americans…
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Vice President Dick Cheney cast the deciding vote in the Senate in the week before Christmas to pass budget legislation cutting the federal deficit by $39.7. Among other provisions in a bill that cuts back federal entitlement programs for the first time in a decade, the legislation would impose punitive new restrictions on the ability of the elderly to transfer assets before qualifying for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care…
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As discussed in the previous issue of the Elder Law News, any valid estate or asset protection plan must be based on current federal and state law. However, public benefits laws, particularly Medicaid, are in a constant state of flux, which in turn may affect your estate or asset protection plan…
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Any estate or asset protection plan must be based on current federal and state law. However, public benefits laws, particularly Medicaid, are in a constant state of flux. Changes in the law may effect your estate or asset protection plan. It is vital that your elder law attorney keep abreast of changes in the law, and revise your estate/Medicaid plan to address those changes…
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On July 10, 2004, the New Jersey Domestic Partnership Act, N.J.S.A. 26:8A-1 et seq., became effective. The Act, which was signed by Governor James E. McGreevey on January 12, 2004, affords legal status to same-sex couples and to unmarried opposite-sex couples over the age of sixty-two. With its passage, New Jersey became one of only five (5) states in the country (along with California, Massachusetts, Vermont and Hawaii) to grant to same-sex domestic partners some of the same rights afforded to married couples…
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In a unanimous decision delivered by Chief Justice Poritz on August 5, 2004, the New Jersey Supreme Court, for the first time, directly addressed and authorized the use of Medicaid planning by a guardian/child for an incapacitated parent…
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When a divorced elder is receiving Medicaid benefits, alimony payments the elder may be receiving will do little, if anything, to improve the elder’s standard of living. Thus, an ex-spouse’s attempt to reduce court-ordered alimony might be seen as an opportunity to accomplish Medicaid-planning transfers, ultimately for the benefit of the divorced couple’s children. But how can the institutionalized elder consent to an alimony reduction without jeopardizing his/her Medicaid eligibility?…
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When one spouse is a resident of a nursing facility or medical institution (the “institutionalized spouse”), but the other spouse continues to live in the community (the “community spouse”), the community spouse may take a number of steps to retain a maximum level of resources without jeopardizing the institutionalized spouse’s Medicaid eligibility…
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When developing your estate plan, it is important to recognize the possibility that, after your death, the plan could be challenged by those who expected more favorable treatment from you under your Last Will and Testament…
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The concept of “Medicaid planning,” involving the strategic transfer of assets aimed at accelerating an individual’s eligibility for Medicaid, is generally viewed as a prudent estate planning technique by which an individual may preserve assets for his or her loved ones. However, the continued rights of an incapacitated person to engage in Medicaid planning through his or her guardian was called into question by the recent Appellate Division decision inIn re Keri, 356 N.J. Super. 170 (App. Div. 2002)…
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The quality of life of many older or disabled persons depends heavily on the appropriateness of their housing. The right housing can facilitate a happy and contented life; the wrong housing can actually be dangerous…
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The authority of a court to appoint a guardian for an incapacitated person is founded upon its parens patriae jurisdiction, by which a court ‘may intervene in the management and administration of an incompetent’s estate in a given case for the benefit of the incompetent or of his estate…
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Many people have questions about Medicaid coverage for nursing home costs, which can run $90,000 a year or more in New Jersey. Few people could afford to pay those costs out of their regular income. Therefore, before long, a person’s life savings could be lost…
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If a nursing facility accepts money from either the Medicare or Medicaid programs, the facility must comply with the provisions of the federal Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA)….
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Many disabled and elderly people live independently in their communities without undue problems. However, due to poor health or financial limitations, over time some people become unable to live independently or mange their daily activities without assistance. There are several programs available in New Jersey to assist those people who remain in the community. This article addresses some of the most common options available for assistance in the home and for independent living in a congregate setting…
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The IRS issued new rules in 2001 that make sweeping changes to the rules for minimum distributions from IRAs and qualified retirement plans. Surprisingly, the changes are almost all good: calculating distributions under the new rules is much simpler, smaller minimum distributions are required during the owner’s life, greater flexibility in naming beneficiaries is permitted, and tax savings result from the changes…
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Talk in Washington of Social Security “lock boxes,” budgetary deficits, and restraints on government spending vanished last week after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Last Friday Congress appropriated $40 billion for disaster relief, essentially authorizing the Bush Administration to spend the money any way it sees fit in order to deal with the emergency…
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In an unusual Saturday session held on May 26th, the U.S. Congress passed a ten year, $1.35 trillion tax cut bill, the largest in two decades. One of the centerpieces of the bill is a repeal of the federal estate tax — but not until 2010. Gift tax overhaul is also part of the bill. The estate and gift tax changes are part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001…
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Guardianships are the legal mechanisms designed to provide surrogate decision making and financial management for an individual who is no longer able to govern himself or herself fully due to physical or mental impairments and who has not effectively made alternate arrangements, such as voluntarily appointing an agent under a power of attorney or advance medical directive…
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One of the most important areas of personal and estate planning is protecting oneself legally and financially in the event of disability or incapacity. Many older persons and their families fear the possible onset of physical or mental disability in older age. A properly drafted durable power of attorney is a critical tool through which an older person may make and implement decisions concerning the management of his or her property in advance of incapacity. A new law in New Jersey, the Revised Durable Power of Attorney Act, N.J.S.A. 46:2B-8.1, et seq, has substantially changed the rules governing these important and powerful estate planning tools…
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There have been several significant changes to the Social Security, SSI and Medicaid Laws in the recent past which are important for recipients and others to understand…
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WHAT IS ELDER ABUSE? A. Any physical and psychological abuse of an elderly person, theft of elderly person’s money or property, and the intentional or unintentional failure to take care of an elderly person. B. Gov’t. reports that 1 in 20 older persons are victims…
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The home is usually the most valuable and, for emotional reasons, the most important asset a family has. Some options available for protecting the home from long-term care costs include…
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Admission to a nursing home is a traumatic event for all concerned: the incoming resident, family members and friends. Nursing homes sometimes take advantage of the situation by requiring friends or family members to co-sign the admission contract and thereby assume personal liability for costs and expenses…
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This month, the Advisory Council on Social Security issued its long-awaited report detailing recommendations on how to assure the Social Security Trust Fund’s solvency into the 21st century…
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As part of the Kennedy-Kassebaum Health Reform Bill signed into law by President Clinton on August 20, 1996, Congress has criminalized certain transfers of assets for purposes of achieving Medicaid eligibility. Section 217 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 adds the following new paragraph to 42 U.S.C. §1320 a-7b(a)…
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Upon submitting a Medicaid application, the Medicaid authorities must determine whether the applicant, or his or her spouse, previously disposed of assets for less than fair market value. Tax returns, savings and checking accounts and other documents are examined for the 3 year period prior to the date of the Medicaid application, called the “lookback period”. (If a trust is involved, the lookback period may be extended to 5 years) If any assets were transferred during the lookback period, the type of asset transferred is examined to determine whether it is “countable” or “exempt”…
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A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that alimony paid directly to a special needs trust (SNT) pursuant to a spousal agreement will not be counted as “income” for Medicaid purposes…
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Americans are living longer than they did in years past, including those with disabilities. According to one count, 480,000 adults with mental retardation are living with parents who are 60 or older. This figure does not include adult children with other forms of disability nor those who live separately, but still depend on their parents for vital support…
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“Collaborative Law” is the art and practice of settling cases with legal counsel, but without court intervention at any stage. The essence of collaborative law is the shared belief by the participants that it is in the best interests of parties and their families in typical family law matters to commit themselves to avoiding litigation…
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Collaborative law is a new dispute resolution model in which both parties to the dispute retain separate, specially-trained lawyers whose only job is to help the parties settle the dispute. If the lawyers do not succeed in helping the clients resolve the problem through settlement, the lawyers are out of a job and can never represent either client against the other again…
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Mediation is an informal, voluntary and confidential way to resolve disagreements without giving the decision-making power to someone else, like a judge. A neutral person, called the mediator, helps people: figure out the important issues in the disagreement; explain and understand each others’ needs; clear up misunderstandings; explore creative solutions; and reach acceptable agreements…
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Alimony is the term that is used for payments that are made by one spouse to the other after a divorce. Alimony is used to balance the inequalities in the parties’ earning capacities. Alimony is not designed to punish the payor spouse, and it is not a reward to the payee spouse. Instead, alimony is designed to permit both parties to continue to live, as best as possible, the same standard of living that they became accustomed to during the marriage…
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Any legal action for divorce in New Jersey begins with the filing of a Complaint for Divorce. After the Complaint is served upon the other spouse and an Answer is filed, the matter is placed on the court calendar as a contested case. A period of discovery is then allowed…
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For additional information regarding New Jersey Elder Law, Disability Law and Family Law, call us at908-232-7400 or click here to contact us online.