Time for our regular review of last week’s most popular articles posted to the Vanarelli Law Office Blog. The original post date, along with a short summary of the content of each post, are included after each hyperlinked title.

Federal Estate Tax Repealed, But “Carryover Basis” Rules Instituted, In 2010 – January 27, 2010. Here, the reader will find a summary of the substantial changes to the federal estate tax laws in 2010 and beyond which resulted from Congress’ failure to repeal the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001.

New Jersey State Bar Association’s 2010 Elder Law Retreat – February 12, 2010. In this post, I provided the agenda of speakers and topics planned for the Elder and Disability Law Retreat scheduled for April 22-23, 2010 in Cape May, NJ. This year, for the first time the Retreat is open to everyone; in prior years attendance was restricted to members of the NJ State Bar Elder and Disability Law Section.

Certain “Blue Water” Navy Vietnam Veterans Now Eligible For Agent Orange Presumptive Service-Connected Compensation Benefits – January 23, 2010. This post described a recent change in VA policy permitting certain “blue water” navy Vietnam veterans with designated diseases to receive compensation benefits and medical care from the VA without having to prove exposure to Agent Orange during their military service.

Social Security Adds 38 New Compassionate Allowances Conditions, Including Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease – February 15, 2010. Under its Compassionate Allowances Initiative, Social Security is able to quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for immediate approval of pending disability claims. In this post, I described the agency’s recent announcement that 38 more conditions would be added to the list of Compassionate Allowances conditions. The 38 new conditions range from adult brain disorders to rare diseases that primarily affect children.