President Obama signed into law an amendment to the special needs trust that permits a competent disabled individual to establish his own special...
Eldercare Lawyer Blog
New Medicaid Figures
The new Medicaid spousal impoverishment figures have been published, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to review the meaning of the figures. ...
The State of Estate and Gift Tax
With recent changes to the federal and state estate tax laws, the impact of estate taxes, as well as federal gift tax laws, have been greatly...
Planning with Retirement Accounts
As the Baby Boomers age, the practice of elder law is changing. One significant change is a result of how the Baby Boomers invest their assets. The...
Benefits of a Trust
Lately, I’ve been writing a good deal about trusts. This past summer, New Jersey enacted its version of the Uniform Trust Code. The Code is a...
Testamentary Trusts
A last will and testament is a document that can accomplish a great deal for the person writing the Will and his heirs. Through a Will, a person...
Residents Entitled to Day in Court
The United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs, issued new...
When Advice Creates More Risk Than Protection
In the past two years, two attorneys, described to the public as “prominent” elder law attorneys, have been arrested on charges stemming from the...
Planning Abounds
The New Jersey estate tax is effectively eliminated as of January 1, 2017, since the credit equivalent against the estate tax will increase from the...
Death of the Death Tax
The New Jersey estate tax will soon be a thing of the past. Currently, New Jersey imposes an estate tax on estates that have a gross value in...
Personal Needs Allowance
Medicaid is a health payment plan for needy individuals. If a person qualifies for Medicaid benefits, the program will pay for many of the costs...
Public Policy
A New Jersey appellate division case addresses an interesting issue concerning a person’s last will and testament. A Will is called a Will because...
A Question of Due Process
I read an interesting decision in a litigated case involving a denial of Medicaid benefits. Medicaid is a health payment plan for needy individuals....
Can Estate Planning Be Too Specific?
When approaching the drafting of a last will and testament, many people wish to specifically leave assets to certain individuals. They might want...
Conflict Between Federal and State Law
The process of administering the estate of a decedent is, in most instances, quite simple. For most estates, the executor does not need to retain...
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Recent Posts
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (the "DRA") is a comprehensive federal law that brought many changes to the federal Medicaid Act. In several of my columns, I have discussed how the DRA changed the Medicaid transfer of asset rules by expanding the lookback period...
Protecting Your Spouse
Long-term care costs a lot of money. A nursing home in this area can cost upwards of $9,000 a month. When one spouse requires nursing home care, the other spouse worries about protecting her estate for herself and for her family. If her husband requires long-term...
Big Win For the Elderly
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the court immediately below the United States Supreme Court, issued a decision in a case concerning an elder law issue. In my opinion, since I have been practicing elder law, this case, entitled...
Watch Those Beneficiary Designations
Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States decided a case that can serve as a warning to a great many people. The case is entitled Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings. William Kennedy participated in his employer's savings and investment plan...
Protecting the Home
If I had to list the most frequently discussed topics that I have with my clients, protecting a house from the ravages of long-term care costs would be very high on that list. I've written about this topic several times in the past, but with the recent changes in the...
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