After an individual dies, his estate must be administered. Many people call estate administration "probate," but probate is only one small part of...
Eldercare Lawyer Blog
Controlling Your Funeral
In the past month, I have been involved in several discussions with clients and other elder law attorneys about the right of one person to control...
Should You Try to Avoid Probate?
Every week a client will ask me, "How can I avoid probate?" Clients believe that probate is a very expensive process and that it involves lawyers...
Understanding the Medicaid Spend Down Process
Medicaid is a health insurance program for needy individuals. Unlike most policies of health insurance, Medicaid will pay for long-term care, such...
Should We Kill the Estate Tax?
New Jersey has two death taxes--the New Jersey estate tax and the New Jersey inheritance tax. Only one other state, Maryland, has an estate and...
Why Some Families Trust Trusts More Than Wills
New Jersey recently implemented a significant change to its Medicaid program. Medicaid is a health insurance program for needy individuals. Unlike...
Better Safe than Sorry
When a person dies, their last will and testament can be admitted to probate. In order to submit a Will to probate, the executor nominated in the...
Is It Possible to Avoid the “Death Tax”?
I often have clients ask me how they can save "death taxes" for their children when they die. For many clients the answer is simple--your estate is...
Managing Medicaid Requires More Than Filling Out Forms
Recently, the state of New Jersey changed the manner in which Medicaid services are delivered to its residents. New Jersey switched to a method of...
The Risks of the Unauthorized Practice of Law
This past week, the Supreme Court of Florida approved an advisory opinion that holds Medicaid planning to be the practice of law. When a non-lawyer...
ABLE Act: What It Is and How It Helps Families
The federal government recently passed a new law that I think is most aptly described as another tool in the toolkit of options available to...
Do I Need To Probate the Will?
Does every last will and testament need to be submitted to probate? Clients often come to me wondering whether or not they have to submit the last...
Miller Trusts Are Here: What Families Need to Know
The big day is here. The New Jersey Medicaid program has changed effective December 1st. I wrote about this change several months ago, and now the...
When a State Court Oversteps in Medicaid Matters
I recently read a case that was interesting because it discussed the interplay of New Jersey's Medicaid program and New Jersey's trial courts. The...
Due Process Requires Proper Notice
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey recently decided an interesting case. The case, entitled Greta Reuter versus the...
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Recent Posts
The Devil is in the Details
The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, recently decided a case that almost seems comical, but the parties in the case probably aren't laughing. Jack Murray engaged the services of William E. Spiegle III, Esq., to draft his last will and testament. Mr....
The Drawbacks of a Trust
What is a trust? Most of us have heard the word "trust" and most of us have a basic understanding of what a trust is, but few people seem to really understand what a trust is and how a trust functions. A trust is a contract. It is a contract between the parties to the...
Will You Do Everything for Me? Understanding Executor Duties
I have been practicing elder law for twenty years. The benefit of concentrating my practice in one area of the law is that everything I do is focused on that one area. When a new legal case affecting an issue of elder law is decided, I know about it. I’m a big...
Planning for Minor Beneficiaries
Many people choose to leave a part of their estate to beneficiaries who are minors. Some people leave assets to a minor beneficiary indirectly; they may have left their estate to their adult child, but the child predeceased them so that child’s share of the estate...
Planning Options For the Solo Senior
PLANNING OPTIONS FOR THE SOLO SENIOR What happens to those people who truly have no one to help them? No one who can, or even would, make decisions for them? This situation arises more often than you may think. As people age, family members and friends die or move...
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