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Elder Law

Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli Blog

New Jersey Elder Law, Estate and Special Needs Planning, Mediation and Collaborative Family Law.
By Donald D. Vanarelli

Post Frequency: 5.2/day

Last Entry: July 09, 2009 at 18:18:42

Parents Of Disabled Child Removed As Trustees of Child?s Special Needs Trust After Commingling Funds

Posted on May 29, 2009
A Rhode Island court removed the co-trustees of a special needs trust established for the co-trustees’ son after the parents, who were getting divorced, commingled trust funds with their own bank accounts and spent trust funds on alcohol and their own rent and groceries...

Introducing The Incoming Officers Of The NJ State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law Section

Posted on May 28, 2009
I am happy to report that the owner of this weblog has been elected as the Vice-Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Elder and Disability Law Section. The slate of incoming officers of the NJSBA Elder and Disability Law Section follow: Chair ? Bob Brogan Vice Chair & Retreat Coordinator ? Don Vanarelli Secretary ? Cathy Pisciotta Roundtables [...

What Is A Certified Elder Law Attorney (And How Do I Choose The Right One)?

Posted on May 27, 2009
The elderly and special needs population today faces legal issues that are increasing in both number and complexity. The issues affecting our elders and the disabled include ever-changing laws and regulations governing Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as well as related issues such as estate planning, disability and long term care planning, guardianships, elder abuse, [...

Elder Mediation Center Founders Were Speakers at the ABA?s Section of Dispute Resolution 11th Annual Spring Conference

Posted on May 27, 2009
The founders of the Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey (EMCNJ) presented a program entitled ?Elder Mediation: An Ethical Approach,? at the ABA?s Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference held in New York City on April 16th. The founders of the Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey are: Marcie Cooper, Marcie Cooper Care Management LLC, Fair Lawn, [...

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NJ Appeals Court Rules That A Transfer of Assets Was Post-DRA Because It Occured When Checks Were Cashed, Not Written

Posted on May 26, 2009
A New Jersey appeals court held earlier this month that a Medicaid applicant’s transfer of assets occurred when the checks she wrote were cashed, not when they were written, so the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) applies to the transfer and the penalty period begins when the applicant would have been otherwise eligible for [...

Advance Directives: The Importance of Planning

Posted on May 22, 2009
Emotional reactions to the thought of end-of-life decisions prevent many people from planning for their future health needs; nevertheless, it is vital to stress to your clients that ?planning now for your future health care is one of the most important acts you will ever do for yourself and your loved ones...

The Issue Of Capacity In The Elder Mediation Process

Posted on May 20, 2009
The issue of capacity is a critical threshold issue in the elder mediation process. The legal standard for determining ?capacity? varies, depending upon the transaction in issue. For example, testamentary capacity (the capacity to make a valid will), is said to exist if, at the time the will is made, the testator is able to [...

The Ten Basic Tenets of Mediation

Posted on May 17, 2009
John M. Haynes, one of the founders of modern mediation practice, postulated basic tenets of mediation which are useful to recall when mediating a difficult case: The mediator is the manager of the participants? negotiations. The participants control the content while the mediator controls the process of the mediation...

I was a Panelist at the New Jersey State Bar?s Annual Meeting, discussing ?Representing Clients With Diminished Capacity?

Posted on May 15, 2009
Earlier this week I was a participant on a panel held at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in Atlantic City, NJ. The other panelists were Linda Ershow-Levenberg, Esq. and Brenda McElnea, Esq., both formerly Chairs of the Elder Law Section of the State Bar Association...

My Paper, Discussing the Impact of Financial Exploitation on Medicaid Eligibility, Chosen as Lead Article in The ElderLaw Report

Posted on May 14, 2009
It is not uncommon for an elderly or disabled person to entrust his or her finances to a third party. For example, an elder may execute a power of attorney as a simple estate planning tool in order to ensure that his or her affairs are properly handled in the event that the elder is [...

The VA?s Duty To Assist Claimants

Posted on May 12, 2009
Under its statutory duty to assist claimants, the Veteran?s Administration (VA) is required to assist a veteran in obtaining the evidence necessary for the agency to make a decision on a claim for benefits. In general, VA has a duty to assist a claimant in obtaining all relevant records, to provide medical examinations and, where [...

Advance Medical Directives: The Basics

Posted on May 10, 2009
While personal autonomy has long been recognized as a hallmark of modern society, patient autonomy has more recently emerged as a hallmark of modern medical ethics. Lynch, H., Mathes, M. and Sawicki, N., Compliance with Advance Directives: Wrongful Living and Tort Law Incentives, 29 Journal of Legal Medicine 133 (Apr...

Canadian Centre for Elder Law Establishes National Project on Guardianship Mediation

Posted on May 10, 2009
The Canadian Centre for Elder Law (”CCEL”) is a national, non-profit body dedicated to exploring the particular legal issues which affect older Canadians. The mandate of the CCEL includes research, law reform, and education relating to legal issues of interest to older adults...

The Elder Mediation Process

Posted on May 06, 2009
As opposed to litigation, mediation is a voluntary process in which a neutral third party helps guide the parties in conflict toward an understanding of their dispute; control of family issues and emotions; compromise and resolution of that conflict; and, perhaps, toward a new way of relating to family members...

Planning for Disabled Children and Adults: Special Needs Trusts and Supplemental Benefits Trusts

Posted on May 05, 2009
As discussed below, a self-settled special needs trust is a device used to protect funds belonging to a disabled person resulting from, for example, a tort action. An estate planning tool with similar features but important differences may be used to protect a disabled child?s inheritance from a parent: the testamentary supplemental benefits trust...

American College of Trial Lawyers Recommends Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution

Posted on May 03, 2009
A report recently released by the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery included a recommendation that courts should ?raise the possibility? of pre-trial mediation and other ADR processes, and in some cases should order their use. The project was conceived because of increasing concerns that problems in the civil justice system have [...

Assessing The Need for Guardianship

Posted on May 03, 2009
Professionals whose practices are devoted to our aging population are often confronted with older adults who appear to be struggling to manage their financial or medical affairs. Questions may arise as to an individual?s competency, based upon advanced age, physical infirmities and/or cognitive deficits...

The Application For Veteran?s Benefits

Posted on May 01, 2009
A claim for VA compensation or pension benefits is initiated by submitting VA Form 21-526, the proscribed application for benefits, to the agency. See 38 U.S.C. � 5101. In the alternative, any writing submitted to the VA can be an application for benefits since a claim for VA benefits does not have to be submitted [...

More information About the One-Time Economic Stimulus Payment For SSA And SSI Recipients

Posted on May 01, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. As part of the Recovery Act, nearly 55 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a one-time payment of $250 each...

Medicare won?t help Part D beneficiaries recover insurance overcharges

Posted on April 29, 2009
Seniors who have been overcharged by Medicare?s prescription drug program shouldn’t look to the government for help.� The government-run health-care program for older adults appears to have washed its hands of any responsibility for mistakes that have cost subscribers and taxpayers several billion dollars...

What is Elder Mediation?

Posted on April 28, 2009
Elder mediation, like elder law, is defined by the client to be served. Elder mediation is the mediation of any dispute that involves elders, the disabled, their families or others in their lives. Elder disputes often possess traits that may make elder mediation a particularly attractive option for elders and their loved ones...

Estate Planning For Pets

Posted on April 27, 2009
A testamentary trust to provide for the care of a pet is now expressly authorized by New Jersey statute. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 3B:11-38, a trust may designate that principal or income may be used for the care of a domesticated animal, and the intended use of that principal or income may be enforced by the [...

VA Compensation Claims and the ?Medical Nexus? Requirement

Posted on April 23, 2009
There are three criteria that a veteran must meet in order to receive service-connected compensation from the Veterans Administration (VA): A Current Disability. There must be a current disability, one that has been diagnosed by a medical professional; An Event In Service...

New State Law Bars Alimony, Inheritance for Abusive, Neglectful Parents

Posted on April 21, 2009
Parents who abuse, abandon, neglect or cause the death of their children will be ineligible for alimony and for inheritance benefits from their children’s estates, under a new state law signed by Gov. Jon Corzine on April 17 that takes effect in July...

New Jersey?s Public Advocate Says Assisted Living Company ?Ruthlessly? Evicted Residents Once They Went on Medicaid

Posted on April 20, 2009
A national assisted living company broke its promises to elderly New Jersey residents by throwing them out after allowing them to believe they could convert to Medicaid when their life savings were depleted, a report by the state’s Public Advocate has determined...

Two Year Waiting Period For Medicare Eligibility Under Social Security Disability Program Would Gradually Disappear In Proposed Legislation

Posted on April 17, 2009
As many Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients already know all too well, there is currently a two-year waiting period from the day their applications are approved until they can begin receiving Medicare benefits. This policy forces people with disabilities to either find another form of health insurance (sometimes through Medicaid, if they qualify), or [...

Results Of New Study: Parents Have No Long-Term Care Plan For Special Needs Kids

Posted on April 14, 2009
It is well known that the vast majority of America?s 2.6 million children with special needs will need costly care long after their parents have passed away. However, a new study from Hartford Financial Services has found that three in five (62%) parents of children with special needs have no plan to cover the cost [...

Elder Mediation Center founders selected to speak at the ABA?s Section of Dispute Resolution 11th Annual Spring Conference

Posted on April 14, 2009
Founders of the Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey (EMCNJ) will present a program entitled “Elder Mediation: An Ethical Approach,” at the ABA?s Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference to be held in New York City on April 16th. A summary of the EMCNJ?s session follows: Elder Mediation: An Ethical Approach Elder mediation is designed to resolve [...

Seminar Given By Founders Of The Elder Mediation Center Of New Jersey

Posted on April 14, 2009
The Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey invites you to explore the practice of Elder Mediation. This program is designed for professionals engaged in the field of aging,including geriatric care managers, social workers, discharge planners, case managers, attorneys and mediators...

Blogging Lawyers: Redux

Posted on April 13, 2009
I achieved a milestone a few posts ago. On April 1, 2009, I wrote my 200th blog post, found here - http://www.dvanarelli.com/blog/2009/04/01/intentionally-omitting-children-from-your-will/. HOO-RAY. I wrote my first blog post less than one year ago, on April 21, 2008, and got to my 100th blog post about 7 months later, on November 28, 2008, when I [...

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