Author: Linda Ershow-Levenberg

The Superior Court of Massachusetts recently addressed the question of whether a state Medicaid agency had given adequate notice to the Medicaid applicant of the reason for denial of eligibility. What’s useful for New Jersey purposes is the exended discussion of the federal regulations pertaining to Notices of denial, and the explanation given by the Court as to why the Notices in...

Justice in Aging is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fighting for the rights and interests of poor elderly people in the United States. The organization has just released a free guidebook called “25 Common Nursing Home Problems and How to Resolve them.” Click here to find out how to get this publication. Readers of this blog are aware that skilled nursing facilities/...

Some Trusts are written into a Last Will and Testament, and are designed to receive the eventual inheritance by the beneficiary of the estate. These are called “testamentary trusts.” Other Trusts are set up during the lifetime of the creator of the Trust. This latter group is called “inter vivos” which is a Latin term meaning “during the lifetime.” Some...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finally issued some guidance on the use and funding of ABLE accounts for individuals with disabilities, and guidance on the way the ABLE statute intersects with the strict financial requirements of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid programs. The federal statute (the ABLE Act) created an opportunity to create a fund to...

Election day is, of course, tomorrow and the polls open bright and early. Many older folks are no longer driving and need help getting to the polls. I hope that the younger generation will make the time to transport their friends or family members who can’t get to the polls.  If a person doesn’t have a family member to drive them they might stay home and not vote. Every vote counts...

When a married person requires nursing home care, the spouse often seeks advice on how to preserve assets and minimize his/her exposure to the high cost of care. Often this will require consideration of how the Medicaid program (MLTSS or NJ FamilyCare) can help out. Assets may be transferred to the “community spouse,” and beneficiary designations may be changed. Some assets will be...

If you have an inadequate health insurance plan or you have changed your situation and need new insurance, now’s the time to go out on the exchange and look around. Open enrollment is from November 1st to December 15th. Today’s NY Times has an in-depth discussion of what’s out there. Take a look also at this very recent NY Daily News article. The American health insurance...

This morning I learned that the first Friday in November is international Love Your Lawyer Day. I had no idea. I think it’s really nice that someone thought up that idea. Lawyers do their best to solve their clients’ legal troubles whatever they may be — contract disputes, family disputes, problems caused by incapacity or denials of government benefits, finding remedies for...

Here’s a situation that came up after parents transferred their home to their daughter and reserved a life estate. The value of the life estate vis-à-vis the whole property is a pro rata percentage based on the age of the life estate holder at the time of the transaction in question. The case is called Ocwen Loan Services, LLC vs. Quinn. The transfer took place in 2004. A year later, the...

The owner of a financial account may choose from a variety of designations and forms of ownership for the account. It may be solely-owned; it may be jointly owned with right of survivorship but no independent access during lifetime; it may be “either-or,” it may be “pay on death to …,” it may be “in trust for …” Each of these carries very different legal...