Author: Linda Ershow-Levenberg

Sale or transfer of a primary residence is often a major consideration in elder care planning. Property may be transferred from an infirm spouse to the “healthy spouse.” Property may be sold because the homeowner has to move into a nursing home or other care facility. Property may be transferred to the “caregiver child” in connection with a Medicaid application. A...

When a person applies for Medicaid to pay for home care or nursing home care, a penalty will be imposed if assets were given away during the preceding five year “look-back” period. There are numerous regulations in federal and state law  concerning “uncompensated transfers,” which are gifts.  A “gift” is distinguished by law from a “payment for goods...

When you create an estate plan, you are selecting people whom you trust to perform various jobs for you and your beneficiaries. You may be selecting an agent to act as your Power of Attorney. You may select a medical decision-maker in case you become mentally incapacitated. You may have a Trust and select the Trustee who will manage the money for the beneficiaries. And you may be selecting an...

Consumers of health care in old age likely consider nursing home care to be part of the continuum of health care that a patient may require. Yet health insurance plans do not pay for nursing home care because it isn’t defined as “treatment.”  Instead, it is classified as long-term care rather than “health care,” because the care is maintaining the individual and...

The years really fly by. I can’t tell you how many times some one has come in to meet with me who signed a Will 25 years before and never updated it. When major changes occur in your life, it’s important to see your lawyer for a “check up” to make sure that your old Plan is still a good Plan for you. Here are samples of situations I have encountered, which required an...

As my readers know by now, a Medicaid application is comprised of five years’ of financial records for every single asset and transaction that occurred during the 5-year “look-back” period preceding the application, along with a host of “personal identifiers” and proofs pertaining to income, marital status, legal residency, birthdate and more. If an application is...

A Certified Nurses’ Aide who worked in a New Jersey nursing home has lost her Certification for tying a resident’s wheelchair to the hallway handrail, causing agitation, distress and confinement of the resident. The act was found to constitute abuse & neglect, and this finding has been placed next to her name on the New Jersey Nurse Aide Registry. An administrative hearing was...

Medicaid services are now provided through managed care organizations (MCO’s), which are required by federal law to provide a grievance and appeal process for the enrollees. An enrollee may be dissatisfied with the number of hours of service, or the services being provided, or a host of other issues. Three major nonprofits have collaborated on a new guide for advocates to help them in...

A trend is developing in the State of New Jersey when it comes to the State’s review of the payments made by Trustees of Special Needs Trusts. Trustees are reporting that the State is raising objections to numerous types of disbursements made by the trustees. New Jersey rules require the trustee to file an annual accounting with the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, as...

In the recent case of  Jimenez v. Jimenez, N.J. Super. App. Div.(MAY 8, 2018) (approved for publication), the NJ Superior Court, Appellate Division rebuffed the efforts of a creditor to force the sale of a home owned by the debtor and his spouse as tenants by the entireties. Relying upon a New Jersey statute, the Court held that the legislature has prohibited spouses from severing their...