Aging in Place: Make a Plan, Assemble your Team
“No matter what, please keep me out of a nursing home!” How often do people hear their parents say this, as the parents enter their most senior years. The reality is that aging in place is a complex but achievable endeavor for most people. Whether you are the person who hopes to “age in place,” or you are the person who will have responsibility to make it happen, you...
The new New Jersey Uniform Trust Code and Special Needs Trusts
The new uniform trust code which goes into effect in New Jersey on July 17th has a section dedicated to “special needs trusts.” See NJSA 3B:31-37. The section concerns both first-party trusts (often called “Special Needs Trusts” or even “d(4)a trusts,” referring to the section of federal Medicaid law which authorizes them) and third party trusts (often...
The NEW New Jersey Uniform Trust Code arrives July 17th
New Jersey has adopted a new Uniform Trust Code which you’ll find at N.J.S.A. 3B:31-1 et seq. (Public law 2015, chapter 276). It was signed into law on January 19, 2016 and will take effect on July 17, 2016. The law has wide-reaching implications. It applies to existing trusts as well as trusts that come into existence after the effective date. If you are the trustee of a trust, or a...
Court dismisses challenge to “over-60” bank accounts
Under a case just decided in New Jersey, banks can continue to offer senior citizens the benefit of bank accounts with special favorable terms. BCB Banccorp Inc. and BCB Community Bank operate in New Jersey and offer a variety of personal checking and savings accounts for their customers. Among these options are five types of personal checking accounts which are only available to customers who...
When Hiring In-Home Caregivers, Consider the Legal as well as Personal Issues
Under New Jersey law, the field of home care services is regulated by the NewJjersey Department of Health, and the copious regulations can be found in N.J.A.C. 10:60. Home health aides and home health nurses are credentialed by the NJ Board of Nursing. The requirements for licensure of Home health care agencies can be found at N.J.A.C. 8:42, Home Health Agency Licensing Standards. By 2017, all...
Disability Integration Act of 2015 is a pending bill with great promise
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill in Congress that’s designed to ensure that Medicaid-eligible people who are aged or have disabilities can receive their necessary services out in the community through the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services program (HCBS). Aging in Place is what it’s all about. The bill is S-2427 and here it is. The bill has been referred to the...
Court reiterates the strict standards for “caregiver child” house transfer exception to Medicaid penalty
When a person applies for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care (or assisted living or in-home care), they have to be mindful of whether transfers of assets will result in a denial of benefits. This denial is called the “transfer penalty,” and the 5-year Look-Back rules capture most transfers that occurred within the 5 years preceding the application. There are a handful of...
ABLE Accounts can now be set up by NJ residents
Previously in this space I told you that the federal government had enacted the ABLE Act and we were waiting for New Jersey to enact its own version of the ABLE program. The law is known as Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) (S-313, HR-647) and was signed into law by the President Obama on December 14, 2015. The States have to adopt their own implementing programs, though. New...
To plan your estate, find out what you actually have
People often think of “estate planning” as just making a Last Will and Testament that directs who should inherit what. But a fundamental and necessary tenet of “estate planning” is to know just what you have, so that you can protect your heirs appropriately. Are any of your accounts jointly owned? Depending on the circumstances, that might defeat the plan in your...
Don’t take the assets if you may want to disclaim them
A common estate plan structure for larger estates is that a married person will include a “disclaimer credit shelter trust” in his or her Last Will and Testament, for the benefit of the surviving spouse. The concept behind this kind of trust is that the surviving spouse will have their own assets, as well as certain assets such as tax-deferred accounts that were owned by the late...