Tips for Elders who are Moving in with their Children
The years flash by and one day the family starts talking with their aged parents about moving the parent(s) to live with a child. It’s a good idea to talk about this with an elder law attorney because we can identify many issues to be considered. Here are a few of those issues, with general suggestions. Each person’s situation is unique of course, and this article isn’t...
Honoring Those Who Have Served
On this Veterans Day we want to express our appreciation for the selfless military service to our country that’s been provided by our clients, their family members, their friends and acquaintances, as well as those veterans we don’t know personally. Every era in American history has had its unique and awful challenges. Our veterans took on burdens and responsibilities for the...
Don’t Stuff Your Will Behind the Couch Cushions
The hot news recently, is that after a lengthy, expensive legal battle, a Michigan jury concluded that superstar music icon Aretha Franklin’s 2014 handwritten four pages of instructions were a valid “Will” and that it superseded her 2010 handwritten Will. Despite all her wealth and having four children, the “Queen of Soul” evidently didn’t bother to engage an attorney to prepare a formal Last...
WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF NOW THAT THE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY (PHE) IS COMING TO AN END
The Public Health Emergency (PHE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was declared as of March 12, 2020, is officially coming to an end on May 11, 2023. What does this mean for people who are enrolled in Medicaid? Those who have been on Medicaid for the length of the pandemic without any interaction with their board of social services will now need to prove their eligibility once again to keep...
What’s the NOTICE Act and Why does it Matter to Seniors?
If a Medicare beneficiary is discharged to a subacute skilled care facility after having been admitted to the hospital for three days or more, they can be eligible for up to 100 days of Medicare coverage (depending on medical need) for the treatment/skilled care received. Medicare covered 100% of the cost for the first twenty days and 80% of the cost for days 21-100. This period of time is...
New Bill introduced to Protect Long-Term Care Residents from Exploitation
State Senator Joseph F. Vitale (D – Middlesex) and Sen. Robert W. Singer (R-Ocean), who are strong advocates for New Jersey’s senior citizens, have co-sponsored a new bill to address problems that keep occurring in certain of New Jersey’s nursing homes. In our elder law practice, we have encountered situations in which financial officers of nursing home corporations...
Hearts, flowers, chocolates …… estate plans!
Valentines’ Day is upon us and we’re surrounded by images of hearts and flowers. Even if a person doesn’t celebrate the day, it’s hard to miss the pink and red reminders that we should show our loved ones how much we care. One way to do this is to finally take care of those pesky legal matters that you keep shoving under the bed to wait for another day.
In our practice...
More on the Camp LeJeune Justice Act of 2022
Many of our clients served in the military between 1953 and 1987. Some of them spent time at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina, became very sick, and pursued claims at the Veterans Administration for service-connected compensation over the years. We reported in October that now there is a new avenue for civil lawsuits to be brought to obtain possible compensation. On August 10, 2022, President...
What can a Medicaid Recipient do if they get an Inheritance?
Readers of this blog are well aware that the Medicaid programs have strict income and resource limits. Maintaining eligibility is often vital to the well-being of the individual. This is especially true if the person is in a nursing home facility, because there’s usually no other insurance available to pay for that expensive care. What happens when the Medicaid recipient learns that they...
New Jersey’s 2023 “Medicaid numbers” have been announced
Each year, certain of the income and resource standards are adjusted for the means-tested Medicaid and SSI programs. If you are considering an application for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) or for Medicaid, or you’re helping someone to apply, you need to be familiar with the numbers. This post discusses the numbers that are going up on January 1, 2023.
What’s MLTSS? The MLTSS...