How to Protect Your Assets and Family: 5 Essential Legal Steps You Need To Know
Although it can be a sad thing to think about, it’s important to think about protecting your assets for when you pass away, or in the event you become incapacitated. Enlisting an attorney to help you plan for later life and prepare the necessary legal documents ensures that your family is protected when the time does come. We’ve put together some of the five essential steps you should take to...
Camp LeJeune Justice Act of 2022 Creates Opportunities For Redress
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. Now there is a new avenue for civil lawsuits to be brought to obtain possible compensation. On August 10, 2022, President Biden signed the Camp...
“Have you Talked to an Elder Law Attorney yet?”
The world can feel like a confusing, tangled mess when a loved one has dementia and needs to be discharged from a hospital with a major care plan in place. There are so many options, and hospital staff are in a huge hurry the minute the doctor signs the order clearing the patient for discharge. Staff speak in “shorthand,” using code words or acronyms that the patient’s family may not...
Good Reasons to Hire an Elder Law Attorney before a Nursing Home Placement is Made
The following story will illustrate why you should call an elder law attorney before a nursing home placement is made to try and avoid what happened to my client who I will call “Mary.”
2021 Numbers are Out for New Jersey Medicaid/MLTSS
Some 2021 numbers are now published for New Jersey Medicaid’s MLTSS program. These apply to people who are applying for benefits under the MLTSS/ Medicaid program for long-term care services. These numbers relate to the resource limit for a married applicant and spouse, the income “cap” that...
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
How often do we put off taking care of something that we know we should do? Would, coulda, shoulda! That’s a sad conclusion!
There can come a time that a person no longer has the options he had at an earlier time. In some circumstances, statutes of limitations will cut off the ability to pursue a remedy....
Get a check-up for your estate plan from time to time
A colleague just told me about this situation. It’s a perfect example of why you should see a lawyer to check-up your estate plan from time to time.
Decedent’s Last Will and Testament appointed 3 executors, all of whom predeceased her. The estate’s attorney helped the decedent’s grandchild file the...
Don’t Wait until the Last Minute to Tackle the Legal Problems Caused by Incapacity
There’s a natural human tendency to kick cans down the road when we can, and to put off those things that just don’t seem imminently necessary. People enter into legal arrangements without writing documents. They avoid signing Wills or Powers of Attorney because they feel well and everything seems fine. And when a family member is developing signs of incapacity — whether...
Finally! A clear declaration on the snapshot date for NJ medicaid home care applications
When a married person applies for Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care (“institutional care”), the first day of the first month of continuous residence in the facility is often referred to as the “snapshot date.” On that date, a “picture is taken” of all of the non-excluded assets owned by the two spouses. A calculation is then made to see if a...
Keep an eye on the assets as you spend-down in the NJ Veterans Homes
At the time of admission to one of the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Homes, a worksheet is prepared based on the current values of the “accountable assets” as well as the income that is available. A home owned by the veteran is a non-accountable asset. If the home was sold, and the proceeds are kept in a segregated account, those funds are considered “non-accountable.”...