Elder Law News

If you regularly follow this blog, you know that there are resource limits and income rules for the  Medicaid program for nursing home care, assisted living and in-home care benefits for individuals who are aged or disabled. Some of these Medicaid numbers are adjusted by the State of New Jersey each year. In addition, CMS adjusts certain Medicare numbers each year (premiums, deductibles and...

Recently, a senior client who had a very small business that he ran by himself came to see me in a panic.  He was just making ends meet. His spouse had been on Medicaid in a nursing home for several years, but the county board of social services was now questioning the nature of the business and whether it was a countable resource that should have been spent down.  They were going to...

When a senior or disabled patient who is on Medicare transfers to a skilled nursing facility for “rehab” after a hospitalization (of 3 days or more), a treatment plan is developed based on the physician’s orders, which incorporates all of the skilled care services which need to be provided in an inpatient facility by licensed personnel. Medicare Part A will pay for up to 100...

When a person applies for Medicaid under the NJ MLTSS program after having made gift transfers during the most recent 5 years, there will likely be a penalty period in which Medicaid will not pay for the care that this person needs (unless the transfers were exempt, such as transfers to a spouse or disabled child). This transfer penalty is mandated by federal law, and the greater the amount...

Setting up meaningful funeral and burial arrangements is an important component of estate planning and end of life planning.  Many veterans are unsure about whether they or their family members are entitled to burial in a VA Cemetery.  Family members may not realize that  VA burial is a possibility and may miss an opportunity despite the fact that service in the military was very important to...

Stakeholders in New Jersey made their feelings known in a big way to State DDD officials on a new transition plan that New Jersey had to give to the federal government showing the State’s increased efforts to develop residential placements that integrate people with developmental disabilities and other enrollees in the community. It looks like the revised plan has satisfied the...

A person who moves into a nursing home is referred to as a “resident” for a reason — this is their new home. At the end of life, the health care representative (or the patient himself) may be wondering whether there is a way to ensure that he can “die at home” in his bed instead of in a hospital.  Paving the way for a quiet end will require teamwork and...

“Can you just do a quitclaim deed?” is a common question brought to our office. Sometimes it’s a question by a child, other times by the spouse of the senior citizen homeowner. There’s a concern about “saving the house” when nursing home care is looming on the horizon. Leaving aside the complex question of whether such a transfer will disqualify the senior...

Once a Court has ruled that a person is “incapacitated” and has appointed a Guardian of his person and property, the Guardian has many responsibilities and also, there are  certain restrictions on what a Guardian may do. The details are spelled out in New Jersey’s laws and court rules. Also, each County may have certain specific procedures of its own. One of these limitations...

I wrote this piece in 2003 as a letter to the editor of the NJ Jewish News, at the death of my friends’ father, who was a charming man I’d really enjoyed knowing in his last twenty years. Something reminded me of him recently, so I thought I’d republish it here. “Last week, I attended the funeral of the father of my close friends. He was 86 years old and died of...