Remembering my mother, Lanie Ershow, a grand gardener
The week before this last big snowstorm, bulbs were pushing up shoots in my garden because it had been rainy and warm. I associate my mother with flowers. Today would have been her 87th birthday. I remember her standing in her backyard garden in shorts and a worn out t-shirt when she was 74, wearing her yellow gardening clogs that looked like Dutch “wooden shoes,” spade in hand and...
Tell your Executor where you’re keeping your Will
Recently I got a call from the child of a client of mine who had just recently passed away. The child was panicky because they could not locate Mom’s Last Will and Testament. Mind you, this particular Mom was a very organized person. Bills were always paid on time; the house was meticulous; papers were looked at, dealt with, and either filed, scanned or discarded. The Mom had reviewed...
Caution! Assets in a guardianship account impact Medicaid and DDD eligibility
When a minor who has disabilities reaches age 18 and is incapacitated, their parent or custodian will typically file for Guardianship. In some cases, the minor has assets under Court control that are held in a guardianship court account through the county Surrogate. These might be assets that were received through a prior personal injury lawsuit award or settlement, or assets that the minor...
Power of Attorney isn’t just a “form”
I’ve been thinking a lot about Power of Attorney issues lately because of a variety of problems my clients have encountered. A power of attorney is a document that reflects a relationship created between one person and another person in which the principal person appoints the other person as their “Agent and attorney-in-fact” with power to carry out different kinds of...
“Material omissions” in CCRC promotional materials can support a cause of action for consumer fraud
The following case illustrates the necessity to pore through the fine print when making a major investment such as a move into a Continuing Care community. In this case, the individual needed to pursue a lawsuit.
Continuing Care Retirement Communities (“CCRC”) in New Jersey are regulated by the NJ Department of Community Affairs (NJDCA). When a person wants to move into such a...
A Veterans Day story – remembering my Pop, Walter “Wally” Ershow
At the start of World War II, my Pop went to officer’s training school and then enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and became a radar navigator. He was assigned as the Bombardier on a B-17 “Flying Fortress” with the 15th Air Force, 2nd Bomb Group, 20th squadron, based at Amendola in the Apuglia region of southeastern Italy, until the...
Changing a Trust to reduce your access to funds can cause a Medicaid transfer penalty
In Maurice Needham vs. Director of the Office of Medicaid, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals upheld a transfer penalty imposed by the State Medicaid program after the Medicaid applicant obtained a court order amending his trust. There was a revocable Trust containing Needham’s house, and an irrevocable Trust for Needham’s benefit which was the sole beneficiary of the revocable...
A Cautionary Tale: Estate distribution is “income” that affects eligibility for NJ Homestead Rebate
A New Jersey homeowner’s acceptance of a $90,000 inheritance from his late sister’s estate in 2014 resulted in loss of his eligibility for the Homestead Rebate, because the inheritance was countable as “income.” . Although receipt of an inheritance by an estate beneficiary is not “income” under NJ or federal income tax regulations, it is still considered...
Medicaid applications can be full of legal difficulties
There is an impression being created out in the field that the filing of a Medicaid application is just a matter of spending down and then assembling a few years of records and submitting them to the county board of social services. The fact is that every application is intensively scrutinized. Some counties are scanning all of the financial documents to a reader program that generates a...
Even in a nursing home, palliative care can be used to ease the way at the end of life
When a person moves out of their home and moves into a nursing home for their long-term care, they become a resident at the facility, because the long-term care facility (LTCF) is their new home. The resident will receive mail there, can submit an absentee voting ballot from there, receive personal visitors and telephone calls there. This is why federal law and state law are couched in terms...