Trusts can undermine Medicaid eligibility even if they accomplish other goals
A “Trust” is an estate-planning structure that has many different uses and purposes. Fundamentally, to be valid, there needs to be (a) a Trustee — the manager, who is not the owner of the assets; (b) a Beneficiary – the party that the trustee can spend assets on, who is not the owner of the assets, (c) terms and conditions – usually contained in a legal document...
Watch out for the Rules of Evidence in Medicaid appeal hearings
The first level of appeal when the State Medicaid Agency issues an adverse decision is called a “Fair Hearing” and takes place at the NJ Office of Administrative law (OAL). The Judge is referred to as an Administrative Law Judge or “ALJ.” That Judge issues an initial decision that is subject to review and final decision by the NJ Division of Medical Assistance and...
Medical Aid-in-Dying Act signed by Governor Murphy
On April 12th, New Jersey joined seven other States which have enacted laws authorizing a terminally patient to self-ingest a drug that would end their life. Oregon was the first State to allow this, in 1997. The New Jersey bill was A1504/S1072. It will go into effect on August 1, 2018. Over two dozen other States are actively considering such legislation.
The Act specifies criteria for who is...
Lauren S. Marinaro Presents on Variety of Elder Law Topics in 2019
At NJ NAELA’s Unprogram on April 10, 2019 in Morristown, New Jersey, Lauren S. Marinaro presented and facilitated a member discussion group on the Affordable Care Act, Expansion Medicaid eligibility and Medicare. The discussion focused on the eligibility differences between being on Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and being on Aged, Blind, and Disabled Medicaid, as well as how...
New Jersey NAELA Lobbies to Support Medicaid Improvement Bill
New Jersey NAELA has been advocating in support of A4569, which provides for an improved, more accountable, more uniform system for eligibility determination for Medicaid. On March 11th, 2019, Lauren S. Marinaro, Chapter President of New Jersey NAELA and a partner at Fink Rosner Ershow-Levenberg LLC, testified before the Assembly Human Services Committee in Trenton in support of this...
Remarriage terminates widow’s eligibility for disabled veterans property tax exemption
There are some circumstances in which a person’s eligibility for governmental benefits is affected by his or her marital status. This is certainly the case with Medicaid/MLTSS; Supplemental Security Income; and exemption from inheritance tax on receipt of an inheritance. The NJ Appellate Division had the opportunity recently to decide whether a veteran’s widow would retain her...
Hearing Monday in Trenton on Social Isolation and Age-Friendly communities
New Jersey is working on efforts to encourage municipalities to become “age-friendly communities.” Age Friendly is spreading across the country, with interesting initiatives in many places. Take a look at South Orange-Maplewood, Chatham, and Elizabeth for starters. Looking for volunteer opportunities? Contact your Mayor — you may be able to get involved with those initiatives...
SS to allow predesignation of future Representative Payee
Congress has passed, and the President has signed, the “Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018”. This statute makes changes to the Representative Payee system of the Social Security Act.
A Representative Payee is appointed by the Social Security Administration to handle the benefits of a person whom the SSA deems incapable of managing his or her own...
Marinaro is new NAELA Federal Policy Co-Chair
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys held its annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas last week. Lauren S. Marinaro was selected as the incoming Co-Chair of NAELA’s Federal Policy Committee.
Marinaro is President of the New Jersey Chapter of NAELA (NJ-NAELA), which advocates on legislative and policy matters that affect senior citizens and people with disabilities in New Jersey....
Ambiguous Drafting can Cause Expensive Litigation
What’s the meaning of a sentence in a Trust or a Will? once the ink is dry on the paper, the document is expected to “speak for itself” without the need to hunt for external evidence to understand the meaning of the words. A recent case called In the Trust of Roger S. Linn, decided by the Nebraska Supreme Court, illustrates the problems caused by ambiguous drafting.
Roger...