Ways to Show that you Love your Family
A few years ago, my husband and I sat down with all of our children and their spouses for a family meeting. I started with, “Our plan is to live forever. But just in case ………” and we proceeded to tell them about our new estate plan, who would have which responsibility, where important data is kept, who takes care of things for us, who our doctors are, and who to...
What to do when a Medicaid Application is wrongfully denied
The process to apply for MLTSS/Medicaid to pay for in-home care, nursing home care and assisted living is grueling. There’s no denying that. Producing all the records to the County Board of Social Services, and explaining every single financial transaction that occurred during the 60 month look-back period, can be brutally difficult, if not downright impossible. As you can imagine,...
Tips for Legal Agents (Representatives) Under Power of Attorney
So, you’ve been named as someone’s attorney-in-fact (“Agent”)… now what? To make a long answer short- it depends.
The first question any Agent must ask herself is whether the Power of Attorney document (“POA”) grants her the authority to act on the Principal’s behalf immediately (known as a durable power of attorney), or if the Power of Attorney only comes into effect upon a...
Tips on Selecting Legal Agents (Representatives) under a Power of Attorney, and the Duties Imposed on Them by Virtue of the Appointment
When you sign a Power of Attorney, the person you name to be your “attorney-in-fact” or “agent” is entrusted with certain legal obligations known as fiduciary duties to you. This is known as the Principal-Agent relationship.
Fingerprinting and other Personal Background Disclosures to be Required in Guardianship Applications
A guardianship action is a court case that is filed to ask a Judge to appoint a Guardian for an incapacitated adult. The court rules are specific about all of the procedures that must be followed when filing this kind of case. It is filed by an interested party in the Superior Court of the County where the alleged incapacitated person resides. Usually, the person who wants to be the Guardian...
Estate Planning Documents Play a Vital Role in the Life (and Death) of an Unmarried Couple
If you are in a non-traditional relationship — i.e., the unmarried couple living together for years, whether gay, straight or anyone in between — don’t you want to be the one who decides who takes care of you or manages your decisions if some catastrophe occurs? Of course you do. But if you don’t set up a plan, and you just “leave it up to the law,” the exact opposite of your...
Federal Court Rules that Married Same-Sex Widows are Entitled to Social Security Survivor Benefits
Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States on June 26, 2015, the effects of longstanding discrimination against the gay and lesbian community continue to linger at both the state and federal level. Many states legalized same-sex marriage prior to June 26, 2015, Arizona being one of...
Governor Murphy Signs “LGBTQI+ Senior Bill of Rights” into Law
On March 3, 2021, Governor Murphy signed into law the LGBTQI+ Senior Bill of Rights, a sweeping civil rights law aimed at protecting New Jersey’s LGBTQI+ seniors living or thinking about moving into one of New Jersey’s 360+ long-term care facilities.
Legal Advice can Save you a Lot with a Medicaid Application
Nursing home residents are entitled to hire their own attorneys for legal advice about Medicaid applications (or any other matter). Here’s what can happen, though. The admissions department or business office of a nursing home frequently steers a new resident to a non-attorney Medicaid application preparation person or company, without disclosing the business relationship between the...
Tell All of Your Friends — Open Enrollment Under the Affordable Care Act Starts February 15th!
The Biden-Harris administration has just announced that they are creating a new open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act. This will be for three months to start February 15th. The announcement is exciting. There are still way too many American going without medical insurance. Here’s the press...