GUARDIANSHIP CAN BE VACATED As this blog has discussed in some detail in the past, Adult Guardianship is a complicated area of the law, dealing with many sensitive issues of personal power, ability and basic competence. On a very basic level, guardianship is a judgment that is entered by a…
EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS For those of among us who care for elderly parents or relatives, you do it without expectation of compensation or reimbursement. You dedicate time, money, resources and do it day in and day out and will continue to do so without concern for recompense. That does…
The Veterans Administration has a program that allows for a large subset of the veterans population to qualify for certain benefits that pay for costs associated with caring for a veteran or their spouse. This Aid and Attendance pension may be in addition to any pension that the service member…
For over a decade it was sound and perfectly legal advice for financial advisors and elder law practitioners to advise their married clients to file and suspend their social security benefits, thereby maximizing their financial returns. The basic advice was to advise a married couple to have the spouse who…
Throughout the twentieth century, the Federal government took various legal steps to positively impact the lives of senior citizens, the disabled and the elderly in general. Throughout the 1930s a variety of retirement and pension programs were enacted, most significantly social security. 1952 saw the funding…
New York along with every other state, most United States administered territories and even The Bureau of Indian Affairs for Indian Tribes has an adult protective services enabling statute. New York’s adult protective services statute is found in the archaically entitled Title 81 of the New York State Mental Hygiene…
The Eastern District of Virginia Bankruptcy Court issued an opinion on a case with a unique factual scenario almost three years ago, on February 6, 2013 in the case of In Re Woodworth, (Bankr. E.D. Va., No. 11-11051-BFK, Feb. 6, 2013). The case is important because it speaks to the…
On December 19, 2014 President Obama signed into law a number of tax and financial measures to extend certain tax benefits. More specifically, the legislation enacted the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2013, which amends section 529(e) of the United States Tax Code, to allow for tax-free…
WHAT IS BEST FIT Both an ABLE Act account and a special needs trusts try to accomplish essentially the same thing. Both attempt to ensure that a special needs child or person are financially planned for through various legal and financial means so as to enrich the life of the…
THE BASICS – FEDERAL LAW In 1965 federal law enabled the federal government to license nursing homes, under two categories; skilled nursing homes and intermediate care facilities that required less medical care and more personal care. In 1980 Congress enacted the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act which covered…