People with serious disabilities often qualify for government benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid that limit eligibility based on finances.  Thus personal injury recoveries attributable to a disabled person often are placed in trust to minimize benefit reduction.  However, federal and state law provide that trusts containing assets of the disabled beneficiary or [...]

 People with severe, chronic disabilities that are manifest by age 22 and substantially limit at least three kinds of major life activities are developmentally disabled and potentially eligible for services from the New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities (“DDD”). For many families, the most important DDD benefit is residential housing aid [...]

   “Special Needs Estate Planning” has been included in the new law school textbook Teaching Materials on Estate Planning by Gerry Beyer, Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law. Originally written by attorney Lawrence A. Friedman for N.J. Lawyer magazine, the article explains how to plan your estate to protect your child or other loved one with disabilities. The article [...]

Of course, it’s a “trick question.”  There is no bright age line between those who should and shouldn’t be driving.  As we all know, many factors beyond age influence whether an individual should drive.  As a car or other motor vehicle is a lethal weapon that can harm both the driver and others, nobody whether age 20 [...]

Recent New Jersey cases illustrate that poorly drawn Medicaid planning and estate planning gifts actuallly can harm divorced children at times.  In New Jersey, New York, and other states, spouses’ rights to receive or pay alimony and child support depend in part on relative income and assets.  Thus, the custodial parent’s child support might fall if his/her income [...]

[While this article focuses on guardianship for special needs children, similar considerations arise when a spouse, parent, or other loved one's ability to make important decisions is impaired by dementia, traumatic brain injury, or other condition. We address such guardianships throughout SpecialNeedsNJ.com, particularly in the elder law articles and practice area pages. We also plan [...]

For the sixteenth consecutive year, attorney Lawrence Friedman will moderate the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s Senior Citizens Law Day conference. He also will speak on will, trust, and long term care planning. With nursing homes charging around $10,000 per month for a decidedly institutional setting, care may suffer and families face impoverishment unless they [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE- This article is by guest blogger Stephanie Lopez of HomeInsurance.org, and FriedmanLaw thanks Stephanie for taking the time to address this important topic. If you have a special needs child, you should take the time to prepare a letter of intent for your child. This will help any caregivers your child may have [...]

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 exempts from federal estate tax the first $5 million of a decedent’s taxable estate. In 2012, inflation adjustments increased the exemption to $5,120,000. However, the exemption is scheduled to drop to $1 million after 2012 unless Congress intervenes. Because each decedent has his/her [...]

There is no easy answer to this deceptively simple question. Like other insurance, long term care insurance (“LTCI”) comes with many options and can prove surprisingly complex. For instance, many consumers are uncertain what their LTCI does and doesn’t cover. First, it’s important to understand that medical insurance rarely covers long term care, and LTCI [...]