What is Special Needs Law?Special Needs Law is the practice of law dedicated to helping persons with disabilities (“special needs”) and their families by navigating their government benefits and estate planning options. What is a “special needs” trust?“Special Needs” is just a term to describe any trust intended to provide …

The problem: My father is 86, my mother, 84. My father doesn’t think he needs a will because my mother will inherit everything when he dies. We’re concerned that he does need a will to ensure that everything goes smoothly upon his passing. Is there a way to spell out …

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate opened the way Tuesday to let Americans import prescription drugs into the United States from Canada, seeking to ease a regulatory ban on cheaper medicine crossing the border.The proposal, which was approved 68-32, would create a Canadian loophole on a Food and Drug Administration ban …

WALTER Skotchdopole worked for 20 years as a police officer and 20 years in the film industry before succumbing to the relentless decline of Alzheimer’s disease. In his prime, he joked with everyone he met. By his early 70s, he had become a shell of his former self. “He’s there, …

Republican lawmakers, who so far have been unable to win Senate approval of either full estate tax repeal or a significant reduction in the tax that wealthy heirs pay, are now considering another tactic: slipping estate tax “reform” into a pension bill now in a House-Senate conference committee.The pension legislation, …

Senate Republicans are preparing to revive the debate over permanent repeal of the estate tax on June 6, but the real action will be on the Democratic side. Republicans concede they lack the votes for full repeal, but they are hoping they can work out a compromise that would persuade …

A Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has issued a report, Asset Transfer and Nursing Home Use: Empirical Evidence and Policy Significance, which concludes that, “Eliminating asset transfers for Medicaid nursing home coverage will not substantially alter the private market for long-term care and is not the answer for …

Usually one family member is the primary caregiver. Women make up 75% and are either a spouse or an adult daughter. Nearly two-thirds of caregivers are working full or part-time. Spouses, on average, provide 40-60 hours of care per week and adult children provide 15-30 hours of care per week. …

Fidelity Investments says that a 65-year-old couple retiring now without employer-provided health benefits will need $200,000 for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses during retirement, according to data it released this past week. Yet many financial planners and other observers think that is way too little. “People don’t have a clue as to …

The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen has filed suit in federal court charging that the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) signed by President Bush on February 8th is invalid because the president signed a version of the bill that was passed by the U.S. Senate but not the U.S. …

Continuing efforts to achieve a legislative solution to the controversy surrounding enactment of the Deficit Reduction Ace of 2005 (DRA), three Democrats on the House Administration Committee have sent a letter to Committee Vernon Ehlers requesting an oversight hearing on the constitutional and procedural problems with the measure. The letter …

An Alabama lawyer has filed a lawsuit seeking to void the $39 billion budget savings act signed into law February 8 by President Bush because of a clerical error that resulted in the House and Senate passing different versions of the bill. It is said that it is not a …

A mistake on “The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005″ which was purportedly signed into law by President George W. Bush on February 8, 2006, could mean that it is not technically a law. But, congressional Republicans said that they have no plans to try to fix the problem, even though …

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (S. 1932) by a vote of 216 to 214. The Senate has already passed the bill by a vote of 51 to 50, with the Vice President breaking the tie. The bill will now be sent …

Dear Clients and Friends, A new law is pending that will dramatically alter the “look-back” and “transfer of assets” provisions of the Medicaid law. If you still have assets in your name that you want to protect from a nursing home and Medicaid, it is crucial that you understand this …

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has informed the Department that due to an increase in the consumer price index, the federal maximum community spouse resource allowance (CSRA) increases to $99,540 effective January 1, 2006. The State’s minimum CSRA will remain unchanged at $74,820. Therefore, in determining the …

The following is a letter drafted by AARP in response to a report that the House approved the revision of asset transfer rules, making it much more difficult to obtain Medicaid. We urge you to copy this letter, sign and send it off in an attempt to ask the Senate …

You already know you have to plan your estate carefully to provide the best quality of life for your child. But did you know there are several types of trusts to care for special needs children? The most common types are Support Trusts and Special Needs Trusts. Support Trusts A …

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced the 2006 Medicare deductibles, premiums, and co-pay amounts. The following was published in the Federal Register: Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A):Deductible – $952 per Benefit Period ($912 in 2005)Co-insurance – $238 a day for the 61st through the 90th day …

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 52 million Americans will increase 4.1 percent in 2006, the Social Security Administration announced today. Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits increase automatically each year based on the rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index …