Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli Blog

Until recently, I paid absolutely no attention to the annual announcement of New Jersey’s Super Lawyers. Having practiced law for 25 years, I’d seen my share of wins and losses, both the result of hard work, mental toughness and grit, with the wins often separated from the losses by what seemed to me to be [...]

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Our office offers Collaborative Divorce services. In a Collaborative Divorce, each of the spouses and their attorneys sign an agreement committing themselves to resolving the issues in the divorce without going to court. The agreement also provides that if either spouse decides to litigate the case in court, both of the attorneys will withdraw from [...]

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Elder law a niche legal practice area. Only 39 lawyers in New Jersey have been certified as elder law attorneys by the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF) of Tucson, Ariz., which is authorized by the American Bar Association to grant the certification. The foundation has certified fewer than 400 elder law attorneys nationwide. Certified elder [...]

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The federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), which became effective on February 8, 2006, made major changes to the federal Medicaid law. One such major change in the federal law is in the treatment of annuities owned by the spouse of a Medicaid applicant (called the “Community Spouse” in the law) . Under the [...]

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On March 12, 2008, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law House Bill 3104, extending 170 legal rights and responsibilities to couples in same-sex relationships. Among the new responsibilities is that the state will treat surviving members of same-sex couples (”domestic partners” in the law) the same as surviving spouses of married couples for [...]

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I recently read two interesting articles and a study on the ever-increasing costs of long-term care, both in the nation and New Jersey. The articles are found in the Houston-Chronicle and the Star-Ledger, while the study, in which researchers examined data from more than 10,000 nursing homes, assisted living facilities and in-home care providers nationwide. [...]

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An administrative law judge has concluded that an individual who is trying to avoid nursing home care by applying for home- or community-based coverage under a Medicaid waiver program, but who has made a transfer during the look-back period, must have the penalty period begin on the date on which the applicant would otherwise be [...]

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Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. was among the 140 attendees of the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, which took place March 28-29 in New Orleans.
Special needs planning is one of the fastest-growing areas of estate planning. Attorneys in the field focus on helping individuals with special needs and their families plan [...]

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