Our elder law firm helps families qualify for nursing home MassHealth benefits while maximizing the preservation of assets for the ill and healthy spouse.   Historically, MassHealth funding for programs designed to keep seniors at home paled in comparison to the costs incurred by Medicaid to care for persons in nursing homes.  Fortunately, this is beginning […]

Asset protection planning is a multi-level shield against many risks.  As Massachusetts elder law attorneys, our plans often protect homes from MassHealth liens and preserve assets through the use of Medicaid-qualifying annuities.   However, the estate plans our Medicaid planning attorneys craft also contain additional protections for seniors.   Good powers of attorney can give an attorney-in-fact […]

In an earlier posting, we provided an overview of the benefits of a supplemental needs trust (also known as a “special needs trust”) for a disabled child.  However, funding such trusts can pose some challenges.  Recently, the highest court in New Jersey ruled in favor of allowing a retired firefighter to name a supplemental needs […]

Researchers have announced the ability to create human brain cells that develop structures of Alzheimer’s disease in a petri dish.  This gives researchers a new format to study the disease and to develop new drug treatments.  Additional information can be found in a New York Times article found here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/science/researchers-replicate-alzheimers-brain-cells-in-a-petri-dish.html?_r=0

Of the 53.9 million school-age children 5 to 17, about 2.8 million were reported as having a disability in 2010. Parents of children with special needs face the uncertainty of knowing whether the child may be able to support himself in adulthood.    Monetary lifetime gifts or future inheritances can significantly impact an adult disabled child’s […]