| Disability
Issues |
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Top
Ten Disability Issues to Incorporate Into Your Law Practice
Attachment
1: Making a Difference: A Role for Lawyers in Economic
Development
Attachment
2: No Longer Immune, Court Opens Door to Cases Claiming
Link Between Autism and Vaccine Preservative
Attachment
3: Essay re: Investigation into Living Conditions for
Physically Challenged People in Texas
Attachment
4: Health Care Values History Form
Attachment
5 : Patient Advocate Designation for Mental Health Treatment
Attachment
6 : Patient Advocate Designation for Medical and Mental
Health Treatment
Attachment
7: Petition for Order to Seal Records
Attachment
8 : Meaning of Homeownership for Individuals with Developmental
Disabilities
Attachment
9 : Schott v. Olszewski (Court of Appeals decision re:
Medicaid refusal to reimburse patient)
Attachment
10: Status Report: Litigation Concerning Home and Community
Services for People with Disabilities
Attachment
11: Address Medicaid's Institutional Bias and Expand Your
Practice
Attachment
12: Request for Community Based Services Under State's
Waiver Program (Cover letter, Discrimination Complaint, Instructions
on filing complaint, FAQs, Complaint and Jury Demand)
Attachment
13: Policy Research Brief
(Click
here for entire article and attachments in one pdf document
- 8 MB)
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Federal
Housing Subsidies - Overview
Attachment
1: Section 8 Administrative Plan
Attachment
2: Income Inclusions and Exclusions
Attachment
3: Summary of Asset Inclusions and Exclusions
Attachment
4: A Message From the Chair (Trust SIG News)
Attachment
5: Letter from apartment complex re: pooled trust
Attachment
6: Letter re: pooled trust
Attachment
7: Letter re: decision on pooled trust distributions
Attachment
8: Newsletter
Attachment
9: Using the Olmstead Decision as Advocacy Tool
Attachment
10: Policy & Practice Guideline |
| Elder
Law |
|
Why
Add Elder Law and Planning for People with Disabilities to
Your Practice?
Attachment
A: Beler Howlett Newsletter (Fall/Winter 2003)
Attachment
B1: Home Help and Long Term Care Reform
Attachment B2: Elder Law Advocate
Attachment
C: Beler Howlett Newsletter (Spring/Summer 2004)
Attachment
D : Michigan's 7th Annual Self-Determination Conference
Attachment
E: News You Can Use
Attachment
F : The Trust SIG News
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| Estate
Planning - General |
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Advising
Clients and Drafting Advanced Health Care Directives
I. Effective Planning
Techniques for Incapacity
II. When it is
Too Late - Protecting the Individual After Incapacity Strikes
Appendix
1: Health Care Values History Form
Appendix
2: Sample draft of a Patient Advocate Designation for Medical
and Mental Health Treatment
Appendix
3: Sample draft of a Patient Advocate Designation for Mental
Health Treatment
Appendix
4: Sample Petition for an Order to Seal Records
Appendix
5: Request for Driver Evaluation from the Michigan Department
of State
Appendix
6: OBRA-93 Trust Options for Persons with Disabilities
Appendix
7: Permissible Distributions |
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Trials and Tribulations
of Trusteeship
On 3/14/08, I spoke
at the Suffolk University Law School on this subject. Documents
listed below were handed out there and can be obtained through
the law
school's website.
Special Needs
Trust Checklist
Criminal Background Check and Authorization
Letter to Trustee: Full Explanation of Duties
Letter to Trustee: Special Needs Expenditures
Letter of Intent for Minors
Letter of Intent (as written by mother)
Letter re: Section 8 and Eligibility
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Charitable
Contribution for an Individual's Benefit (memo)
Estate
Planning Outline
How
Often Should You Review Your Estate Plan?
Why
Plan for the Future?
The number
of individuals in this country with disabilities have grown
significantly in the past decade. Advances in medical treatment
and technology have led to increased survival rates and longer
life expectancies for adults with disabilities. Future planning
is important in order to secure essential services and financial
resources for persons with disabilties, especially after the
death of their parents.
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| Estate
Planning - Special Needs Trusts |
|
Administration
of Special Needs Trusts
NAELA Telephonic Elder Law Training Program - November
13, 2008
Sponsored by the
Trust Special Interest Group on Administering Special Needs
Trusts. Frank
Dana and I presented on investment and administration
challenges trustees of special needs trusts are experiencing.
There were over 50 participants in the call, and a good discussion
was had by all on these important topics.
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Adults
with Disabilities: Prepare for the Future with a Special Needs
Trust (pdf copy)
(Michigan Bar Journal
- Churchill Article - Oct. 2000) (online
archived copy)
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Anatomy
of a Special Needs Trust: Duty of Loyalty (Nov. 2008)
This presentation
was on behalf of NAELA and reviewed the complex relationships
an attorney and/or trustee may have in drafting or administering
a trust. There is a loyalty due to the Grantor or Settlor
of the trust, as well as a level of responsibility to the
beneficiaries.
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Duties
and Responsibilities of the Trustee of a Special Needs Trust
A memorandum that outlines the various duties and responsibilities
of a Trustee under current Michigan law. |
|
OBRA-93
Trust Options for Persons with Disabilities (2005
revisions)
Families who have
a loved one with a disability have unique financial and estate
planning needs. Parents are frequently concerned about who
will look after their child with a disability if they, themselves,
become disabled. Families further question who will care for
their loved one after they are gone. Fortunately, families
are learning that trusts exist which can provide for the needs
of a loved one while preserving eligibility for various governmental
benefits and services.
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Representing
and Acting as Trustee of a Special Needs Trust
I. The Drafting
is Only the Beginning
Attachment
1: Letters to Social Security Administration
Attachment
2: Permissible Distributions List
Attachment
3: Letter from Social Security Administration
Attachment
4: Letter re: Rental Income Impact
Attachment
5: Response Letter
Attachment
6: Letter of Intent Information
Attachment
7: Letter of Intent Sample
Attachment
8: Letter of Intent Sample
(Click
here for entire article and attachments in one pdf document
- 1 MB)
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Special
Needs Trusts, Public Benefits Eligibility and Housing Issues
for People with Disabilities (Nov. 2008)
This presentation
was on behalf of NAELA and was held at the Advanced Elder
Law Institute held in Kansas City. I was honored to be the
last speaker at the Law Student Day (a free one-day event
for all law students to participate in at the NAELA Institute
and learn about Elder Law.)
(Click
here for entire article and attachments in one pdf document
- 1 MB)
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| ICLE
Contributions |
|
Contributions I
have made to publications by the Institute of Continuing Legal
Education:
Michigan
Guardianship and Conservatorship Handbook, Revised Edition
A step-by-step guide to Michigan guardianships and conservatorships.
Covers guardianships for legally incapacitated persons, minors,
and developmentally disabled persons, as well as alternatives
to guardianship. Includes sample forms.
How-To
Kit: Appoint a Guardian for a Developmentally Disabled Person
This How-To Kit takes you step by step through the appointment
of a guardian for a developmentally disabled person. |
| Medicaid
Related |
|
Medicaid Appeal:
(attorney fees and costs case)
David
v. Goliath: One Client's Fight for Attorney Fees and Costs
(background article)
As Advocates for
folks dependent on needs-based public benefits, we all experience
repeated violations of the basic Constitutional rights of
due process. When due process rights are violated within the
course of the Medicaid eligibility process, or during the
administrative hearing phase, an award of attorney fees and
costs against the agency may be appropriate and necessary.
An individual that prevails at the administrative level should
request attorney fees and costs under the Administrative Procedures
Act. If the individual does not prevail at the administrative
level, and appeals the decision to the Circuit Court level
or higher, the prevailing party should consider state or federal
law for relief.
The need to enforce
the Constitutional protections of due process is necessary
in an effort to level the legal battleground for our clients
that rely upon public benefits. The system is difficult to
navigate and becomes even more of a struggle when the rules
are ignored by the administrative agencies. Consider the unlimited
legal representation and resources agencies have at their
beck and call, versus the limited resources of a beneficiary
on needs-based benefits. It is a very real time David v. Goliath
situation.
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Applications
and the Appeals Process
Attachment
1: Advocacy tips for Responding to The Deficit Reduction
Act of 2005
Attachment
2: Single Points of Entry
Attachment
3: Ask Your Legislator to Vote
Attachment
4: Sample Cover Letter
Attachment
5: Frequently Asked Questions
Attachment
6: OCR Fact Sheet
Attachment
7: Discrimination Complaint
Attachment
8: Complaint and Jury Demand
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Medicaid
Outside the Context of Long Term Care, Including Special Needs
Trusts
Attachments
1-3
Attachments
4-8
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| Social
Security Related |
|
Understanding
SSDI: How to Get it, Handle Denials or Loss of Benefits, Overpayments,
and Coordinate it with Other Benefits
This NAELA presentation
in November, 2008 was part one of a two part session on SSDI
and Medicare Benefits. My dear friend Sandy Mall and I spoke
about the comprehensive subject listed above. Click
here for recap from NAELA.
Update
- May 28, 2009: Sandy and I provided an updated presentation
on a similar topic at the NAELA Special Needs Program in Arizona
on May 28, 2009.
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| Workers
Compensation Related |
|
Material from my
seminar presentation in May, 2009 in Las Vegas to the members
of the Workers Compensation section of the State Bar of Michigan:
What
Private and Public Resources Need to be Protected in Settling
a Workers Compensation Claim?
Attachments
- Declaration of Trust, Orders to Amend Pooled Accounts Trust
and Joinder Agreement, Joinder Agreement, Trust Advisor Services,
Certificate of Liability Insurance, etc.
(Click
here for entire article and attachments in one pdf document
- 8 MB)
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