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)

Federal Housing Subsidies - Overview

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

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

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

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.

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.

Adults with Disabilities: Prepare for the Future with a Special Needs Trust (pdf copy)

(Michigan Bar Journal - Churchill Article - Oct. 2000) (online archived copy)

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.

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.

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)

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.)

• Basics: Special Needs Trusts (Part 1)
• Basics: Special Needs Trusts (Part 2) - Public Benefits
• Basics: Special Needs Trusts (Part 3) - Section 8 Housing
• Attachment 1 (Intake Form)
• Attachment 1 (Checklist)
• Attachment 1A (Questions for PI Attorney)
• Attachment 1B (Questionnaire)

(Click here for entire article and attachments in one pdf document - 1 MB)

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.

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.

• Petitioner's Brief on Appeal
• Appellant's Responsive Brief
• Counter Response to DHS
• Affidavit Regarding Fees
• Respondent's Supplemental Brief Opposing Award of Fees or Costs
• Response to Respondent's Brief Opposing Fees or Costs
• Respondent's Post-Hearing Brief Opposing Award of Fees or Costs
• Order (5-22-09)
• Settlement Check

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

Medicaid Outside the Context of Long Term Care, Including Special Needs Trusts

Attachments 1-3
Attachments 4-8

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.

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)