I was disheartened to learn that a Florida elder law attorney was arrested and disbarred in December 2015 for financially exploiting vulnerable clients, and for not fulfilling his responsibilities to clients who hired him to preserve their government benefits and protect their lawsuit proceeds. One bad apple (or in Florida we’ll say bad orange) does…

Florida Designation of Healthcare Surrogate Law You may know that this document allows you to name a trusted person to make your healthcare decisions if you are temporarily or permanently incapacitated and unable to give informed medical consent. It allows your medical decisions to be made privately without court involvement. Now you have the following…

If the settlement recipient is a minor ask yourself: Do the settlement net proceeds exceed $15,000.00? Are the minor’s parents deceased or incapacitated? If the answer is ‘yes’ your client needs a guardianship then call Stephanie L. Schneider an experience guardianship lawyer A ‘minor’ in Florida is a child under 18 years of age. A…

Florida Statutes Chapter 744 which governs guardianship proceedings was amended relating to the settlement of claims for incapacitated adults and minors effective July 1, 2015. Here are the highlights: Confidentiality: The portion of the court file relating to the settlement of a claim is confidential.  A party must establish good cause and only then is the…

On June 25, 2015 (exactly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Windsor and held that part of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional) the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in Obergefell and ruled that same-sex marriage is legal in all states. Now, same-sex married couples are entitled to…

by Dr. Alfred G Bove’, DMD You cannot listen to the news without hearing about the latest improvements which make our lives healthier and longer. Technological advances in medicine and pharmacology leave us with the following question…so we are living longer but what changes occur with living longer lives? Dentistry, since its early onset as…

In the past I have written about the eligibility rules for Veteran Aid & Attendance benefits (also known as pension). Aid & Attendance is a monthly cash benefit intended to be used to pay for medical related expenses not covered by Medicare or private insurance (i.e. home health services). The VA provides the benefit for…

Improper Transfers Can Cause Your Loved One to Be Denied Medicaid Are you a caregiver to an aging parent or grandparent? Have you quit your job in order to help care for a relative? Are you being paid for caring for an elder? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions you need to…

Several LGBTQ advocacy groups have partnered with Center Link the Community of LGBT Centers to promote equal healthcare treatment for the LGBTQ community and prevent discrimination by healthcare providers based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The LGBTQ Bill of Rights was released in November 2014, when open enrollment for obtaining health insurance through the…

By Jonathan Leiderman, Esquire Generally, if your federal student loan is between 1 and 270 days late, it is “delinquent” (other than Perkins loans, which are in “default” after the first day of non-payment). After 270 days of non-payment, your federal student loan is in “default”. If your federal student loan is close to being…