Posted by admin on January 19, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Recognizing that low-income people cannot access justice if they are required to pay for it, Virginia law provides these people the right to sue and defend suit without paying costs and fees ( Virginia Code §17.1-606). However, the law offers no guidance on how to determine whether a person is sufficiently impoverished to qualify for the waiver of costs and fees. Across the state, legal aid attorneys and pro bono attorneys have had cases in which they had difficulty or were unsuccessful in getting fees waived for their clients even though their clients were poor enough to qualify for legal aid. In other parts of Virginia, judges routinely waive fees and costs for legal aid clients. And while there is currently no empirical evidence of this, we strongly suspect that the experience of pro se litigants reflects that of legal aid clients. Justice is thus being distributed very unevenly throughout the state.
We support legislation filed by Senator Jill Vogel, SB 1305, and Delegate Christ Collins, HB 2328, which will help set forth guidelines a judge must use to determine indigence but allows the judge to maintain some discretion. The guidelines will be used to determine whether a person is eligible for a waiver of costs and fees in a civil case by using the same guidelines that already exist for criminal cases.
By providing clear guidance to all judges on who is eligible for a waiver of costs and fees in a civil case, the proposed statute will help ensure that all low-income people bringing or defending a civil case in Virginia have equal access to justice regardless of where in Virginia their case is tried.
Double-click fact sheet for larger print and/or to print copies.
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Posted by admin on January 18, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Millions of individuals with disabilities and their families depend on a wide variety of public benefits for income, health care, food, and housing assistance. Many of these benefits require meeting a means or resource test that limits the eligibility of individuals who report more than $2,000 in cash savings, retirement funds, and other items of significant value. The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (which was signed into law in December of 2014) recognizes the extra and significant costs of living with a disability, and allows eligible individuals the opportunity to save and fund a variety of qualified disability expenses without endangering eligibility for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
The ABLE Act is considered the most significant federal legislation addressing the needs of persons with disabilities since the Americans with Disabilities Act passed more than 25 years ago. Two years after it was introduced, ABLEnow has opened in Virginia, authorizing the establishment of tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities.
ABLEnow in Virginia
In 2015, Virginia became the first state to approve and pass ABLE legislation after passage of the federal ABLE Act. This was particularly poignant because the idea for the ABLE Act was originally conceived by a group of Virginia parents. The Virginia ABLE bill directed Virginia529 to develop, implement, and administer a new savings program for eligible individuals with disabilities and their families.
ABLEnow, the national ABLE savings program offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia, is now open and ready for qualified disabled applicants to open accounts. ABLE savings trust accounts are administered by the Virginia College Savings Plan to facilitate the saving of private funds for paying the qualified disability expenses of certain disabled individuals.
- An eligible individual is someone who becomes disabled before age 26 and (1) receives Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or SSI; or (2) files a disability certification under rules that the IRS will write.
- ABLE savings trust accounts can assist individuals and families in saving and paying for the education, housing, transportation, employment training, support, assistive technology, personal support services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management, administrative services, and other expenses.
- Earnings on contributions to ABLE savings trust accounts are exempt from federal income tax.
- Earnings on contributions to ABLE savings trust accounts will also be excluded from Virginia taxable income, as well.
- If the assets in an ABLE account reach $100,000 and the beneficiary is receiving SSI benefits, monthly SSI benefits will be placed in suspension. If the assets in the ABLE account drop back below $100,000, the SSI cash benefits resume.
- As more states adopt and implement the accounts, you can always roll the assets from your current account over to a new state plan.
- Beneficiaries can have only one ABLE account. This is a key difference from college 529 plans. Therefore, friends and relatives will need to pool their contributions into one account with contributions not exceeding the annual limit.
According to the ABLEnow website, the program offers some of the lowest fees in the country, an online portal to manage your account and the ABLEnow Card—a debit card providing a simple, fast way to pay for qualified disability expenses. Eligible individuals can start their ABLEnow account with no enrollment fee and no minimum contribution.
Medicaid Eligibility
As stated previously, an ABLEnow beneficiary will not lose eligibility for Medicaid, based on the assets held in the ABLE account, even during the time that SSI benefits are suspended (as described above for an account with over $100,000). However, under the ABLE Act, when the qualified beneficiary dies (or if he/she is no longer disabled), any remaining assets in the ABLE Account are used to “pay back” any state Medicaid plan up to the value of Medicaid services provided to the beneficiary. The payback is calculated based on amounts paid by Medicaid after the creation of the ABLE Account. This is a MAJOR drawback for most families who might otherwise want to fund a Special Needs Trust without giving up the right to allow other family members to ultimately benefit from any remaining assets.
Why a Special Needs Trust is Still Recommended
Unlike an ABLE Account, assets remaining in a properly established Third Party Special Needs Trust are not recoverable by Medicaid at the time of the beneficiary’s death if the trust was funded using the assets of a parent or other third party. This allows the creator to provide for a secondary beneficiary. Therefore, an ABLE account should NOT be used as a substitute for a Third Party Special Needs Trust, but rather only a limited substitute for a First Party Special Needs Trust. A special needs trust is recommended to protect a disabled individual’s financial future. Also known as Supplemental Needs Trusts, this type of trust preserves legal eligibility for federal and state benefits by keeping assets out of the disabled person’s name while still allowing those assets to be used to benefit the person with special needs. Read more here.
Special Needs Planning
In addition to ABLEnow starting in Virginia, the U.S. House of Representatives recently approved The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act. This would allow people with disabilities to establish their own first party special needs trusts. Read more about it in our recent blog post.
Are you the parents of a special needs child or do you have special needs? If so, it is vitally important for you to take the right steps to ensure you and/or your loved one will be financially secure in the future. When it comes to special needs planning, The Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, P.C. can guide you through this process. If you have a loved one with special needs, call one of our offices to make an appointment for a no-cost consultation:
Fairfax Special Needs Attorney: 703-691-1888
Fredericksburg Special Needs Attorney: 540-479-1435
Rockville Special Needs Attorney: 301-519-8041
DC Special Needs Attorney: 202-587-2797
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Posted by admin on January 17, 2017 · Leave a Comment
”This is a fight we must win”
said VPLC Health Law Attorney Jill Hanken at a rally on Sunday, January 15th at the state Capitol grounds bell tower. Senator Tim Kaine organized the event where Jill was one of more than 700 people rallying for the Affordable Care Act (ACA a.k.a. Obamacare)) and the rights of all Americans to have access to quality and affordable health insurance and health care. The crowd was fired up, with main speaker Senator Kaine, along with Governor McAuliffe and other state political leaders. Kaine told the crowd that repealing the ACA was wrong, even though he agreed improvements should be implemented. Kaine emphasized that Republicans and the new Administration have not offered any replacement plan. He said the “repeal and delay” posture of Republicans in Congress is like jumping off a cliff and then trying to figure out how you’re going to land”
For many of the people present at the rally and the many thousands of people who have affordablehealthcare coverage through the ACA, the issue of how the new administration may “replace” the ACA isliterally a matter of life and death. If the ACA were repealed, 30 million people could lose health insurance coverage and higher costs could put life-saving treatments out of reach. For many individuals and families, the ACA enabled them to get health insurance for the first time. Ashley Hawkins is a mother who spoke at the rally. As the owner of a small non-profit business, she couldn’t get coverage before the ACA due to a pre-existing health condition. With the help of VPLC’s Enroll Virginia project, she first got ACA insurance with tax subsidies in 2014. Since then, her two pregnancies have been covered by insurance and her own health problems addressed. She asked “What will my family do if the ACA is repealed? Everyone needs access to quality health care.”
About 400,000 Virginians have already signed up for 2017 coverage through the ACA. Whether they agreed with the law or not, they will have access to preventative care and treatment for health issues that may have been plaguing them for years. Most receive substantial financial help that keeps premiums affordable. Open enrollment for 2017 coverage continues through January 31st.
So far, the new administration and congressional supporters of ACA repeal have failed to provide any details about their replacement plan. Serious questions remain about the scope of coverage, consumer protections, funding, access for low income populations, and the timing of changes. The people atSunday’s rally will work together to fight for the health care that everyone needs. Sen. Kaine invited the crowd to share their health care stories on his website: http://www.kaine.senate.gov/acastory
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Posted by admin on January 14, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Q. My father is an 80-year-old widower who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I live close by, and will assume the role of his full-time live-in caregiver. By trade, I am an auto mechanic, and am single with no children. I don’t know the first thing about caregiving, but I am all that my father has and I really want to help him while he can still live in his own home. Is there any training for someone like me, who is basically clueless about caregiving?
A. Throughout our lives, many of us are asked to care for a loved one, whether it be a family member or friend. Your caregiving responsibility may be short-term, long-term, or indefinite (most caregiving for Alzheimer’s patients lasts an average of 10 years). Without caregiving experience, the road ahead may seem long and uncertain.
Currently, there are more than 44.4 million people in the United States, or 21% of the population, that serve as unpaid caregivers to an adult family member or friend. And luckily, there are lots of good resources out there to help.
What Caregivers Do
As you can imagine, caregiving requires an enormous physical and emotional commitment, as well as some basic skills. In the “Caregiving in the United States” survey by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, caregivers reported helping the care recipient with the following:
- transportation
- grocery shopping
- housework
- managing finances
- preparing meals
- helping with medication
- managing services
Half of all caregivers also reported assisting with the difficult tasks associated with personal care, including:
- getting in and out of bed and chairs
- getting dressed
- helping bathe or shower
- getting to and from the toilet
- feeding the care recipient
- dealing with incontinence and diapers
Where to Start
With all of these responsibilities and tasks, where is the best place to start? Below are some things you can do, as you embark on your caregiving journey:
- Learn about Alzheimer’s: Find out all you can about the disease, its treatments, and the prognosis. Armed with this information, you and your family will have a better idea what to expect in the future and how you can help. The Alzheimer’s Association website offers a lot of valuable information.
- Prepare the home for safe caregiving: Conduct a home safety inspection of your father’s home. For example, check for adequate lighting, install grab bars in the bathroom, and hook up a cordless phone for emergencies. Home safety information is available here.
- Learn about how you can help with dressing and grooming, bathing, dental care, and incontinence.
- Maintain medical records. Keep a current, complete list of all medications and physicians, along with notes on medical history. Be sure to take this if you accompany your loved one to doctors’ visits.
- Learn how to communicate with healthcare professionals. In order to be a better advocate for your loved one, understand and use the terminology that doctors, nurses, discharge planners, therapists and other healthcare professionals use in discussing the case. Be calm but firm in advocating for being a part of the healthcare and support service decision-making.
- Try to reduce stress, simplify activities, relax, slow the pace, and ensure that there is plenty of quiet time to reminisce.
- Get the extended family and friends involved in caregiving. Organize and hold a family meeting involving all decision makers. Identify and discuss the issues of providing care for the family member in need.
- Ask for help with household activities. Seek help with yard work and other household tasks. Consider asking a friend or neighbor for help.
- Manage your time. Keep an appointment book or calendar to schedule your daily activities, including doctors’ visits.
Family caregiver training resources
Caregiving training is available through various sources in the community and online, as follows:
- The Alzheimer’s Association offers trainings, workshops, books and DVDs on this page to gain caregiving skills and practical advice.
- The AARP offers training resources on caregiving caring for aging parents.
- Facebook groups are a great way to learn, because other caregivers are sharing their experiences and the solutions they have discovered. Asking questions about your unique situation will get you a variety of quality responses.
- YouTube is a great way to find valuable videos but it can be hard to find the right one for your specific need. The Together in This channel has identified and organized many videos to make things easier for you.
- In addition to these resources, talk to doctors, nurses, or social workers about any caregiving tasks that you are uncomfortable performing or find difficult to perform.
- On-the-job training: The only way to survive is through ongoing self-education to aid in the “on the job training.”
- Contact local memory-care facilities. They often have training classes for professionals and unpaid caregivers. Also, inquire about support groups; when you attend a support group, you get some of the best training possible as you learn from others who are ahead of you in this journey.
Please see our blog post, “Alzheimer’s Caregivers Need to See This,” for additional resources.
Take Care of Yourself
Caregiving can be both emotionally and mentally taxing, and can easily lead to “caregiver burnout.” Please be sure to take advantage of services that offer respite and support. Read more about alleviating caregiver stress in our blog post on the topic.
At The Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, P.C., we recognize that caring for a loved one strains even the most resilient people. Be sure to take steps to preserve your own health and well-being. Remember, part of taking care of yourself is planning for your future and for the future care needs of your father. To make an appointment for a no cost initial consultation, please contact us:
Fairfax Elder Law: 703-691-1888
Fredericksburg Elder Law: 540-479-1435
Rockville Elder Law: 301-519-8041
DC Elder Law: 202-587-2797
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Posted by admin on January 14, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Dear Commander Bun Bun,
My mother insists on staying in her home as long as she can. I live 100 miles away, and can’t be there as often as I would like, and I worry about her safety and security. Is there any new technology out there to help her?
Thanks!
Hal Pinma
—-
Dear Hal,
For 50 years, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has been the launch pad for new innovation and technology. This year, the conference (CES 2017) introduced new technology to help seniors that are aging-in-place, including:
•The Floodlight Cam is a motion-activated security camera with built-in LED floodlights, a 270-degree field-of-view, facial recognition, a 110-decibel siren alarm, two-way audio, and infrared for night vision. With the Ring app, homeowners can manually flash the floodlights, sound the alarm, and zoom or pan to focus. Users can set customizable motion zones and a schedule for the lights to turn on and off automatically.
•Blink Outdoor Cameras are also useful for safety and security, without an app that an older person might not have. The Blink XT is an outdoor camera, with weather-proofing, 1080p video, and an IR night vision sensor. Blink is also releasing new entry sensors to monitor doors and windows, a new water sensor to notify you of any unexpected leaks, a 105dB siren that can be manually or automatically triggered via motion sensor, and a keypad to arm and disarm Blink without resorting to the app.
•WHILL Intelligent Electric Vehicle (Wheelchair) is a modern chair using all the latest in battery technology, wheels, and more. When connected to a phone, it provides all sorts of telemetry for understanding how the vehicle is performing. Designed by automotive engineers, the Model M drives like a premium electric vehicle, distancing itself from antiquated power wheelchairs and scooters designed decades ago. It is also available as a rental.
•The Chipolo Item Tracker could be used to find things, pets, and people. It emits a loud noise until you locate the item, which makes it particularly useful if a family member has some memory loss. The loud sound could be good (in your house) or not-so-good (out in public).
•The Modobag carry-on suitcase is a not necessarily for aging in place, but would be great for travel. It is a trackable, motorized carry-on bag that the owner can sit on while moving down long concourses in airports.
Hop this is helpful!
Commander Bun Bun
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Posted by admin on January 14, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Here is what we have learned about internet loans
from callers to our predatory loan hotline
866-855-4501
The interest rates are unbelievable and borrowers can’t repay
- “Only later did I realize the 6-month $900 loan would actually end up costing me $3,019 at an interest rate of 638%.”
- “I borrowed $525 …When I saw the contract, I saw that the interest rate for my loan was 478% … I would be paying $111.95 every two weeks for five months.”
Internet loans are dangerous
“He came across a site that offered quick cash… When you do these, they sell your name and address to everybody and anybody. And I’ve gotten several phone calls from lenders that I’ve never even borrowed from our heard of and they’ve threatened to take me to jail and said they’ve lent me money and they didn’t. I know they didn’t. I don’t even know them. And they know my Social Security number. They know where I work. They know my name and address.” A caller who was quoted in: Quick Cash, Toxic Debt
Lenders and scammers harass borrowers that get behind
- “He (my son) began getting phone calls all of the time. They told him he would get in trouble and that they were going to lock him up if he didn’t pay. He got so scared that he started paying again, and when it was all over he paid for the original $1,000 at least five times over.
- “I get multiple calls a day from people telling me I will be arrested if I don’t pay. They send me letters and emails, and they have called my family all over the country to harass them too.”
- “I even got a phone call from someone who disguised the number so that it appeared as the Chesapeake, Virginia Police Department. When I called it back, they said they had no information on an arrest warrant for me.”
Lenders deceive borrowers
- “the online application did not have all of the information that came in my contract afterwards.”
- “I wasn’t in my right mind. So I signed up for my first internet loan, and soon after they started taking money from my bank account. But they didn’t stick to the payment schedule I saw when I applied for the loan. The payments were almost double what I had expected.”
- I took out a loan from Western Sky… I applied for, $980. But they told me they couldn’t loan me just $980, and explained I would have to borrow over $2,500. I decided to just do that, thinking I could pay a large lump sum back immediately and not worry about the extra amount. But as soon as the loan was completed, the servicer changed to Delbert Services, who would not let me pay more than the scheduled payments.”
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Posted by admin on January 14, 2017 · Leave a Comment
Here are the lessons we’ve learned directly from borrowers’ experiences with open-end, “line of credit” loans.
866-855-4501
- Borrowers get caught in a debt trap
- “I kept paying and paying and paying on it, but the balance never went down. After a year and a half of never missing a payment, my balance was higher than what I first borrowed.”
- “I got an open-end credit line at Allied Cash Advance, and ended up paying them three times as much as I borrowed in the end. It was so hard to keep up with payments, because as soon as I made one, I was almost out of money for the month and I needed to get another advance. They keep the cycle going..”
- “I got an open-end line of credit and took out $1,500. I made four payments of almost $500 each, and my balance never changed.”
- Lenders harass borrowers that get behind
- “When I fell behind, they began calling me and making threats that they would send people to my office.”
- “My family members also got phone calls as well. The worst was when I got a call saying that if I didn’t pay $600 that day, the sheriff was coming to arrest me. I was so scared. I called the sheriff’s office and they said there was no arrest warrant for me”
- “I fell behind, and the harassment started immediately. I would get phone calls every day, threatening to come to my work and have me arrested. I was afraid I would lose my job, because even if they didn’t come, the stress made it so that I couldn’t work.”
- Lenders debit borrowers bank accounts and cause problems
- “Cash 2-U took money straight out of my bank account without my knowledge. They even sent me a bill for the rest of what I owed after the bank account was empty. I didn’t find out about this until I tried to pay my utility bills and didn’t have enough money for them.”
- “When I knew I wouldn’t be able to make a scheduled payment, I called them to talk about an extension. They agreed, and told me that they would not make the automatic withdrawal for the next scheduled pay date. They did it anyway, and it caused me a lot of bounced checks and bank fees as a result.”
- Many borrowers get multiple loans and get into an even bigger debt trap
- “The interest and fees quickly added up, and over the course time I had to take out more loans from other companies to try and make payments.”
- “To make sure we could make our payments on time, we had to take out loans from other places. It is very stressful to have to go to one place, get a loan, but then go straight to another place to make a payment.”
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