The North Carolina Bar Association Elder & Special Needs Law Section (NCBA-EL) recognizes that, although the public perceives lawyers to be among the most affluent members of society, in fact, many attorneys struggle to make ends meet, need to pay off large amounts of law school debt, or sometimes suffer from economic hardship due to the poor job market, disabilities or other factors. The NCBA-EL wants membership in, and services from, the NCBA-EL to be available to attorneys regardless of their ability to pay. We understand that one of the greatest services available for members is the high quality continuing legal education sponsored by the NCBA Foundation. As a result, the NCBA-EL has established a Scholarship program for CLE program tuition for the 26th Annual Elder & Special Needs Law Symposium, being held in-person live and via live webcast on Thursday, February 24, 2022, and Friday, February 25, 2022. For more information, visit this link: https://cle.ncbar.org/courses/39194/sections/45331/webinars/27632
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It’s probably fair to say that each attorney wants to be competent in his or her area of practice, but how can you set yourself apart in a particular area of law and take your practice to the next level? Having just reached my ninth year as an elder and special needs law attorney and my third year as a Board-Certified Specialist in elder law, I’ve recently reflected on what factors of my practice and education have supported developing a broad knowledge base in this area of law.
One factor of my practice and volunteer involvement that cannot be understated is with the NCBA Elder and Special Needs Law Section. Early on in my practice, a former colleague volunteered me to present recent developments at the Elder and Special Needs Law Symposium. Presenting in front of such a large group seemed a daunting task, particularly since I was certain that I would forget the entirety of my research. I was also certain that everyone in the audience would know more than me.
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We are still waiting with bated breath to find out what elder law and estate planning-related provisions will come from Congress’s budget reconciliation process. In the meantime, many of you will be aware of North Carolina’s No Patient Left Alone Act (NC Session Law 2021-171; SB 191), but others may have heard nothing about it. Many likely have also not seen the revised memorandum on nursing home visitation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) on November 12. Both the Act and the CMS Memorandum are an attempt to restore visitation rights to vulnerable populations receiving health care; the details of both are discussed below.
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Britney Spears has been in the news a lot. Not just recently via documentaries on Hulu and Netflix, but nearly nonstop since her debut single “…Baby One More Time” premiered in 1998. Historically, the media circus surrounding Spears focused on her career, who she was dating, and how she spent her free time. However, recent stories focus on a topic that rarely receives so much national attention: guardianships or conservatorships.
Some states, including North Carolina, use the term “guardianship,” whereas other states, including California, use the term “conservatorship.” The arrangement is essentially the same – a court supervised process in which some rights and responsibilities are taken away from an individual and assigned to another person. For the purposes of this blog post, I am going to use the term conservatorship unless specifically speaking about North Carolina.
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The North Carolina Bar Association Elder and Special Needs Law Section (NCBA-EL) recognizes that, although the public perceives lawyers to be among the most affluent members of society, in fact, many attorneys struggle to make ends meet, need to pay off large amounts of law school debt, or sometimes suffer from economic hardship due to the poor job market, disabilities or other factors. The NCBA-EL wants membership in, and services from, the NCBA-EL to be available to attorneys regardless of their ability to pay. We understand that one of the greatest services available for members is the high quality continuing legal education sponsored by the NCBA. As a result, the NCBA-EL has established a Scholarship program for CLE program tuition for the 2021 Basics of Elder and Special Needs Law Program, being held In-Person Live and by Live Webcast on Friday, October 22, 2021. You can find more information on the program here.
For Elder & Special Needs Law attorneys, there are some significant new North Carolina statutory changes we need to be aware of. Would you like to file all your probate, guardianship and other court filings online? I hope so. Soon you will be required to do so. Tired of going through the full guardianship process for a single transaction and then undoing the guardianship when the transaction is completed? There is a new fix for that. The basics are below. For a more detailed description of the statutory changes, see the Legislative Update section of the manuscript for the 2021 Annual Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Program.
The North Carolina Bar Association Elder & Special Needs Law Section (NCBA – EL) recognizes that although the public perceives lawyers to be among the most affluent members of society, in fact, many attorneys struggle to make ends meet, need to pay off large amounts of law school debt, or sometimes suffer from economic hardship due to the poor job market, disabilities or other factors. The NCBA –EL wants membership in, and services from, the section to be available to attorneys regardless of their ability to pay. We understand that one of the greatest services available for members is the high quality continuing legal education through the North Carolina Bar Association. As a result, the NCBA – EL has established a scholarship program for CLE program tuition for the NCBA – EL 25th Annual Elder & Special Needs Law Symposium on March 4, 2021 and March 5, 2021. Read more
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Please make plans to attend the 25th Annual Elder & Special Needs Law Symposium on March 4-5, 2021. The symposium will be a live webcast and will include sessions on special needs planning, NC Medicaid transformation, and ethical considerations for guardianships. Also included are a Technology Hour and an Elder Law Specialization Panel. Hope to see you virtually there!
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The agenda will be released shortly for this spring’s Elder Law and Special Needs Symposium, which will be provided by webcast. When the Symposium planning began, the Elder Law Section Council had been hoping that life would be sufficiently normal for everyone to gather together for fellowship and to trade war stories in addition to receiving some great education. Obviously, things have not returned to normal yet, and we will have to look forward to an in-person symposium next year.
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As Elder Law attorneys, we need to be aware of the dangers our clients face from a number of fraudulent scams that can quickly deplete their assets. One good resource is a new book, “Elder Fraud Wars: Case Histories from an Enforcement Attorney” (Exposit, 2020). Author David Neil Kirkman is a recently retired attorney who spent most of his career working with the Consumer Protection Division of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. In his book, Kirkman recounts stories and specific cases that he encountered during his time managing the Elder Fraud Unit.
Why are the elderly at extraordinary risk of being scammed? Kirkman quotes Willie Sutton’s response when asked why he robbed banks: “Because that’s where the money is.” According to the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve Board (2017), median wealth in the U.S. for those who are 35-44 years old is $60,000 while the median wealth figure for those who are 65 years old and over is above $225,000. Kirkman also presents a set of other key victim vulnerabilities for the elderly, including many situations that we routinely encounter with our elderly clients: 100% equity in their home, physical or emotional isolation, impairments such as immobility, limited eyesight or hearing, cognitive decline, and loneliness. Elderly individuals may also have the desire to be decision makers again and to have something important happening in their lives. Any combination of these factors presents an opportunity for professional scammers to present themselves and take advantage of elderly individuals.
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