Elderlaw

 Letter to the Editor May 5, 2009 - please scroll down
Elderlaw is the term usually used to denote the issues facing senior citizens with respect to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, nursing home admission and the assistance which may be provided by others in these difficult transitions.  This is an extraordinarily complex area of the law and Steadman Law Office is well versed in these areas and can answer your questions and concerns.  Jim is a certified Elderlaw Attorney and the press release issued by the National Elder Law Foundation is below.

One of the best resources for answering these questions comes from the Elderlaw Handbook, a publication of the Erie County Bar Association which is currently undergoing a revision due to changes in the law. The committee responsible for the production of this book was chaired by Attorney Steadman, although the idea was initially formed by the Montgomery County Bar Association. Many lawyers and professionals in the Eldercare area were enlisted to make sure that the information included in the book was the latest and most up-to-date possible at the time of publication.

A question often asked by Elderlaw clients is whether they should consider transferring their house to a child.  For a discussion of this issue please follow this link - House Transfer Info

For unbiased nursing home ratings by Medicare, both in Erie County and anywhere else in the country, please follow this LINK.
Letter to the Editor - May 5, 2009

The legislature is again considering significant changes to the law that will have serious repercussions to older Pennsylvanians and their families. The proposed change is buried in HOUSE BILL No 1351 (specifically Section 1412 of that bill) now being considered for passage. The present law limits the collection of a debt after one’s death to those assets owned by the decedent in their own name as of the date of death. The change will allow the Department of Public Welfare to broaden the assets from which they may collect for nursing services to include jointly held property, and specifically including property owned with a surviving spouse and potentially to other assets, such as life insurance.

The law in Pennsylvania has never allowed any creditors of a decedent (except the IRS) to make a claim against property jointly owned with a spouse or with another as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. Ordinarily no claims can be made against life insurance benefits either.

The proposed change is monumental! The new legislation further provides that if someone, such as a trustee (possibly including life insurance companies and banks with joint accounts), transfers property which the DPW later determines to have been subject to this provision, the person making the transfer becomes personally liable to repay the Commonwealth. This has the potential to freeze those assets which have always been readily available to surviving spouses and families. And that means massive implications for widows and widowers, families, trustees, and other creditors as well.

I urge each and every person who would be affected by this misbegotten piece of legislation to immediately contact their legislators and urge them to oppose this proposed change.

As of this writing, it appears that the Pennsylvania Bar Association will stand in opposition to the changes, but the last time legislation in this arena was considered, PBA opposition was not enough to carry the day. Despite representations made to the PBA that the proposed legislation had been dropped, it magically re-appeared in one of the legislature’s famous midnight sessions and was passed and signed by the governor before anyone was aware it was even being considered. We cannot let our guard down this time.

Please inform your legislators of your opposition to the proposed legislation.

James R. Steadman
 

Elderlaw certification info:
Tucson, AZ – The National Elder Law Foundation (NELF) – the only organization approved by the American Bar Association to offer certification in the area of elder law – has announced that James R. Steadman of Steadman Law Office, of Girard, Pennsylvania, has successfully completed its examination leading to such certification.

Certification in elder law – one of the fastest growing fields in the legal profession – will provide a measure of assurance to the public that the attorney has an in depth working knowledge of the legal issues that impact the elderly. There are fewer than 325 certified Elder Law Attorneys in the entire United States.

James R. Steadman, of Steadman Law Office in Girard, Pennsylvania is now a Certified Elder Law Attorney. Mr. Steadman, a Girard native, is a graduate of Grove City College, where he earned his B.A. in Political Science in 1972, and from the Dickinson School of Law, where he earned his J.D. in 1975. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and also before the United States Supreme Court. Steadman Law Office is located at 24 Main Street East in Girard, where Mr. Steadman has been in practice since 1976. Mr. Steadman was the President of the Erie County Bar Association in 1991, and received its first annual President’s Award for service to the Bar in 1998.

He has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Erie County Bar Association, the Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where he continues to be active as a member of the House of Delegates, the Elderlaw Section and a Secretary of the council of the Solo and Small Firm Practitioners Section. He has repeatedly lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Erie County Bar Association on a variety of topics ranging from ethics, elderlaw and estate planning to small office management and computerization. He handles a broad range of cases including Medicaid planning, estate planning and administration; real estate and business transfers; adoptions; business and corporate formation and government law. Mr. Steadman resides in Girard with his wife, Alison, and has served on the Girard Borough Council, the boards of the Rice Avenue Community Public Library, the Erie County Bar Association, Penn Attorneys Title Insurance Company, the Erie Philharmonic and various church organizations. He continues to serve as Chancellor to the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul.

For more information on Steadman Law Office, visit them on the web or call (814) 774-2628.

For information on the certification process, contact Lori Barbee at the National Elder Law Foundation at (520) 881-1076 or visit www.nelf.org 

 

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