Special needs attorney Neal A. Winston briefly describes special needs trusts in this video

Special and supplemental needs trusts serve two primary purposes — protecting government support and managing funds for the benefit of those who are not capable of managing funds themselves. Attorney Neal Winston regularly assists parents who may be doing estate planning for a disabled child with their own assets, or setting up planning for a disabled minor or adult who has received funds through an accident or inheritance. In each case, it  imperative that an attorney who is experienced with special needs trusts, carefully reviews the individual’s needs in order to recommend and design the proper trust model. According to Neal, “I like to make the trusts that I draft flexible so that they can be adapted over the years to the changing needs of the individual and governmental programs.”

Neal recently served as president of the Special Needs Alliance, a national, not for profit organization of attorneys dedicated to the practice of disability and public benefits law. Individuals with disabilities, their families and their advisors rely on the SNA to connect them with nearby attorneys who focus their practices in the disability law arena. (more…)

We asked Robert Fleming, a colleague of Neal Winston through the Special Needs Alliance, for permission to republish his recent post on the topic of appointing a trust protector to monitor and manage a special needs trust for when you no longer can.

Planning for the lifelong care of a loved one with special needs is daunting. Even the most carefully constructed special needs trust can’t be expected to account for all contingencies. Appointing a trust protector can provide added security when you’re no longer able to monitor the trust’s management yourself.  (more…)

Boston Elder Law Attorney

Attorney Alex Moschella describes his passion and commitment to elder and disability law, which spans more than 30 years — including teaching elder law at Boston’ Suffolk Law School (his alma mater). Alex enjoys helping people who are vulnerable — helping them to overcome adversity and overwhelmig difficulties navigating government agencies, and to hold on to their hard earned savings.

Please get to know Alex by watching the video below.

See more videos by our Massachusetts estate planning attorneys.

You can reach Alex at (617) 776-3300.

Boston Elder Law Attorney Alex Moschella describes the urgent and complex situation of getting a loved one into a nursing home

Attorney Alex Moschella describes how his firm provides “Crisis Medicaid Planning” for couples or single persons when long-term care in a nursing home is urgently needed. These are “crisis cases,” since decisions must be made immediately as to placement and determining the source of funds to pay for nursing home care — that in the greater Boston area easily averages over ten thousand dollars a month.

The firm regularly assists families facing the crushing blow of dealing with disabling conditions such as advanced Alzheimer Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons, or complex medical conditions. The nursing homes will not accept their loved one if  the method of payment is not determined at the outset.  (more…)

Neal Winston, Special Needs attorney, will be conducting a panel discussion addressing current benefits for the disabled and individual and pooled special needs trusts.  The panel, sponsored by NAMI of Cambridge/Middlesex, will answer such questions as:

How can I assist and protect my loved one while I am living, and after I am gone?

What do I need to know about public  benefits programs and agencies that support the disabled?

How do I create an estate plan including a special needs trust?

Come join Attorney Winston on Tuesday December 6 at 6:30 pm, Macht Auditorium, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA – free and open to the public (validated parking).

Explained by Massachusetts Social Security Disability Attorney Neal A. Winston, of Moschella & Winston LLP

The Social Security disability application process can be very lengthy and intimidating. Proving a disability requires careful documentation. A disabled person should learn how the application process works prior to applying, so that any unintentionally misleading information does not go into your record.

To learn more, please view this brief video and then contact Attorney Neal Winston for more information.

View additional videos by our Massachusetts estate planning attorneys on the Moschella & Winston YouTube Channel.

Massachusetts Special Needs and Disability Lawyer

Neal Winston is a founding partner of Moschella & Winston, a Boston-area estate planning law firm. In this video, Neal explains his background from working as a VISTA volunteer to helping people solve their problems with governmental agencies such as Social Security, which led to him becoming an elder law attorney. Neal has furthered distinguished his work as an estate and trust attorney by serving children and adults with special needs as a special needs attorney. He has been president of the Special Needs Alliance, a national non-profit lawyers group dedicated to serving children and adults with special needs.

For more information, please watch the video below.

See the related video: What is a Special Needs Trust?

See our comprehensive FAQ on Special Needs Trusts.

To contact Neal Winston, please call (617) 776-3300.

A family from a community on Boston’s North Shore, represented by Massachusetts Disability Attorney Michael Couture of law firm Moschella & Winston, recently prevailed in reversing a Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) policy denying critical support services for their autistic son.

The purpose of the DDS Program is to prevent disabled children from living in a state-operated facility. DDS offers funding that allows the child to remain at home and be educated within the community. The program provides an array of services and supports that supplement other services that the child may be receiving, such as private health insurance or Medicaid.

The family’s oldest autistic child became eligible for Medicaid’s Adult Foster Care program (AFC) when he reached the age of 18. AFC is a Medicaid-funded program that provides care-giving services to disabled individuals in a private residence. The primary goal of this program is also to keep the disabled individual in the community and out of a publicly funded facility. Medicaid pays the caregiver a regular stipend for providing 24 hour care in a safe environment. The AFC provider in this case was the mother, which is allowable within the Medicaid regulations.

DDS terminated the autistic child’s eligibility from its program because of his participation with AFC. DDS reasoned that if paid under the AFC program, then the family would be paid for services for the child that overlapped somewhat from two support programs, and therefore the child was not eligible to participate at all in the DDS program.

Attorney Couture successfully advocated at a hearing before a DDS officer that the DDS and AFC support programs provide completely separate services to the autistic child and therefore the DDS argument was without merit. The most important factor in this case, however, was that the DDS did not follow its own contract with the family, which detailed when and why a disabled child would lose funding. Despite the agency attorney’s firm opposition, the Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Developmental Disabilities reversed the agency’s previous decision and allowed the child to remain in the program indefinitely. It is not known if this decision will be implemented by the DDS in all similar cases, or just applies to this child and his family.

Michael R. Couture is an associate at the law firm of Moschella & Winston, LLP, where he specializes in Veterans’ benefits, Veterans’ healthcare, Medicaid, Social Security, special needs law, and estate planning. He is an accredited attorney with the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Moschella & Winston, LLP will be a participant in the 10th Annual Safety & Wellness Fair for Burlington seniors being held at the Burlington Council on Aging on Tuesday. October 25, 2011 from 10 am – 1 pm.  

The goal of the fair is to provide information that will educate seniors about staying safe and healthy and residing in their homes for as long as possible, but realizing that it is not always realistic to do so, and to provide information on viable options once living safely at home is no longer feasible.

Burlington Council on Aging
61 Center Street
Burlington, Mass

A Massachusetts probate attorney answers common legal questions about how to handle the estate of a family member or other loved one who has died

By Michelle Mulvena

The death of a loved one is often a very emotional and confusing time for the family. Most of the time the family does not know where to begin when a father, mother, husband or other family member passes away. The loved one’s assets need to be located, bills need to be paid, homes need to be taken care of, and Social Security and other government agencies may need to be notified. In many instances, this can become a complicated and overwhelming process. In the immediate aftermath of the death of a family members, there are many things to consider. Here are a few critical questions to get started:

• Did your loved one leave a will? Check such places as the safe, strong box, bank deposit box, or contact your loved one’s attorney to see if they have the will.
• Did you notify Social Security Administration? If your loved one was receiving Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration will need to be notified to stop benefits immediately. Sometimes the funeral home or the bank, if they have notice of the death, will notify Social Security for you.
• Are there bills that need to be paid immediately? Unless your loved one had a joint bank account, funds may not be accessible to pay bills until an “executor” or “administrator” is appointed by the Probate Court.
• Does the deceased own real estate? There are many expenses associated with real estate that may need to be paid and rents may need to be collected.

It is always best to consult with an attorney who is experienced with probate administration to help you answer these questions and guide you through the probate process. The attorneys at Moschella & Winston are dedicated to estate planning and administration services for families and individuals. Located in Somerville, MA, we serve families throughout the Boston metro area and across Massachusetts. If you would like to discuss the steps involved and learn more about handling estate settlement issues due to the death of a loved one, please call us at 617-776-3300. We have helped many, many people deal with these sometimes complicated issues that require proper attention during a difficult, emotional time.

• Learn more about our Probate Administration services.
• Read our Probate Adminstration FAQ.

Michelle Mulvena is a trust and estate attorney at Moschella & Winston, LLP, a Boston-area law firm specializing in legal planning and protection for individuals and families for over 30 years. She is also host of the Somerville Cable TV show, “Legally Speaking with Michelle Mulvena.”  Please contact her at mm@moschellawinston.com or (617) 776-3300.