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PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog 

About Elder Law, senior lifestyles, long-term care, end-of-life & health care surrogate decision-making, estate & personal planning, fiduciary administrations (by agents under powers of attorney, custodians, guardians, executors/administrators, & trustees), elders' dispute resolution, and Orphans' Court litigation in Pennsylvania.
Post Frequency: 2.5/day Last Entry: April 16, 2016 at 11:39:00 Recent Entries: 338
By Neil Hendershot, Esq.
Go to PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog, find other Elder Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Filing Fees Increase in PA
Posted on December 10, 2009On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, various court-related filing fees increased in Pennsylvania, pursuant to Act 46 of 2009 (formerly House Bill 1607), signed into law by the Governor on October 9, 2009.In his newsletter, Good Deeds, dated October 29, 2009, Ryan Costello, Esq...
Federal Elder Abuse Victims Act: Enfolded
Posted on November 23, 2009On October 21, 2009, several U.S. Senators introduced a proposed federal "Elder Abuse Victims Act (S. 1821)" as a "companion" Senate bill to one adopted earlier this year by a vote of 397 to 25 in the House, known as the Elder Abuse Victims Act (H.R. 448), introduced by Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA)...
Laws.com Focuses on Abuse Crimes
Posted on November 20, 2009There are many websites that provide legal information to consumers and professionals. While one with a great domain name -- Laws.com -- is expanding, its staff contemplates how to educate too.Their cause: reduction of personal physical abuse, and celebration of heroes who oppose violence...
OC Judges Run for Superior Court on Nov 3rd
Posted on November 01, 2009In Pennsylvania's 2009 Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, voters interested in elder, estate, trust or other fiduciary matters should note (and hopefully vote for) two highly qualified Common Pleas judges with extensive Orphans' Court experience who are candidates for Superior Court -- Judge Anne E...
"Charitable Giving: Past, Present & Future" at PSU's Hershey Medical Center
Posted on October 29, 2009On Thursday afternoon, October 29, 2009, beginning at 4:30 pm, Penn State University and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, will hold a reception and then a one-hour presentation entitled Charitable Gift Planning at the Hershey County Club, in its Picard Grand Pavilion, 1000 E...
"Law of the Aged" Web Links
Posted on October 23, 2009The Duquesne University Center for Legal Information, which is also the website for the Allegheny County Law Library, lists useful links and resources on its web page dedicated to the "Law of the Aged." These include:Web Sites MegaLaw - Elder Law
PA Bar Association's "Senior Guide" Reissued
Posted on October 19, 2009In September, 2009, the Pennsylvania Bar Association issued its 2009 Guide to Legal Issues for PA Senior Citizens, available free in PDF format on its website and by request in printed form.This annually-revised guide, developed by the Senior Lawyers Committee of the PBA, provides information about legal issues faced by Pennsylvania's older residents and their caregivers...
Special Needs Trusts Address Long-Term Disabilities
Posted on September 01, 2009On August 19, 2009, Michael A. Cassidy, Esq., of Tucker Arensberg, P.C., posted an entry on the Med Law Blog, entitled "Special-needs trusts can provide for disabled children."He highlighted an article of the same title published the day before by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette...
How I Survived My Summer Vacation
Posted on August 31, 2009I have not posted on this Blog since July 20th, because I could not. Two days later, while on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland, I experienced a sudden and severe accident in the surf that resulted in emergency spinal surgery at the University of Maryland's "R...
New Cause of Action under FINRA Found
Posted on July 20, 2009A decision issued on June 30, 2009, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in Sarah Grammer v. John J. Kane Regional Centers-Glen Hazel (PDF, 23 pages), likely will impact nursing home and rehabilitation facilities that provide care subject to the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments (FNHRA)...
Proposed New PA "Department of Aging and Long-Term Living"
Posted on July 17, 2009A brief news item entitled "Bill would expand Aging department's oversight" by Scott Gilbert, posted on July 16, 2009, by WITF (Harrisburg, PA), noted the proposed restructuring of the Pennsylvania Office of Long Term Living (OLTL) into the Pennsylvania Department of Aging (DoA)All long-term living facilities, for seniors and younger people alike, may soon fall under one state agency...
PA's "Filial Responsibility" Law in the News
Posted on July 16, 2009Within the past few days, major media -- the Philadelphia Inquirer and ABC News -- published accounts about Pennsylvania's filial responsibility law, drawing attention to the desperation caused in some families in the Commonwealth who are compelled to support their parents' costly care needs despite their disconnection or their best efforts...
"Growing Old in America" Report by Pew
Posted on July 14, 2009On July 7, 2009, the SmartTalk radio discussion program, offered by Public Broadcasting System affiliate WITF-FM (Harrisburg, PA), presented the topic "The New Generation Gap" with guest Kim Parker, a Senior Researcher at Pew Social & Demographic Trends, of the Pew Research Center...
July 24th Deadline for Assisted Living Regs
Posted on July 13, 2009The Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (PALCA) recently updated its website to explain recent developments in proposed assisted living licensure requirements for Pennsylvania, and to announce a July 24, 2009 deadline established by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Office of Long-Term Living (DPW) to receive additional comments on proposed regulations...
New PA Judicial Center Open for Occupancy
Posted on July 10, 2009The newly-constructed Pennsylvania Judicial Center, located in the Capitol complex in Harrisburg, finally is receiving its new occupants.According to a news report entitled "Judicial Center in Harrisburg built to last a lifetime" by Jan Murphy, published in The Patriot-News on December 27, 2008, the PJC was expected to be completed by April, 2009, after nearly three years in
"Creativity" in Elder Law Promoted
Posted on July 09, 2009The Elder Law & Consumer Protection Clinic at Penn State/Dickinson Law School issued the Summer, 2009 issue of its newsletter, Adventures in Law and Aging (PDF, 4 pages), with the theme of "creativity" in addressing elder law issues in Pennsylvania.This is the Table of Contents of the Summer 2009 Newsletter:GUARDIANSHIP REFORM: The Need for Creative Approaches to Fiduciary Support, by Professor
Proposed DPW Lien Expansion Opposed
Posted on July 02, 2009Since April, 2009, Pennsylvania lawyers carefully followed proposed state legislation (House Bill 1351) that would significantly expand Medicaid recovery beyond the current target -- a recipient's estate after death -- to more targets in which a recipient has a limited or partial lifetime interest...
PBA Elder Law Newsletter (Spring, 2009) Available
Posted on June 17, 2009In May, 2009, the Elder Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association issued its semi-annual Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 1 (PDF, 31 pages), containing fifteen articles or notices, to its members.For a limited time, that issue is available publicly on the PBA's website here, in PDF format for viewing or download...
More "Truth About Probate and Living Trusts"
Posted on June 16, 2009The Allegheny County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Attorney General?s Office will conduct a second, free ?Truth About Probate and Living Trusts? Clinic for the public, this time in the North Hills area of Allegheny County, PA (not the North Hills in Montgomery County, PA) on Monday, June 29, 2009...
Social Security & Medicare Slipping into the Future
Posted on May 21, 2009CNN posted an interview headlined "Medicare is the real danger, not social security" on May 13, 2009, that highlighted the significant slippage in sustainability of the present Medicare and Social Security benefit systems.Unfunded obligations of both Social Security and Medicare are "slipping into the future" faster than previously expected, which demand remedial action now, not later...
New "Quality Council" to Advise on Independent Living Services
Posted on May 14, 2009On May 12, 2009, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, through its Office of Long-Term Living, announced creation of a new advisory council to focus on "quality management of in-home and community services" provided in the Commonwealth...
Blogging on the Bus
Posted on May 07, 2009I'm riding on a bus as I write this blog entry, which illustrates, in just one trip, a few trends affecting elders (and all of us in America) -- changes in employment patterns, in technology, and in mass transit.The bus I'm riding is a Setra, Model S-417 Luxury Coach, assembled in North Carolina by Daimler Buses North America...
PBA's Young Lawyers Sponsor "Wills for Heroes"
Posted on May 06, 2009In 2009, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, through its Young Lawyers Division, now sponsors a Wills for Heroes program, which "provides no-cost wills, living wills, and health care and financial powers of attorney to first responders and their spouses/partners...
New Advance Directive Form Released
Posted on May 05, 2009Recently, Robert B. Wolf, Esq., of Pittsburgh, PA, sent an email alert to his "P & T Hot Tip" recipients and to the Pennsylvania members of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel regarding a newly-revised Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will document developed and posted jointly by physicians and lawyers in Western Pennsylvania...
Proposed Expansion of PA Medicaid Recovery
Posted on May 01, 2009On Friday, May 1, 2009, Katherine Pearson (Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson School of Law), as Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Elder Law Section, sent an email message alerting section members that, "[a]s part of a plan to implement Governor Rendell's proposed budget for the Commonwealth, legislation was introduced on April 28 that would significantly affect Medical Assistance (
Real Estate Tax: Reassessments Needed More Often
Posted on April 30, 2009On April 29, 2009, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously held, in a Majority Opinion written by Chief Justice Castille in Clifton, et al. v. Allegheny County, Nos. 20 & 21 WAP 2007 (PDF, 53 pages), that "the base year method of property valuation, as applied in Allegheny County [PA], violates the Uniformity Clause...
"Blogging" Article in PA Lawyer Magazine
Posted on April 29, 2009Pennsylvania attorney (& blogger) Kelly Phillips Erb, Esq., of Philadelphia, PA, wrote an article, entitled "Law 2.0: A Legal Blogging Primer," published in the May-June, 2009 issue of The Pennsylvania Lawyer, for the membership of the Pennsylvania Bar Association...
"Adventures in Law & Aging" -- Spring, 2009 Issue
Posted on April 27, 2009The Elder Law & Consumer Protection Clinic at Penn State/Dickinson Law School issued its most recent newsletter, Adventures in Law and Aging (Spring, 2009).The newsletter, available online in PDF format (4 pages), contains articles about elder law practice in addition to those regarding legal education and activities of that law school's elder law clinic, in Carlisle, PA:The Creative Grandparent,
The Heat is On: Federal Estate Tax Reform Brews
Posted on April 24, 2009Congress returned from its Spring Recess on April 20, 2009, and now confronts many significant issues. Among them is federal estate tax reform, presently sent to House and Senate Conference Committee negotiations in anticipation of acceptable legislation...
Senior Athletes and Senior Idols
Posted on April 17, 2009On April 14, 2009, the York (PA) Daily Record published an article entitled "Former Senior Idol competitor donates body to study" by Teresa McMinn, who reported that 92-year-old Ed Clautice recently helped "doctors study aging even after his death."Ed Clautice believed that helping others and staying physically and socially active would help him maintain a long and happy life...
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Real Estate Agents, Lenders, Appraisers & Home Inspectors: ARE BUYERS WASTING TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME?
PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY. It cannot be said enough times...
What Should Sellers Look for in Hiring a Real Estate Agent?
MARKETING SKILLS, MARKETING "SUPPORT" AND EXPERIENCE. There are nu...
Should Sellers Hire a Real Estate Agent?
We often say YES! There are simply far too many unscrupulous buyer...
Real Estate Tax Appeals: Who Has the Burden of Proof
Recently, many municipalities have performed revaluations in order...
Real Estate Tax Appeals: Who Has the Burden of Proof
Recently, many municipalities have performed revaluations in order...
Real Estate Brokers
Questions home sellers should ask potential brokers
Real Estate Brokers
The role brokersplay
Estate Planning
Documents: durable power of attorney, living will, letter of instruction, and insurance trust
How to make a landlord honor an option to buy provision in the lease (OH)?
Most leases are written as a one year agreement, if neither party elects to form...
Can I sue the executor of my fathers estate?
Get a lawyer. Not one you pay by the hour - a contingency based attorney. If he ...
My father and mother died with a will. The will states that the family house be sold and any money left be divided equally among the sibling. The house as a loan against it for $200.000. The executor of the estate (my si
Contest the will, this should lock things up in probate and prevent her from doi...
When selling an inherited home, how to make sure that the beneficiaries are taxed on the stepped up basis?
The cost basis at which the beneficiaries receive the property is the current fa...
He has half brothers and sisters and I would prefer his estate go to only one of his half brothers, as he is the only one who cares about his well being.
If intellectually disabled means that a person would not be found competent to p...

How to make a landlord honor an option to buy provision in the lease (OH)?
Most leases are written as a one year agreement, if neither party elects to form...
Can I sue the executor of my fathers estate?
Get a lawyer. Not one you pay by the hour - a contingency based attorney. If he ...
My father and mother died with a will. The will states that the family house be sold and any money left be divided equally among the sibling. The house as a loan against it for $200.000. The executor of the estate (my si
Contest the will, this should lock things up in probate and prevent her from doi...
When selling an inherited home, how to make sure that the beneficiaries are taxed on the stepped up basis?
The cost basis at which the beneficiaries receive the property is the current fa...
He has half brothers and sisters and I would prefer his estate go to only one of his half brothers, as he is the only one who cares about his well being.
If intellectually disabled means that a person would not be found competent to p...








