News & Events

Paralegal Course
Time: Registration & Continental Breakfast: 8:30am; Program: 9am to 5pm
Location: Westin Hotel, 70 Third Avenue, Waltham, MA (Exit 27A off Route 128/I95 North or South)
Topic: Paralegal Course: The UPC in Action – The Guardianship and Conservatorship Process & Preview of the 2011 Probate Changes
Speakers: Attorneys Gina Barry, Joanne Erickson, Mark Leahy, Jim Yates & Gary Zalkin, & Paralegal Stacee Crane

Program Summary: MassNAELA's 4th annual Paralegal Course will provide a step-by-step look at the guardianship and conservatorship process and procedures under the Uniform Probate Code, and will preview the new probate procedures that will take effect in July 2011. The program is open to all MassNAELA attorney members and their staff. The speakers will walk attendees through the basics of the guardianship/conservatorship process, from filing the initial petition to termination. Other matters to be discussed include medical certificates, requesting Rogers authority, care and treatment plans, annual reports, accountings, and petitions for specific authority. How to expand the authority of an existing guardian and request authority for single transactions will also be covered. The upcoming changes to the estate settlement process and procedures in light of the provisions of the Uniform Probate Code scheduled to take effect in July 2011 will be reviewed in detail.

Speakers:
Gina M. Barry, who is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Connecticut, is a partner with the regional law firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C. She concentrates her practice in the areas of estate and asset protection planning, probate administration and litigation, guardianships, conservatorships and residential real estate. Prior to her position with Bacon Wilson, P.C., Ms. Barry served as a judicial law clerk for the Massachusetts Superior Court. She graduated cum laude from Western New England College School of Law, where she served as the articles editor of the Western New England Law Review. Ms. Barry is a frequent lecturer and is recognized as an expert in her field.

Joanne L. Erickson is a sole practitioner with offices in Abington and Hingham. Her practice focuses on elder and disability law, guardianships and court appointed work. She is on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Guardianship Association and the ARC of the South Shore, as well as a member of MassNAELA, the Women’s Bar Association and a number of other nonprofits. Following her graduation from New England Law, Joanne worked in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division; she is also a certified mediator.

Mark A. Leahy is the Reporter for the Joint MBA/BBA Committee on the Uniform Probate Code and a draftsman of the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code. He is an attorney practicing in Hingham, Massachusetts. A graduate of Middlebury College, Suffolk University Law School (JD) and Boston University School of Law (LLM), he has practiced estate planning, probate and trust law for 30 years. Mark is a member of the Probate and Family Court MUPC Implementation Committee Guardianship & Estate Working Groups and chairman of the Estates Forms Subcommittee. Mark is also a member of the UAGPPJA Task force.

James F. Yates, MA, JD is an attorney in private practice in Leominster. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he spent over ten years as an emergency psychiatric clinician, and worked at the Board of Registration in Medicine before going into private practice. Attorney Yates’ practice focuses on guardianship/mental health, criminal law, child welfare, estate planning and divorce.

Gary Zalkin practices mental health law in Wellesley. He graduated from Suffolk University Law School magna cum laude, taking classes at night while he practiced psychotherapy during the day. He was named as an Up and Coming Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 1985. Gary focuses much of his law practice on complex guardianship and conservatorship issues.

Stacee L. Crane is a paralegal with the regional law firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C. She assists the firm’s estate planning and elder law attorneys with cases in the areas of estate and asset protection planning, probate administration, guardianship and conservatorship. Ms. Crane received her Associate degree from Baypath College with a Paralegal Certificate. Ms. Crane is a frequent lecturer for paralegal programs and is highly respected in her field.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: Attorney Barbara D. Jackins of Belmont, Massachusetts, and Attorney Harriet H. Onello of Lexington, Massachusetts will lead the pre-dinner program on self-funded special needs trusts. Most elder law practitioners are aware that a parent, grandparent, guardian, or court can create a special needs trust for a person with a disability. But what does it mean to "create" a special needs trust? What steps are required to properly "fund" the trust? As some unhappy practitioners and their clients are finding out, more is required than just signing a trust document and opening a bank account. This program will explain what is needed to satisfy the Social Security Administration and MassHealth, and will also cover court- and guardian-created trusts under the new Uniform Probate Code.

Program Summary: Providing for a loved one with a disability can be a complex process that requires life-long attention. Government-sponsored programs that traditionally provided services have either been eliminated because of budget cuts or provide services that are less than adequate, causing families to seek solutions beyond government programs. Co-presented by Attorney Paul Bernstein and Helena L. Maguire, M.S., BCBA, this program will go beyond a discussion of the "standard" special needs trust language and address how to provide life-long advocacy and case management to ensure that family members with special needs will receive the best treatment possible. The presenters will discuss how to utilize an integrated team approach to address both the technical, legal issues and the clinical, financial and long-term needs of family members with developmental, psychiatric or physical challenges, to help clients plan for the treatment and care of these family members when the client is no longer able to do so.

Speakers:
Paul Bernstein is the founder of the Bernstein Law Group, PC, located in Salem, Massachusetts, and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, having been admitted to the Bar in 1992. He is a member of the Bar of the State of Pennsylvania and is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court and the United States District Court. Attorney Bernstein is a Founding Member of WealthCounsel estate planning attorneys; the President and Board Member of the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.; member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; a member of the Board of Directors of the Essex County Estate Planning Council, and a member of the National Association of Trusts and Estates Professionals. He maintains his professional memberships in the American Bar Association and Massachusetts Bar Association and the Financial Planners Association. Attorney Bernstein is a frequent lecturer to attorneys and financial professionals concerning issues of Wealth and Business Strategy counseling.

Helena Maguire received her Master of Science in Human Services Administration from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Helena has worked extensively in the field of community based human service delivery systems in Massachusetts. She currently serves as Senior Director of School Services at Melmark New England, a private, not for profit, community based organization dedicated to serving children and adolescents within the autism spectrum disorders, with acquired brain injury, with neurological diseases and disorders, dual diagnosis, and severe challenging behaviors. Helena’s primary role at Melmark New England is overseeing all clinical, educational and operational school functions. Helena has served as a consultant to local public schools and collaboratives specializing in the areas of severe behavior disorders, parent and teacher training and strategies for successful inclusion. Helena is an Adjunct Professor at Endicott College and the University of Massachusetts/ Boston and is an instructor for a 5-course graduate series on Applied Behavior Analysis. Helena earned her Board Certification in Behavior Analysis (BCBA) in May of 2002.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: Never been to a NAELA UnProgram? Missed a couple? Can't find your notes? Each year NAELA's UnProgram offers the "Top Twenty Tips" culled from the creativity and interests of the attendees. Now is your opportunity to receive the distilled "words of wisdom" gathered from hundreds of elder law attorneys from around the country on such topics as marketing, hiring and firing staff, technology, virtual offices as well as substantive tips covering all aspects of elder and disability law. A handout of 134 Top Tips from past UnPrograms will be distributed courtesy of Ian Oppenheim, and the facilitators, Judy Flynn, Karol Bisbee, and Margot Birke, will conduct a "mini-UnProgram" with audience participation. Come learn, and share your own top ideas!

Program Summary: Whether foreseeable or not, wills or trusts drafted by elder law attorneys are sometimes challenged in probate court proceedings. When this happens, it leads us to consider what could have been done differently when the document was drafted, what are our ethical obligations, and how should we properly conduct ourselves as a witness if we are called to testify? Our experienced panel will review issues related to drafting, ethics, and litigation under these circumstances, including:

• A review of the best practices for the drafting and execution of estate plan documents and tips to avoid (if possible) litigation brought after the grantor/testator has died. When a challenge is foreseeable (i.e. capacity issues, disinheritance, family problems), what can be done to reduce its likelihood of success?
• A discussion of related ethical issues: Should the elder law attorney drafter of an uncontested Will serve as the attorney for its personal representative? Can the drafter of a disputed document be paid by the nominated personal representative for her participation in the litigation? Does the drafter owe an obligation only to the personal representative, or does her legal obligation extend to the estate and/or the estate's beneficiaries? To whom may the drafter appropriately communicate and release the file?
• A tutorial of how the elder law attorney should prepare and act when called as a witness at a deposition and/or trial: What documents and testimony can and should be given in connection with depositions and trials? Do legal malpractice policies provide coverage for these situations since the elder law attorney is not then being threatened with litigation?

Speakers:
William J. Brisk, former President of the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA, NAELA Fellow and a Certified Elder Law Attorney, practices in Newton on all aspects of elder law including litigation. He co-authored the recent second edition of Massachusetts Elder Law (Lexis Publications). His publications include law review articles on guardianship, ethics, and Medicaid. He teaches a course on End of Life at Suffolk University Law School.

Linda G. Bauer has been an assistant bar counsel at the Office of the Bar Counsel since October 1994. She is a graduate of Yale College, and the Boston University School of Law. She has clerked for the Hon. Herbert P. Wilkins at the Supreme Judicial Court, and practiced with the firm of Hill & Barlow in Boston, in the areas of estate planning and administration, and probate litigation. Ms. Bauer has published a number of articles on ethics, and frequently serves as a speaker at continuing legal education seminars on ethics, estate planning and elder law issues.

Stephen J. Duggan is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and the University of New Hampshire. He heads the Professional Liability Group at the law firm of Lynch & Lynch in South Easton, Massachusetts. His practice has concentrated in the defense of professional liability claims brought against attorneys, accountants and real estate professionals. Mr. Duggan also handles coverage claims involving professional liability policies, and has an active practice at the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers representing and advising attorneys who have been charged with violating the Professional Code of Conduct.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

Multi-site Breakfast Meeting
Topic: Your Aging Estate and Medicaid Planning Clients Living in the Community: Support from the Local Aging Services Access Points, Area Agencies on Aging, and Elder Protective Services
Time: 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Location:
Country Club of Halifax, 100 Country Club Dr., Halifax, MA
Holiday Inn, 265 Lakeside Ave., Marlborough, MA
The Hotel Northampton, 36 King St., Northampton, MA
Holiday Inn, One Newbury St. (Rte. 1 Northbound), Peabody, MA

Speakers:
Halifax: Phil Murphy, Esq., Site Coordinator/Moderator, Dorothy A. Slack, R.N., Old Colony Elder Services, Brockton, MA, S.H.I.N.E.
Counselor and Clinical Director, Amy Jorud, MSW, LCSW, Coordinator of Clinical Development for Aging and Disabled Services, of South Shore Elder Services, Inc., Braintree, MA and Kate Granigan, MSW, LCSW, CASWCM, Overlook C.A.R.E., LLC, Hingham, MA
Marlboro: Daniel Tremblay, Esq., Site Coordinator/Moderator, Maura Moxley, Healthy Aging Program Manager, BayPath Elder Services, Inc., Marlborough, MA, Eileen O’Brien, Director of Information Referrals, Central Mass. Agency on Aging, West Boylston, MA, Mary Parenteau, Protective Services Program Manager, Elder Services of Worcester, Worcester, MA, and Sally Kaitz, MSW, LCSW, CASWCM, Kaitz & Siegel, Framingham, MA
Northampton: Paula Almgren, Esq., Site Coordinator/Moderator, Deborah Hollingworth, LSW, Geriatric Resources Advisor, S.H.I.N.E. Counselor, Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc., Springfield, MA, Amy Goodrich, Protective Services Programs Manager, Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc., Pittsfield, MA, Jill Lebar, MA, LMHC, CMC, Creative Alliances, Inc., Williamstown, MA
Peabody: Patrick Curley, Esq., Site Coordinator/Moderator, Kathy-Elise Learned, Caregiver Support Specialist, Mystic Valley Elder Services, Brian T. McDonald, Manager, Protective Services/Elders at Risk, Mystic Valley Elder Services, Sharyn Russell, MSW, LICSW, CASWCM, Andover, MA

Program Summary: Nursing home admissions are declining. Chronic care at home is becoming the norm. Knowing the options for clients is more important than ever. Do you know the services your local ASAP, AAA and EPS offer – beyond MassHealth? What programs and benefits are available? Who can apply? How does the attorney initiate the referral process? How are fees and payment determined? How does MassHealth fit in, if at all? When does Elder Protective Services come into play? Can a Geriatric Care Manager help? This program is designed for people doing or wanting to do more work with elders living in the community, or those who want to recognize the red flags to know when to point their clients in a different direction. The program is geared toward attorneys, geriatric care managers, and others working with seniors and their caregivers.

The Annual Multi-Site Breakfast is open to MassNAELA members as well as non-members. Additionally, members of the New England Chapter of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers may register at the member rate! If you are not a member of National NAELA and the Massachusetts Chapter, and are a licensed attorney or law student, consider joining now. For membership information, visit our website www.MassNAELA.org and click on "Become a Member." If you are not a member of the New England Chapter of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, visit their website www.GCMNewEngland.org and click on "How to Join GCMNE".

Directions to The Hotels

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: The new State Regulations for the Protection of Personal Information (201 CMR 17) are the strictest in the country and were specifically drafted to affect businesses of all sizes – from solo practitioners to public corporations. In a no-nonsense manner, Frank Vincentelli with IT Solutions in Waltham will discuss how these regulations affect small to midsize businesses and the most common areas of risk (from both technology and business perspectives). The presentation will provide a roadmap to compliance and will include practical advice on implementing the technologies mentioned by the Regulations (such as encryption and strong authentication) easily and cost-effectively.

Program Summary: As MassNAELA members, we work very hard to help our clients plan for MassHealth eligibility and apply for and be approved to receive MassHealth benefits. This program will take you through the steps you should take, and the issues you may encounter, after your client has been approved for MassHealth benefits. The speakers will review immediate post-approval steps that should be taken, such as advising clients regarding the patient paid amount, health insurance payments, prescription coverage issues, re-titling assets, and planning for the community spouse. The program will also include a review of typical matters that arise while a client is receiving MassHealth benefits, such as responding to MassHealth's annual review request, managing rental property, and distributions from pooled trust accounts. Events that may disrupt MassHealth eligibility will also be discussed, such as an inheritance or the sale of real estate. Finally, the program will review matters that may need to be addressed when a MassHealth recipient passes away, including releasing lifetime liens on real estate and the steps that must be taken to respond to an estate recovery claim.

Speakers:
James R. Loughman, a graduate of Amherst College and the University of Virginia School of Law, James R. Loughman is an associate in the North Adams office of Donovan & O'Connor, LLP. There he splits his time more or less evenly between estate/Medicaid planning and probate matters on the one hand, and civil litigation and appeals on the other. Jim has been a member of MassNAELA since 2002.

Liane Zeitz practices law in Dedham, MA and has over twenty three years of experience concentrating in elder and disability law including MassHealth, health care and estate planning, guardianship, nursing home issues and probate law. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Zeitz worked for as a staff attorney in the elder law units of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) and the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (LACCM). Attorney Zeitz is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Boston University School of Law.

Margaret A. Hoag is "of counsel" at Eckel, Morgan & O'Connor and concentrates her practice in the area of Elder Law. She received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and her J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School. Margaret is the co-author of Massachusetts Elder Law, and has authored and co-authored several articles for American Jurisprudence. She was a member of the Concord Council on Aging for 7 years and remains active as the coordinator of the Volunteer Lawyers Program, which she founded. She is also a long time board member of the Liberty Alzheimer's Partnership.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: Last month we gave you a taste of the usefulness of the MassNAELA website. If you had questions we didn't have time to get to, this pre-dinner program is for you! We'll access the site during this session and walk you through logging in and searching for topics of interest. We'll also show you how to find fellow colleagues, and the other resources available to you. Bring your questions, and we'll get them answered.

Program Summary: It's time to honor and applaud our own, bring the new officers and directors on board (pun intended), meet the National NAELA President Elect, Ruth Phelps, and generally have a good old fashioned fun time. Who will be Member of the Year? Who will be honored as Legislator of the Year? Who will be named the Arthur Stavisky recipient? You'll have to be there to find out, or read about it in the paper the next day.

National NAELA President Elect, Ruth Phelps, CELA will be our keynote speaker. She will update us on the future of NAELA, as well as its focus on estate tax and healthcare reform. Susan Levin and Deborah Thomson will also update us on the goings on at Beacon Hill, budget cuts and legislative initiatives.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

Veteran's Benefits 101
What You Need to Know About Aid and Attendance - Suffolk University Law School

Veteran Administration benefits are crucial to long term care planning if you are counseling someone in the community. Veterans or widows/ers of deceased veterans must know if they are eligible for Veterans benefits under the Aid & Attendance (A&A) program. The A&A benefit helps clients afford to live at home with caregivers, including family members who might have to give up their jobs to provide care, as well as to offset the high cost of assisted living facilities. Because the VA eligibility rules are somewhat similar, but differ in some important ways from Medicaid eligibility rules, proper counseling can prevent clients from unknowingly creating disqualifications for later Medicaid eligibility. This program will discuss methods to incorporate a discussion of possible VA benefit program eligibility when advising and counseling clients and their families about available governmental benefits. Attorneys may be paid for counseling clients about VA benefits just as they may be paid for Medicaid and long term care planning. In addition, VA rules allow payment for legal fees for services rendered after an initial VA decision has been made on an application.

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Location: Heritage at Framingham
747 Water Street, Framingham, MA 01701

Rights of Nursing Home Residents: Legalities and Realities
Presenters: Rebecca J. Benson, Esq.
Margolis & Bloom

Emily Saltz, LICSW, CMC
Elder Resources

Creating Family Care Contracts: The Legal & Care Management components
Presenters: Emily Star, CELA
Ciota, Starr & Vander Linden, LLP

Deborah Liss Fins, LICSW, CMC
Deborah Fins Associates, PC

This is a FREE event to members and will fill up fast! Space is limited.

As part of the Chapter's new, ongoing Litigation Initiative, MassNAELA will conduct a full day workshop session on effective litigation strategies to respond to MassHealth post-Deficit Reduction Act policies and procedures.

It will cover issues MassNAELA members need to know in advance of preparing applications, anticipating issues/problems, avoiding hearings, preparing for and advocating at the unavoidable "unfair" hearing, post-hearing-decision administrative strategies, litigating G.L. c. 30A complaints for judicial review, pleadings, motions, briefs, court procedures and appearances, filing for attorneys' fees after success, and Appeals Court procedures.

MassNAELA's first Litigation Training Workshop will provide attendees with the tools to respond to the egregious decisions and actions of MassHealth in this post Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) environment.  The program will teach those MassNAELA members who choose to take advantage of this opportunity the most effective way to address situations involving transfers of assets and violations of due process. Attendees will learn the best practices for preparing the application, filing the administrative appeal and seeking judicial review.

The morning session will cover such topics as:

• the prism of issues and potential problems
• collecting information from client and other sources
• application and related forms
• information to supplement the application
• filing the application – when, where and how
• what to do when the application is denied
• the appeal process; preparing for the hearing
• post denial -- administrative actions

The afternoon session will cover:

• filing and serving a complaint for judicial review, G.L. c. 30A
• pleadings and procedures
• motions and supporting memoranda
• attorneys' fees
• Appeals court procedures

Lunch will be a working open-topic questions and answers session. Time permitting, there will be a mock appeal hearing and a mock court motion hearing.  

Speakers:
William J. Brisk, Esq.  Bill, a former President of the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA, NAELA Fellow and a Certified Elder Law Attorney, practices in Newton on all aspects of elder law including litigation. He co-authored the recent second edition of Massachusetts Elder Law (Lexis Publications). His publications include law review articles on guardianship, ethics, and Medicaid. He teaches a course on End of Life at Suffolk University Law School.

John J. Ford, Esq. John J. Ford has been the director of the elder law project at Neighborhood Legal Services in Lynn since 1977. In addition to being a past president of MANAELA (1999), he is a former president of the Board of the South Boston Community Health Center, is a member of the advisory committee of the Alzheimer's Association of Massachusetts, and of the advisory committee of the paralegal program of the North Shore Community College. He is a member of the board of the Massachusetts Guardianship Association and its former president. He is the chairman emeritus of the Elderly Legal Coalition, a statewide advocacy group. He is a graduate of Boston University and B.U. School of Law.

Carol Cioe Klyman, Esq. Carol is a shareholder of Shatz, Schwartz & Fentin, P.C. in Springfield and Northampton, Mass., who concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning, special needs planning, estate settlement, guardianships, and trust and estates litigation.  Attorney Klyman is a contributing author of the three-volume treatise, "Estate Planning for the Aged or Incapacitated Client in Massachusetts," (MCLE, 1998), considered one of the leading publications in the field.

Please photocopy the registration information and submit a separate form for each registrant.

Directions to Heritage at Framingham

Dinner and Board Meeting - October 22, 2009
Time: Pre-Dinner Program 5:00 p.m.; Program 6:00 p.m.
Location: Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston; 70 Third Ave., Waltham, MA
Topic: The Uniform Probate Code in Action
Speakers: Mark A. Leahy, Esq.; Benjamin F. Harley, Esq.

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: Practical Social Media Strategies for Small to Medium Sized Law Offices. This is an intermediate level presentation, focusing less on the nuts of bolts of social media and more on actually using popular social media applications and strategies to promote and grow your practice. Local social media expert, Laura Briere, CEO & founder of Vision Omnimedia, LLC in Worcester, will be presenting. Can't seem to find the time to implement a proper social media campaign? She's got a solution for you there too. In this economy where we all have to make tough decisions on where to spend our advertising dollars, why not get an even bigger bang for your buck (or free!) with a virtual marketing campaign?

Program Summary: Four months after the Guardianship provisions of the law took effect, what's different? What's the same? What's on the horizon for July, 2011?

Learn how to navigate the guardianship and conservatorship process in this program featuring Attorney Mark Leahy, the reporter for the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code drafting committee, and Manager Benjamin Harley, Esq., a judicial case manager who has been appointed by the Governor to serve on the MUPC Estate Working Group, and the Article V Working Group.

Speakers:
Mark A. Leahy is the Reporter for the Joint MBA/BBA Committee on the Uniform Probate Code and a draftsman of the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code. A member of MassNAELA, he is an attorney practicing in Hingham. A graduate of Middlebury College, Suffolk University Law School (JD) and Boston University School of Law (LLM), he has practiced probate, trust and estate law since 1979. Mark is also a member of the Massachusetts Guardianship Association, the former Mass. Bar Association Probate Section Council, and a frequent lecturer on probate reform, estate planning and settlement of estates.

Benjamin F. Harley is the judicial case manager at the Plymouth Division of the Probate and Family Court. He was first appointed to the court as an assistant register in 1981. Mr. Harley graduated from Stonehill College in 1971 and from New England School of Law in 1974. Prior to his court appointment he was in private practice in Jamaica Plain and Brockton, concentrating in probate, estate, and family law matters. He is a frequent speaker on probate law practice and procedure. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Plymouth County Bar Association.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

12th Annual Northeast Elder Law Symposium
Sponsored with the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA

Location: Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston, MA
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Dinner and Board Meeting
Time: Pre-Dinner Program 5:00 p.m.; Program 6:00 p.m.
Location: Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston; 70 Third Ave., Waltham, MA
Topic: Impact of Doherty on Irrevocable Trust Planning
Speakers: Robert Gorfinkle, Esq., Ian Oppenheim, Esq., Emily Starr, Esq., and Mark Worthington, Esq.

Pre-Dinner Program Summary: Caregiver Homes is a Massachusetts state-licensed, community-based alternative to nursing home placement and is sponsored through MassHealth. Here’s how it works: The caregiver lives with their family member or loved one and is responsible for his or her care. Caregiver Homes will pay the caregiver for providing that care and provide them with the nursing and care management support they need to care for that person. Our presentation will help you to understand who can be a client and caregiver, what the caregiver does, and how the process of joining our program works from start to finish.

Program Summary: Drafting trusts in a post-Doherty world: provisions to exclude, powers to keep, assets and transactions, what to do about trusts that you've already drafted, and what we might expect from MassHealth given the decision. Attend this program to learn what you should be doing or changing in light of the decision.

Speakers
Robert A. Gorfinkle, Esq. is a graduate of Boston University and Boston College Law School. Bob also received an LL.M. degree in taxation from New York University Law School.  Bob is past President of the Chapter, past President of the Norfolk and Plymouth Estate and Business Planning Council, and a former adjunct professor at Boston College Law School.

Ian S. Oppenheim, Esq. is the managing partner of Oppenheim & Cole, LLP in Halifax, Massachusetts.  He has earned the title of Certified Elder Law Attorney and has been honored as a NAELA Fellow by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.  He is a past president of the Chapter and received its "Outstanding Chapter Member" award in 2007.  Mr. Oppenheim serves as an adjunct professor in the LL.M. program at Western New England College School of Law.  Mr. Oppenheim serves on NELF's Board of Directors and is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Plymouth District Bar Association and the Plymouth County Bar Association of which he is a Past President.

Emily S. Starr, Esq. is a partner in the Fitchburg and Worcester law firm of Ciota, Starr & Vander Linden LLP. She is a member of the Special Needs Alliance and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.  She has previously served on the Board of NAELA which awarded her the honor of Fellow. She is certified as an Elder Law Attorney. She has chaired the Boards of both Elder Home Care Services of Worcester Area, Inc. and the Chapter. She currently chairs the Guardianship Committee of Jewish Family Service of Worcester and the Ethics Committee of Briarwood Continuing Care Retirement Community and is on the Board of Editors of the NAELA Journal. Ms. Starr received the annual Award for Community Service by the Theresa Foundation in May of 2007 and in January of 2009 the Scholar Mentor Award by MCLE. She has been included in The Best Lawyers in America and Boston's Best Lawyers for the past three years and named a "Super Lawyer" annually since 2005.

Directions to The Westin Hotel Waltham-Boston

The Real Meaning of Doherty
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Location: GoToMeeting.com - Webinar
Speaker: Tracey A. Ingle, Esq.

This interim summer webinar will take a close look at the proceedings leading up to the Doherty decision, dissect the decision, and get you ready for the MassNAELA September dinner program: Irrevocable Trusts in a Post-Doherty World.

This webinar will NOT answer questions about how to draft irrevocable trusts now, what to do with trusts you've already drafted, or discuss retained powers, and specific trust language.