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Mealey's Elder Law

May 31, 2024
Judge Orders Brian Wilson’s Co-Conservators To File Level Of Care Determination

LOS ANGELES — After co-conservators for Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, signed letters of conservatorship, a California state court judge on May 30 issued an order requiring the co-conservators to consult with Wilson’s children regarding health care decisions and to file within 60 days a determination of the conservatee’s appropriate level of care.
May 31, 2024
Judge Tosses Seniors’ Suit Against Oklahoma Officials Who Denied Medicaid Benefits

OKLAHOMA CITY— An Oklahoma federal judge dismissed with prejudice a suit filed on behalf of three senior citizens whose applications for long-term care Medicaid benefits were denied, finding that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) did not violate federal law by requesting information about the seniors’ asset transfers and associated promissory notes because the requested information the seniors failed to provide was necessary to determine Medicaid eligibility (Penelope Lamle, et al. v. Deborah Shropshire, et al., No. 22-391, W.D. Okla., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95213).
May 29, 2024
Maine High Court Affirms Ruling That Residual Estate Passes To Decedent’s Daughter

PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a probate court’s ruling that a decedent’s daughter is the beneficiary of the decedent’s residual estate, finding that because the probated will did not address disposition of the residuary estate if the decedent survived her husband, who predeceased her, the probate court correctly determined that pursuant to intestate succession, the decedent’s daughter is the beneficiary of the residual estate.
May 28, 2024
Illinois High Court Hears Arguments In Row Over Care Facilities’ COVID Immunity

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in estates’ appeal of an appellate court decision answering in the affirmative a question certified to it from a lower court after modifying it to ask whether a specific executive order issued by the Illinois governor grants “immunity for ordinary negligence claims to healthcare facilities that rendered assistance to the State during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
May 24, 2024
LTC Insurer Gets Extension To Answer Class Complaint Alleging Unfair Rate Hikes

CHICAGO — In a docket entry, an Illinois federal judge granted a long-term care (LTC) insurer an extension to answer an amended complaint in a putative class action alleging that the insurer sought premium increases in different states and for different amounts without considering policy language prohibiting nonuniform rate increases.
May 21, 2024
Federal Jury Finds Nashville Deputy Fire Marshal Subjected To Age, Gender Bias

NASHVILLE — A federal jury in Tennessee returned a verdict largely for a Nashville deputy fire marshal who alleged that she was prevented from becoming the fire department’s first female fire marshal due to the “good ole boys club,” which resulted in a younger and less experienced male employee from another department being chosen for the job.
May 16, 2024
Rehearing Sought For Ruling Affirming Issuance Of Elder Abuse Restraining Order

SAN FRANCISCO — A son-in-law on May 15 petitioned for rehearing of a California appellate court’s ruling affirming a lower court’s order issuing a restraining order requested by the man’s mother-in-law pursuant to the California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. (Elder Abuse Act), finding that the order restricting the man’s possession of firearms and requiring him to move out of the family home was necessary to protect his mother-in-law from further abuse.
May 14, 2024
Ohio Panel Affirms Ruling Reinstating Attorney As Estate Special Administrator

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court on May 13 affirmed a lower court ruling granting a nursing home creditor’s motion for relief from a judgment, finding that the lower court did not err in granting the nursing home’s motion and reinstating the appointment of an attorney as special administrator for the estate in part because the surviving spouse was not entitled to be notified as to the attorney’s motion.
May 13, 2024
Nebraska High Court Affirms Ruling Requiring Inheritance Tax To Be Paid By Trust

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Supreme Court on May 10 affirmed a lower court ruling requiring inheritance taxes to be paid by a trust that devised a decedent’s house to his girlfriend and the residuary to his three children, finding that the trust language clearly shows that the inheritance tax was to be paid out of the trust rather than pro rata, according to the individual beneficiaries.
May 13, 2024
Judgment Issued In $2.5M Verdict Against Florida Care Home Over Fall Risk Injuries

MIAMI — A Florida state court judge issued a final judgment the day after a jury returned a $2.5 million verdict against a nursing home accused of negligence in failing to implement a care plan for a former resident who fell and incurred facial and head injuries.
May 10, 2024
California Judge Grants Conservatorship Of Brian Wilson To Publicist And Manager

LOS ANGELES — A California state court judge on May 9 issued an order granting conservatorship of Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, to both his publicist and his business manager, finding that a conservatorship of the person is necessary to provide for the conservatee’s daily needs but that a conservatorship of the estate is not needed because the conservatee’s assets are held in a trust.
May 09, 2024
Florida Panel Reverses Prior Ruling And Affirms Foreclosure On Decedent’s Property

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on May 8 withdrew its opinion that reversed a lower court’s judgment of foreclosure on the property of a decedent who died during foreclosure proceedings without a personal representative being appointed after his death, finding that because a homestead is not considered part of the probated estate, appointing a personal representative was not required.
May 08, 2024
Panel: Lower Court Correctly Compelled Certain Parties To Arbitrate In Estate Row

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court affirmed a lower court ruling that did not compel a decedent’s heirs to arbitration but compelled to arbitration the decedent’s investment account broker, the decedent’s estate and the church named as the beneficiary of the decedent’s investment accounts, finding that the broker did not waive the right to arbitration and the estate’s participation in “arbitration proceedings undermined its arguments regarding waiver.”
May 07, 2024
Pa. Panel Affirms Judgment In Estate Row Between Decedent’s Husband And Brother

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of a decedent’s husband, finding that the lower court correctly determined that Philadelphia’s rental license requirements were inapplicable to the husband’s ejectment action against the decedent’s brother because the decedent’s daughter was an owner of the property and not required to obtain a rental license for a tenant who is a family member.
May 07, 2024
Justice Dismisses COVID Death Suit Against Care Home, Cites Health Law Immunity

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York state court justice dismissed a negligence and wrongful death suit filed against a nursing home by the estate of a former resident who died from COVID-19, finding that the New York state Legislature intended the repeal of a liability-limiting statute for health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic to be prospective rather than retroactive.
May 07, 2024
Illinois School District Will Pay More Than $200,000 To End EEOC Age Bias Suit

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois issued an opinion and order approving a consent decree between an Illinois school district and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under which the district will pay $206,301 to end claims that it limited annual pay increases of teachers older than 45 to avoid a pension-contribution surcharge pursuant to a provision in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
May 07, 2024
Tech Firm Must Provide Records In Age Discrimination, Retaliation Lawsuit

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge largely granted a plaintiff’s motion to compel further discovery responses from his former employer, finding that “liberal civil discovery rules” were appropriate to permit the plaintiff to find support for his allegations of a companywide practice of discrimination, as well as the claim that he was retaliated against for reporting illegal behavior by a company executive.
May 03, 2024
Insurer’s Dismissal Bid Granted In Estate’s Suit Seeking $4M Default Judgment

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge dismissed with prejudice an estate’s bad faith suit against an insurer to enforce a $4 million default judgment the estate obtained against a nursing home regarding attempted sexual assault of a former resident, finding that the policy issued to the insured, a health care limited liability company, does not cover claims made against the nursing home, which is a purported subsidiary of the company.
May 03, 2024
Discovery Sought In Abuse Suit Against Care Home Over Demeaning Snapchat Videos

LEWISBURG, Pa. — The attorney-in-fact for a resident of a personal care home moved a Pennsylvania state court to compel discovery in a negligence suit against the care home, related entities, administrators and staff, alleging that the care-dependent resident incurred abuse when staff purportedly posed the resident and took photos and videos of her that were uploaded to Snapchat “for no legitimate reason other than to demean” her.
April 30, 2024
California Nursing Home Chain Settles COVID-Related Medicare Fraud Claims For $7M

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a California-based chain of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and two of its executives agreed to pay $7,084,000 to settle a federal False Claims Act (FCA) suit related to alleged fraudulent billing for a higher level of skilled care than needed under Medicare Part A for facility residents who did not test positive for COVID-19 but were near a person who did, thereby fraudulently increasing the SNFs Medicare revenue.
April 29, 2024
Maryland Panel Vacates Order Denying Stay In Foreclosure Action Against Estate

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland appellate court vacated and remanded a lower court order denying a decedent’s estate’s motion to stay or dismiss a foreclosure action filed against it by a trust seeking to foreclose on a residential property owned by the estate, finding that the trust lacks the right to foreclose because it does not have the appropriate revolving credit license.
April 24, 2024
Dismissal Stipulated To In LTC Insurance Coverage Row Over Chronically Ill Status

PHILADELPHIA — An insured who sued her insurer, a third-party insurance administration provider and related parties stipulated to dismissal of most of her claims against the third-party provider in her suit seeking coverage for long-term care (LTC) and home health expenses after her insurer denied her claims upon determining that she was no longer chronically ill.
April 24, 2024
Panel Affirms Award Of IRA To Decedent’s Ex-Wife As Not Invalidated By Divorce

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri appellate court on April 23 affirmed a lower court’s judgment awarding a decedent’s ex-wife the proceeds of his individual retirement account (IRA) for which he named her as the primary beneficiary before they divorced, finding that though the divorce decree released the ex-wife’s claims to inherit through the probate estate, it did not “limit her ability to receive proceeds from Decedent through a non-probate transfer.”
April 23, 2024
Panel Remands Negligence Suit Against ‘Misclassified’ Assisted Living Facility

CINCINNATI — An Ohio appellate court reversed in part and remanded a breach of contract and negligence suit filed against an assisted living facility by a former resident, finding that the trial court “erred as a matter of law” when it “misclassified” the facility as a residential care facility and granted summary judgment to the facility on a resident’s claim for violations of a nursing home resident’s rights.
April 22, 2024
Panel: Arbitration Provision Is Not Enforceable As Signed By Health Care Surrogate

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on April 19 reversed and remanded a lower court’s order compelling arbitration in a negligence and wrongful death suit filed against a nursing home, finding that because the person signing the admission agreement on behalf of the deceased former resident signed as her health care surrogate (HCS) rather than her attorney-in-fact, the admission agreement’s arbitration provision is not enforceable.