Author Archives: Sheri

Santa Clara County Financial Abuse Specialist Team

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The attorneys and paralegals from CSS attended a Silicon Valley Bar Association educational seminar today given by the County FAST Team.  The FAST Team is comprised of selected members of the offices of Adult Protective Services, the Public Guardian, the District Attorney, County Counsel and law enforcement.  The purpose of the team is to identify, investigate, prevent, and remedy the financial abuse of elders and dependent adults.

The presenters provided us with a great deal of information that will be useful to us for serving our clients. The most urgent warning that they gave to us involved “lottery scams.”  They are seeing an increase in scams where an individual is contacted that they have won a foreign lottery.  The individual is asked to wire money to cover the taxes on the winnings before the winnings can be released.  The Federal Trade Commission has put together information for consumers on this and other scams at their website.

For specific information on lottery and wire transfer scams go to this link at the web site for the Federal Trade Commission.

* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.

Securing Your Child’s Future Is an Extended Family Matter

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purchase levitra online Go HereA grandparent, aunt, or close friend of the family has written a generous check to your child with special needs or has named the child in a will or trust. Should you be pleased?

Initially, you might be grateful for the assistance. After all, setting aside sufficient funds for your child’s lifetime support is no easy task. But if your child receives public benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid, the well-intentioned gift or bequest could do far more harm than good. That’s because SSI eligibility is limited to those with no more than $2,000 in assets (excluding certain items such as a home or car). If your child receives a gift or inheritance in excess of that amount, he or she could lose public benefits, be forced to use the funds for basic expenses otherwise covered by SSI, and have to reapply for benefits when the funds are depleted, at which time SSI would become the sole means of support.

Fortunately, this doesn’t mean grandparents and other interested parties must simply disinherit your child. Depending on how you have planned for your child’s future, for example, whether you have established a Special Needs Trust (SNT) to supplement public benefits, friends and family members can provide assistance in a number of ways.

* The information contained in this Blog is intended for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion of counsel.

Your Digital Afterlife

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Facebook Login ScreenWhat happens to your digital remains after you die? Your Facebook account, pictures uploaded to a photo sharing site, iTunes purchases — the memories we share online and the assets we store on computers don’t disappear after we’re gone, but granting access to them isn’t something most people think about even when they’re working with a qualified estate planner.

The subject of death in the world of social networks is raising new questions. What do you do with a loved one’s digital holdings like posts, blog items and photos? How long should those items, or even memorial pages, remain floating around the Internet? And what legal rights do survivors have in dealing with these affairs?
The questions are so numerous and confusing and painful that a cottage industry has sprung up to help those who must grapple with them.

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Breach Hits 2,400 Medi-Cal Beneficiaries

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The San Francisco Human Services Agency notified about 2,400 Medi-Cal beneficiaries and the federal government about a breach of protected health information, including Social Security numbers.

“We learned on December 7, 2010, that a former employee of SF-HSA removed documents with confidential client information from SF-HSA and took them home,” according to the agency’s patient notification letter. “The former employee also e-mailed some documents to her home computer between 2006 and 2009 and shared some documents with her attorneys and union representatives as part of a legal action. We have recovered all of the documents and ensured that all copies have been destroyed or returned to SF-HSA. We have also obtained a court order prohibiting any disclosure or unauthorized use of the information in the legal matter.” Continue reading →