From sweeping legislative changes to decisive judicial decisions—we’ve seen some impactful developments in estate planning and business law this year. To ensure that you close out the year successfully, we’ve highlighted six noteworthy developments of 2019 and analyzed how they may impact your law practice. 

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has been around for more than a century.  The non-profit has commissioners from each state that promulgate uniform laws for states to ruminate and adopt. The goal of the UTC is to promote the uniformity of laws across the U.S.  A model act is one that doesn’t necessarily need to be adopted in its entirety; the purpose of the act can be achieved even if only parts of the act are adopted.  A uniform act is one that tries to establish the same directive on a particular topic across the various jurisdictions.  Even if the goal of a uniform act is adoption in its entirety, many states still add their own changes and nuances upon adoption. 

Medicaid is a federal program, run by individual states, that provides medical care to needy individuals. Many of our elders rely upon this program to access essential medical care for their long-term healthcare needs.

Accessing medical assistance through the Medicaid program is fairly simple at first glance. Generally, those with minimal resources will be afforded government assistance for their medical care needs. As the resources of the applicant increases, so too does the complexity of the application process. The program allows for the exclusion of certain assets and makes certain accommodations for the spouses of applicants, but there are many rules, details, and specifics that must be focused on for success.