Understanding Special Needs Trusts

Moderator

Mark R. Friedman, Esq.

Friedman Law, Bridgewater

practices estate planning, elder law and special needs law with Friedman Law in Bridgewater, New Jersey. His work includes creating special needs trusts for disabled clients so litigation proceedings, child support and other payments will not disrupt public benefits; helping seniors plan to prevent long-term care costs from wiping out their savings; and estate planning in first marriages, second marriages and for unmarried clients.
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nAdmitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, Mr. Friedman is Past Chair and former Roundtable Coordinator and Legislative Coordinator of the New Jersey State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law Section. He was Somerset County representative to and Executive Committee member of the NJSBA Young Lawyers, and served on the NJSBA Blue Ribbon Commission on Unmet Legal Needs. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Friedman was a Contributing Editor for The FCPA Blog in Singapore, ROS, where he provided analysis on compliance, corruption and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He is the author of articles including “Modern Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples” (New Jersey Law Journal, October 14, 2013).
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nMr. Friedman received his B.A. from Binghamton University, State University of New York, and his J.D. from New York University Law School, where he was selected as an inaugural Fellow with Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, which sends law and medical students to Germany and Poland to study their profession’s role in the Nazi genocide. He also created the Darfur Victims Project at NYU, leading a team of law students in support of litigation before the International Criminal Court.
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Lawrence A. Friedman, Esq., CELA

Friedman Law, Bridgewater

Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the ABA-accredited National Elder Law Foundation, is in private practice in Bridgewater, New Jersey. He concentrates his practice in elder and special needs law; government aid; Wills, trusts, estates and tax law, including the preparation of estate and tax planning documents such as Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health care directives; nursing home and long-term care planning; guardianships; Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs; special needs trusts to protect disability aid in gift and estate planning; personal injury; divorce settlements; Medicare set-aside arrangements; Division of Developmental Disabilities concerns and other legal matters.
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nMr. Friedman is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States Tax Court. Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association's Elder and Disability Law Section and a member of the Association’s Real Property, Trusts & Estates Law Section, he has served as a Director of Somerset ARC (formerly the Association for Retarded Citizens) and has been a member of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of New Jersey and the Malaria Foundation.
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nThe author of scores of articles in his areas of expertise, Mr. Friedman is a frequent lecturer for ICLE, the New Jersey State Bar Association and Foundation, NAELA, several elder and disability groups, and other public and private sponsors. He is a recipient of ICLE’s Distinguished Service Award, the NJSBA’s Distinguished Legislative Service Award for drafting legislation that facilitates the use of special needs trusts and the PLAN/NJ Life Planning Partner Award. Mr. Friedman founded the NJSBA’s annual Elder Law Retreat, a two-day educational symposium for elder law attorneys, and has moderated the ICLE’s Sophisticated Elder Law program for 25 years. Copies of his many legal articles and further information on his credentials appear at SpecialNeedsNJ.com, and he also administers the website’s frequently-updated blog.
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nMr. Friedman received his B.A. from the State University of New York-Binghamton (Harpur College), where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and served on the University Assembly. He received his J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, where he was Editor of the N.Y.U. Journal of International Law & Politics and a Student Fellow of the Center for International Studies. He also received awards from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America Environmental Law Essay Contest and the American Society of International Law Essay Contest.
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