October 2013 SWFPA Newsletter
Submitted by SWFPA President Ellen Wile, ACP, FRP, CAM
I�m still thinking about the presentation we heard at the August membership meeting from Attorney Carol Ann Kalish on the Affordable HealthCare Act, otherwise known as Obama Care. Ms. Kalish did a great job describing the history and current state of a pretty complicated subject. Next as our membership meeting speaker on October 16 is Babette Bach, who is one of just a few Board Certified Attorneys in Elder Law in Florida. Ms. Bach was scheduled to present at our July seminar but had to deal with a client emergency. She will discuss long term care as it relates to governmental programs such as Medicare, V.A., and Social Security, and other planning tools.
If you have not yet reserved to attend this meeting, please contact Mary Lou DiMaggio at 941-308-3579, or 941-328-4673. Hope to see you then.
And a Big Also � It�s time now for members to declare their candidacy for the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and NALA Liaison for the 2014 fiscal year which runs from January 1 to December 31. Deadline to submit your form is October 31.
Sarasota Clerk of Court Update
In case you don�t know by now, you can�t e-file directly through the website of the Sarasota County Clerk of Circuit Court anymore. You must use the statewide e-Portal website at MyFlCourtAccess.com. Also, the Sarasota Clerk has discontinued escrow accounts to pay for recordings. Document recordings need to be paid for as they are done, via cash, check, debit or credit card.
FAPA Update
The 6th Annual Fall Seminar of the Florida Alliance of Paralegal Associations (FAPA) is set for Keiser University in Jacksonville on Saturday, October 26, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The topic is "Brush Up on Litigation & Trial Skills.� Please go to the FAPA website at www.fapainc.org for more information and to register.
Supreme Court of Florida says nursing home agreement binding for arbitration
In February 2013 the Supreme Court of Florida answered "yes� to a certified question that the estate and statutory heirs are bound by an executed nursing home arbitration agreement and therefore must arbitrate wrongful death claims under the agreement, as opposed to bypassing arbitration and filing a lawsuit. Briefly, the person who signed the arbitration agreement upon admission to a nursing home died a few days later and the person�s personal representative sued the nursing home for negligence. An analysis of the wrongful death claims in the suit and the executed arbitration agreement concluded that the claims were eligible to be arbitrated, and that it isn�t just be the person who signed the agreement that is bound to it. The estate and heirs are also bound to the executed agreement. A copy of the opinion is provided here.
