Hauptman & Hauptman, PC strives to provide outstanding and comprehensive legal representation and service in the areas of Elder Law, Estate Planning, Special Needs Planning, and Probate and Administration of Estates. We understand and respond to our clients’ ever-changing needs as they face and navigate challenges on life’s journey. We hand-hold our clients and provide practical and innovative solutions to their problems through legal counseling, education and technical knowledge.

OUR VALUES

• We are recognized for excellence in the legal services field through education, advocacy and leadership.
• We work with clients and their families in an open, honest and sincere manner and explain complex legal terms and strategies in easy to understand ways.
• We serve our clients with the highest degree of confidentiality and reliability.
• We collaborate with our clients, their families and trusted professionals to coordinate comprehensive strategies, providing input and guidance as needed in our areas of concentration to accomplish the stated goals.
• We pride ourselves on the approachable nature of our attorneys and staff and always find the time to speak and listen to our clients and their families.
• We offer a unique combination of services and payment models and are always seeking to merge tried and true strategies with innovative and cutting edge solutions.

Yale S. Hauptman, Esq. is a graduate of Rutgers College (B.A. 1986) and Albany Law School (J.D. 1989). He is licensed both in New Jersey and New York. After serving for a year as law clerk to John C. Stritehoff of the Superior Court of New Jersey he entered into private practice. Early in his career, he began providing assistance to clients and his own family, in what he later came to recognize as the field of elder law. Yale established his own firm in 1995, joined by his wife, Laurie in 1998, devoted exclusively to elder and disability law and estate and special needs planning.

Yale writes and speaks extensively on elder and disability law, estate and special needs planning topics, and presents for legal, financial, insurance, health care professionals and the general public. He has been featured in both local and national media and has been quoted in print and media outlets. He is also a published author of an elder care law book entitled, “Be Nice To Me-I Pick Your Nursing Home” and a weekly blog devoted to the legal and financial issues facing families with aging and disabled loved ones.

Yale is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the New Jersey Bar Association’s Elder Law Section. He is a Department of Veterans Affairs’ accredited attorney for the preparation, presentation and prosecution of claims for veteran’s benefits.

Yale and Laurie have personally helped thousands of families plan and navigate through the complicated and emotional estate planning and long-term care process.

Laurie A. Hauptman is a graduate of SUNY Binghamton (B.A. 1986) and Hofstra Law School (J.D. 1989). She is licensed both in New Jersey and New York. For eight years she was a trial attorney at a litigation firm before joining forces with her husband, Yale in 1998 to practice elder and disability law. Laurie’s courtroom experience is essential to her role handling the firm’s court work, including guardianships, conservatorships and special needs trusts.

Civically and community-minded, Laurie is a Department of Veterans Affairs’ accredited attorney for the preparation, presentation and prosecution of claims for veteran’s benefits. She is a member of the United Way Caregivers Coalition Steering Committee and the Co-Chairperson of the Elder and Disability Law Committee of the Essex County Bar Association. Laurie is a frequent lecturer on elder and disability law, estate and special needs planning topics for continuing education credit for legal, financial, insurance and health care professionals and the general public. She has been featured in both local and national media.

Laurie and Yale pride themselves on providing solutions to problems and answers to important questions in a caring and professional manner.

Brian is a graduate of Muhlenberg College (B.A. 2019) and Seton Hall University School of Law (J.D. 2022). While a law student, he was a published member of the Seton Hall Legislative Journal and member of the Seton Hall Mock Trial. In addition to serving as a judicial intern under three courts, he completed a year-long clerkship with the Honorable Robert J. Mega, Presiding Chancery Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Union County handling General Equity and Probate matters. Brian joined Hauptman & Hauptman in order to leave his mark on the firm and dedicate himself to guiding individuals and their families through the estate, long-term care/asset protection and special needs planning process.

Hauptman and Hauptman, PC Staff

Camille Russomanno, Administrative Assistant
Jill Diamond, Director of Intake Coordination
Node K. Kludze, Medicaid Paralegal
Nikki Klingler, Trust Funding / Veterans Benefits Paralegal
Jackie Carey, Estate Administration Paralegal
Martha Mager, Estate Adminstration Paralegal
Donna Brower, Director of Community Outreach

Yale’s “First Clients”

Yale’s “First Clients”

When I was a young child, my grandparents were very involved in my life. After moving to New Jersey at age 2, we continued, for many years, to return to Brooklyn on weekends to visit both sets of grandparents. My paternal grandfather died when I was 12 and my Israeli grandmother, Imma, alternately lived with her 4 children for several years, until settling permanently with us. My maternal grandparents moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey when I was 14 and lived a ½ mile from our home. My grandfather died a few years after the move but my grandmother, Ma enjoyed living nearby her only child.

By the time I graduated from law school, both grandmothers lived in my parents’ home. And everything was fine for a good number of years. I began my legal career and, as is the case with many young lawyers, my family looked to me for answers to any and all legal questions. By the time I established my own firm in 1995 Imma was in her early 90’s and experiencing the tremors of Parkinson’s Disease. The onset of dementia soon followed and my parents eventually could not care for her at home any longer.

They turned to me for help and so my own family became one of my first elder law clients. I struggled to navigate the same long term care and Medicaid system that we we now help so many of our clients with. But I persevered and we were able to get Imma care at a quality nursing home paid for under the Medicaid program.

And a few years later we faced similar issues with Ma. When I discovered that my father was carrying her in the middle of the night to the bathroom I sat my parents down and explained to them the dangers of a 67 year old carrying a 92 year old over slippery floors down a dark hall. Ma’s hospitalization a short time later led to a move to assisted living . Back and forth trips to hospital and nursing home, an all too common occurrence for families these days, followed until she passed away at the age of 94.

So it was that my own family’s experiences introduced me to elder law. As we move farther into the 21st century, and as 77 million babyboomers begin to turn 65, the issues surrounding the aging process and long term care will take on a more important role in many Americans’ lives. And we, at Hauptman & Hauptman, look forward to providing the same steady guidance and counseling to your family that I have provided to my own.