National Special Needs Law Month, designated by The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys every October, helps bring awareness and education to issues that people with disabilities and their families face. While estate planning is crucial for all individuals, it is especially important for those with special needs and disabilities and their loved ones. Leaving […]
For the first time since 2020, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed in response to the pandemic designation, it is expected that the assistance plans put in place to help those receiving public benefits will come to a close at the end of March. As you probably recall, the […]
In a prior blog post, we discussed the temporary suspension of certain Medicaid and Family Care rules during the pandemic. That discussion included the impact of stimulus payments on asset levels and the temporary suspension of annual renewals and continuing benefits for recipients, even if they are over assets. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services […]
In the fall of 2019, Adams and Woodrow, S.C. merged with McCarty Law LLP. Ben Adams and Bill Woodrow, along with their paralegal, Brenda Mertz, joined McCarty Law because their attorneys offered the same services that Adams and Woodrow did, namely Elder and Special Needs, Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts), Probate and Estate Settlement law, […]
Wispact trusts are a popular topic on our blog (click here for our first four articles WisPACT 1, WisPACT 2, WisPACT 3, WisPACT 4). A quick refresher – WisPACT trusts allow loved ones to set funds aside for a disabled individual’s needs without jeopardizing eligibility for government benefits such as Supplement Security Income (SSI) or […]
We’ve talked before about what a WisPACT Trust is, the different types, who is eligible for a WisPACT trust, and how to set up one of these trusts. Now that you may have a WisPACT trust created and funded, clients routinely ask, “How do I get my money out of the trust?” or “How do […]
COVID-19 has been hard on all of us, but especially on residents of nursing homes. Because nursing homes house our most vulnerable population, extra precautions needed to be implemented to protect them. This resulted in nursing homes being “locked down,” meaning residents were not allowed to leave, nor were they allowed visitors. Early on during […]
Benjamin Franklin has famously said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” The two depressing topics always seem to go together. Every year, the deadline for filing our income taxes is April 15. But did you know April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD)? Because death and taxes […]
We have already discussed a bit of background on WisPACT trusts and the process to set up a WisPACT trust. While I strongly encourage clients to look at WisPACT options for beneficiaries with disabilities, there are some circumstances where WisPACT might not be the perfect fit. In those cases, clients can choose to set aside […]
What’s New? If an individual is incapacitated and has a Living Will or Power of Attorney for Health Care (“POA”), a certification of incapacity needs to be signed before those documents can be activated. Previously, this certification was only effective if signed by either two physicians or one physician and one psychologist, both of whom […]