As people grow older, they tend to become more vulnerable to a wide range of physical injuries. Falls are one of the most common causes of injuries among elderly adults. Unfortunately, fall injuries can often be attributed to nursing home neglect or abuse. For family members of nursing home patients, it is crucial to understand when and how fall injuries can occur due to abuse or neglect. Some common issues that can lead to falls in nursing homes include:
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Drafting Caregiver Agreements that Combat the Caregiving Crisis
COVID-19, the job market, and now inflation consume us. Older Americans and those with disabilities are more drastically affected by all three, especially due to the consistent need for quality caregiving services in an unstable economy.
In January 2019, a Harvard Business School Report compelled the country to acknowledge the “caregiving shortage crisis,” which has only worsened post the pandemic. Millions of seniors and people with disabilities require long-term services and support, and most want these services at
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Basic Math in Elder Law
Many of us became attorneys because our reaction to math was “Ugh, not if I can avoid it!”
Not to say any of us are bad at math, but after years of watching lawyer dramas, we didn’t exactly envision our legal careers involving intricate spreadsheets of income and asset classes, monthly care costs, divestment divisors, and so forth.
However, providing the best guidance to our clients often requires exactly that: a deep dive into what puts the client and
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Accessible Content Broadens Your Client Base and Improves the Way You Work
One of the many things I have appreciated about becoming an attorney is working with people who care deeply about the clients they serve and the work they do.
It is a great honor to watch attorneys meet with clients, listen, and do their best to make clients feel comfortable. That includes working with disabled clients, who are often dealing with substantial barriers, ableism, and disrespect.
However, even though lawyers are making strides in accommodating individual clients, our systemic
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Wispact at a Glance
Established in 2003, Wispact, Inc., is a private nonprofit organization that maintains and administers pooled special needs trusts for nearly 4,000 individuals with disabilities throughout Wisconsin. What Is a Pooled Trust? A pooled special needs trust (PSNT) is a type of trust arrangement where there is one master trust document that details the pertinent definitions, powers, and duties that control all the sub-accounts created under it. A sub-account is created under a PSNT when a beneficiary or
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Elder Law Lawyers: There’s a Grant for You
As elder law and special needs planning attorneys, many of us are involved in what might be considered “extracurricular” work activities – i.e., all those things we do that flow directly from the profession we have chosen.
We serve on boards. We volunteer for nonprofits and organizations. We advocate for causes that are important to us. We coordinate with other groups and professionals who help serve our clients. We identify gaps in the systems we work with, and daydream
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CMS Issues Two Memos on Nursing Home Visitation and Increased Nursing Home Oversight
On November 12, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two nursing home memos. The first, QSO-20-39-NH, addresses nursing home visitation. The memo requires nursing homes to urge staff and residents to become vaccinated by providing education on the risks and benefits of the vaccine, and to offer to administer the vaccine and report vaccination data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CMS notes that the number of new COVID-19 cases has dramatically
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Diversity and Inclusion is a Top Priority of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section
The Elder Law and Special Needs Section is a very collegial and welcoming section of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
I know this from personal experience. I have served on committees and in a leadership position with the section for seven years. I personally witnessed that the members of the section and the board go above and beyond when it comes to sharing their expertise with new members and attorneys who are striving to expand their practice of law
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Transferring Guardianship to Another State Under Chapter 53: ‘What? Like It’s Hard?’
For those of you who have not seen the cinematic classic that is Legally Blonde, the above title is a nod to the main character’s most notorious line.After Elle Woods successfully gains admission to an Ivy League law school, one of her classmates cannot fathom how she was admitted, and her response is the above phrase of incredulity.Amy K. Greske, William Mitchell 2014, is an attorney at O’Neill Elder Law, LLC, in Hudson. She practices elder law and
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Protecting the Family Cabin with a Family LLC
Wisconsin summers invite many enjoyable activities: boating, hiking, fishing, and of course, trips to the family cabin. A hallmark of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, the family cabin, is a treasured piece of Wisconsin culture. Its foundation tells the story of a family’s hard work, close bond, and dedication. Families gather, laughter is shared, and memories are made.
It is no surprise that the cabin is often a family’s most valuable asset. As such, protecting it from devastating long-term care costs requires
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Becoming a Certified Elder Law Attorney
Thinking about becoming a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA)? Here is my experience.
Greg J. Banchy, Marquette 1987, is an attorney with Banchy Law Center LLC in Eau Claire, practicing in elder law and estate planning.
Last September, I sat for the certification exam to become a CELA – a designation given by the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF).
I was warned that the exam would be difficult – and it was. The biggest challenge was actually the breadth and
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Algorithm Bias: Due Process versus Trade Secrets
An algorithm is a set of steps that leads to a conclusive result. Both humans and computers can process algorithms – even simple arithmetic is an algorithm. Computers use complex algorithmic formulas that reference large quantities of data in order to make automated decisions.
Governments, employers, insurance companies, and health care providers are dramatically increasing their reliance on automatic decision-making software. Decisions as diverse as evaluating risk during criminal sentencing, deciding where to prioritize police resources, sorting resumes, ranking
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Adult Guardianship 101
Our team here at Ruder Ware has focused previous blogs and other educational materials on ways to avoid adult guardianship (see Related Articles section at the end of my post); however, there may be some instances where guardianship is unavoidable. Earlier this month, I attempted to simplify the guardianship process in my vlog. This blog is a continuation and aims to remove the mystery around guardianship for those unavoidable instances.
First, there are two types of guardians; a
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Why We Should Revisit the Nursing Home Reform Act
It seems as if we are starting to see, once again, some of the actions of Wisconsin nursing homes that led to the original Nursing Home Reform Act.
Now is a good time to take a look back and review what that federal law was all about.
The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987
In 1986, Congress authorized the Institute of Medicine to conduct an analysis of complaints against the nursing home industry by its residents and their families.
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Grant Opportunities with the Elder Law and Special Needs Section
The Elder Law and Special Needs Section (ELSNS) Board has had a carryforward of funds from one budget to the next.
While the board will use some funds in an emergency or for unforeseen circumstances, it also plans to spend funds each year to further the goals of the section, its members, and the public.
Fund Policy
The board has a policy to set forth the use of the funds. The board plans to spend funds on the following:
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Wells Fargo Pays Millions To Settle Elder Fraud Allegations
Wells Fargo Advisors has repeatedly been caught pushing unsuitable investments on their clients. One would think that after all the scandals that have engulfed the beleaguered bank, senior management would start taking their customers more seriously.
Our first post on Wells Fargo selling unsuitable investments was in 2011. It’s now 2021 and we are still re-writing this post.
In 2011, we first wrote that Wells Fargo’s brokerage arm agreed to pay $2 million to settle charges that one of
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