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My father loved the sea. By extension he also loved all sea-related tchotchkes, i.e., model sailing vessels, fake shark’s teeth, lighthouses big and small, cute little fishermen in bright yellow rain slickers. You name it, he had one. How did he explain this passion? Growing up in western Wisconsin, he was far from the sea. In a former life he believed he was … a whale. Many years ago, he wandered into an antique store in Florida on the

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Continue Reading The ‘Masterpiece’ and a Daughter’s Burden, Relieved

While a client who has capacity can clearly file a divorce action, what happens when the client has capacity issues?

This is becoming more common as we see older adults divorcing, especially those in second marriages whose adult children do not get along. A case can be dismissed where the person filing does not have capacity to see.[1] “It is an accepted principle of law that an action cannot be maintained by one who has no capacity to

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Continue Reading Who Can File and Maintain a Divorce When a Client is Incapacitated?

As a new lawyer handling (what I assumed was) an easy settlement disbursement meeting on a small personal injury case, I vividly recall learning that the client was on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and then leaving the room to ask one of our firm’s estate planning and elder law attorneys, “Is this going to be an issue?”

Aside from having the good – and increasingly rare – fortune of being part of a general practice firm where I could…
Continue Reading Knowing the Intersection of Settlements and Public Benefits

This year has been a busy one for me, and I’m not alone. Every elder law and special needs attorney I know is busy. The demand for our services is always increasing, the supply of our time ever scarce. Admittedly, being too busy is a good problem to have – but a problem nonetheless. A Packed Agenda is a Wellness Problem When your calendar looks like the master caution panel on
Apollo 13, it’s stressful. It takes time away

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Continue Reading Saying No to New Clients: How Elder Law Attorneys Manage Their Workloads

I retired from the full-time practice of law on July 1, 2019. I first wrote about what I have been doing since then in the December 2020 Elder Law and Special Needs Section Blog. It is sometimes hard for me to believe that five years have passed since then. Here is a summary of some of my activities during this time.
Paul A. Sturgul Paul Sturgul,
U.W. 1973, is of counsel with Sturgul & Long, S.C., in Hurley, and though

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Continue Reading Contested Guardianships, Advocacy, and a Podcast: A Lawyer’s Unexpected Retirement Journey

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It is the initial consultation: A daughter and a son come in. Dad passed away nine years ago, and their mom just recently passed. They brought in the binder with the estate planning documents. There was a will for mom and dad. (Dad’s original will had not been filed at the courthouse). The revocable trust was 20 years old. They brought in the deed for the house, showing that mom and dad owned the real estate as joint tenants.

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Continue Reading Why Estate Plans Fail – and How Attorneys Can Prevent It

There’s potential money out there for wartime veterans and the surviving spouses of wartime veterans through the Veterans Affairs Improved Pension.
Peter Harbach headshot Peter Harbach, Marquette 2008, is a partner with Hooper Law Office in Appleton, where he focuses on elder law.

I want to encourage attorneys who practice in elder law to consider becoming accredited with the Department of Veterans Affairs, because there are about 330,000 veterans and only 44 accredited attorneys in our state. Program Basics Although not

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Continue Reading Saving Private Ryan's Nest Egg: The Veteran Improved Pension Program

On May 1, 2025, the IRS announced the Health Savings Account limits for 2026.  With respect to contribution limits, the limits are slightly higher than the ones for 2025 and the required deductible and out-of-pocket maximums have increased as well.  As a reminder, these inflation adjusted amounts are effective for calendar year 2026.

HSA/HDHP Requirement
Cost-of-Living Adjustments

Limit on HSA Contributions – Self-only HDHP

2025 – $4,300

2026 – $4,400

Limit on HSA Contributions – Family HDHP

2025 –…
Continue Reading 2026 HSA Limits Are Announced

Probate is the legal process through which a deceased person’s assets that are not otherwise distributed by operation of law are distributed and their debts are settled. In Wisconsin, like in other states, the probate process ensures that the wishes of the deceased are respected, while also providing a legal mechanism for creditors to claim what they are owed. It involves a Court-supervised procedure that can vary in complexity based on the size and nature of the deceased person’s…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Probate Basics

You might say
Avery Mayne’s first elder law client was her law review, the
Marquette Elder’s Advisor. As editor-in-chief her 3L year, she found herself fighting for its existence. “It was probably my first experience doing some real advocacy,” she told me. Mayne has built on that experience to continue advocating for those whose welfare is threatened. I’m interviewing elder law attorneys around the state to find out why and how they started practicing elder law, what

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Continue Reading Helping the Underdog: Avery Mayne and her Elder Law Practice

shows a plate with writing on it mounted on a wall
My mother gave me a plate for mounting on my office wall quoting the line from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2. It has been on all my law office walls and now is in my office at home after I recently closed my law office.

The story began for me in the summer of 1976. I had just graduated from Marquette University Law School, after which I backpacked through Europe with a law school classmate for six weeks.

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Continue Reading Shakespeare's Classic Line about Lawyers, the Gatekeepers to Democracy

Wisconsinites and their attorneys now have a new legal process for remote notarization and witnessing of estate planning documents. The new law, 2023 Wisconsin Act 130, took effect March 23, 2024. While the new law provides greater flexibility for estate planning clients and their attorneys in the post-pandemic world, it causes additional dilemmas for attorneys, particularly those who represent the elderly and individuals with disabilities.
Heather Poster headshot
Heather Poster, Marquette 2002, is an attorney and shareholder with
Becker, Hickey &

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Continue Reading The Good, Bad, & Ugly of Wisconsin’s New Remote Notarization and Witnessing Law

This article is the first in a new series: I’m interviewing elder law attorneys around the state to find out why and how they started practicing elder law, what their practices are like, and what they achieve for their clients.

My first interview is with Blaine Patino of Canellos & Patino in Wauwatosa. Blaine was recently a presenter at the Winter Workshop put on by the Wisconsin chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).

I

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Continue Reading ‘A Little Rebellious:’ Blaine Patino and his Elder Law Practice

The immeasurable benefits of a healthy work-life balance are well known. Engaging with outside organizations, taking time for personal interests and hobbies, spending time with family and friends, exercising, gardening, caring for pets, traveling – all of these are ways in which we can help our bodies, minds, and souls stay fresh for our law practices and our clients. Additionally, we can learn a lot from our out-of-office activities that help us as attorneys.

In my working life, I

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Continue Reading March Madness: How Basketball Can Help You Be a Better Attorney

As a longtime estate-planning attorney, it is my sense that more clients are working around (or ruining) their valid estate plans by using various nonprobate transfers – specifically POD (Payable on Death) and TOD (Transfer on Death) designations. I see this change happening not only when clients come into my office to review their estate planning when they are alive, but this is also being discovered after the client passes away. I ask “Why is this happening?” Do people just dislike attorneys so

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Continue Reading This Is How Clients Wreck Their Estate Plans – What Can Attorneys Do About It?

On November 1, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service announced the cost-of-living adjustments for the various qualified retirement plan limits.  Almost all of the limits shown below have increased from last year.

 

Qualified Plan Limit
Cost-of-Living Adjustments

401(k) and 403(b) elective deferral limit

2023 – $22,500

2024 – $23,000

$200,000 compensation limit

2023 – $330,000

2024 – $345,000

$160,000 defined benefit limit

2023 – $265,000

2024 – $275,000

$40,000 defined contribution limit

2023 – $66,000

2024 – $69,000

$80,000 definition…
Continue Reading 2024 Qualified Plan Cost of Living Increases, 2024 Social Security Taxable Wage Base