There’s potential money out there for wartime veterans and the surviving spouses of wartime veterans through the Veterans Affairs Improved Pension. 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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2026 HSA Limits Are Announced
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
Wisconsin Probate Basics
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
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Helping the Underdog: Avery Mayne and her Elder Law Practice
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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Shakespeare's Classic Line about Lawyers, the Gatekeepers to Democracy
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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The Good, Bad, & Ugly of Wisconsin’s New Remote Notarization and Witnessing Law
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, Marquette 2002, is an attorney and shareholder with
Becker, Hickey &
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‘A Little Rebellious:’ Blaine Patino and his Elder Law Practice
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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March Madness: How Basketball Can Help You Be a Better Attorney
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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This Is How Clients Wreck Their Estate Plans – What Can Attorneys Do About It?
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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2024 Qualified Plan Cost of Living Increases, 2024 Social Security Taxable Wage Base
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
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To Port or Not: The Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption
In its simplest terms, “portability” allows surviving spouses to add any unused federal estate and gift tax exemptions of their deceased spouse to their own.
Background
The federal estate and gift tax exemption is the amount of assets that an individual is allowed to transfer from their estate to other people or entities free of federal estate and gift tax.
Prior to 2010, any part of the federal estate and gift tax exemption amount that was unused by an
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Contesting a Will: How to Prevent Family Estate Disputes
Contesting a will is a complex and emotionally charged process that can lead to rifts among family members. The passing of a loved one is a difficult time for any family, and it can become even more challenging when disputes arise over the distribution of their estate. We’ve seen many famous examples of this from Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. So what are the reasons people contest wills and how can you take proactive measures to prevent
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Do You Have a Multicultural Law Practice?
Let’s start with the assumption that you want to have a multicultural law practice with a focus on estate planning and Medicaid planning – and you want to work with clients and staff who are diverse. How are you going to move forward with those objectives?
Is being multicultural enough?
Is it possible to complete the necessary estate planning forms and Medicaid applications with a good understanding of the client’s current financial status and plans regarding the person’s finances?
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Ex-Attorney Convicted of Stealing More Than $800,000 from Elderly Victim with Dementia
The United States Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of Ohio recently issued a press release that highlights how elderly individuals suffering from dementia may be vulnerable to financial abuse. The press release can be found here.
As the release explains, the attorney defrauded his client—an elderly woman in her 80s—over the course of seven years, between 2012 and 2019. The attorney’s law license was revoked in 2015. The attorney stole the funds using a myriad of methods,
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The Pitfalls of Payable on Death Accounts
Payable on Death (POD) accounts are offered by banks and other financial institutions to permit an account owner to designate a beneficiary to receive the funds in a savings, checking, CD, or similar account, upon the account owner’s death. If there is a POD beneficiary on a joint account, the named beneficiary will receive the funds upon the death of the last account owner (see our previous article discussing the drawbacks of joint accounts here). Some financial institutions
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Fall Injuries Can Occur Because of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse
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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