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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Latest from Elder Law & Special Needs Section Blog | Elder Law and Special Needs Section
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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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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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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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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