Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin

Sadly, divorce may be the only way to protect your assets if your spouse has already entered long term care and will soon run out of money while there. However,there are other complex procedures which the well spouse can employ such as gifts to irrevocable trusts, partial cures to return the gifts,etc., which can be useful for a limited time, prior to new laws becoming effective in July of 2014. Otherwise, medicaid will place a lien against real estate and make you spend down bank accounts, IRA's retirement accounts, etc., except for extremely tiny dollar amounts which are deemed as exempt, which will never be enough to fund your retirement. Medicaid estate recovery laws are currently extremely cruel to the spouse who remains at home in this scenario and these laws are badly in need of revision in order to permit remaining spouse to be financially solvent in the future. Although the authorities will permit the well spouse to remain in a home, they will tie up its title with liens which you (or your estate) will need to pay if the house is eventually sold. You urgently need to retain an experienced estate planning attorney to guide you through these options, assuming that you have anything to lose.

My answer does not automatically make me your attorney, so you need to consult with your own attorney before acting upon any of my comments and may contact my office at 333 Main St, Racine, WI 53403, 262-633-3090, during business hours, or see me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. or past online answers at the following links: http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/jknixonAttorney or at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency . Answers may contain advertising materials.

Wisconsin fortunately has a number of effective planning options when one spouse is in a nursing home and the other is living independently. It is important to first find out if the facility accepts Medicaid (T19). Most do, but some don't. Certain assets, such as a home, auto, certain prepaid burial arrangements and retirement plans in the name of the independent spouse are exempt. Therefore, your IRA does not need to be used for your husband's care. There is a formula that determines how much in cash assets you are allowed to retain. In most instances, we are also able to protect any excess assets. To do effective planning it is helpful if either the nursing home spouse is competent or has executed a durable financial power of attorney that authorizes asset protection planning. If neither is the case, a Court can order the asset protection. Many people who are unfamiliar with the law continue to pay privately for nursing home care well after their spouse could have become eligible for Medicaid benefits. It is important to consult with an experienced Elder Law Attorney.

If you feel this is something you would like to meet with one of our Elder Law Attorneys on, please contact John Schober, my brother, at 262-785-1820. We are located in New Berlin and Oconomowoc.