Last Will and Testament
Direct the distribution of assets passing through your estate and nominate a guardian for minor children. A carefully drafted will documents your wishes; the court ultimately approves a guardian appointment.
Secure Your Legacy & Protect Assets from Long-Term Care Costs
Comprehensive estate planning and proactive Wisconsin Medicaid strategies—crafted securely from the comfort of your home.
The Core Components of a Complete Estate Plan
Revocable Living Trusts
Keep properly funded trust assets outside probate, preserve greater privacy, and support continuity of management during incapacity and after death. Assets must be transferred into the trust or otherwise coordinated with the plan. A revocable trust is not, by itself, Medicaid asset protection.
Durable Power of Attorney (Financial)
Appoint a trusted agent to manage authorized financial affairs, including continuity if you become incapacitated. The document specifies the agent’s powers and when that authority takes effect.
Healthcare Power of Attorney & Living Wills
Designate an agent for medical decisions when the healthcare power of attorney is activated, and document end-of-life instructions through a living will. These documents serve different, complementary purposes.
Medicaid & Long-Term Care Planning (Title 19)
An extended nursing home stay in Wisconsin can impose substantial costs and deplete family savings. Advance planning helps you understand care funding, Medicaid eligibility, and the consequences of transferring property before a crisis limits your choices.
Four Critical Strategic Solutions
- 01
Proactive Medicaid Asset Protection
Plan around Wisconsin’s five-year lookback for long-term care Medicaid transfers and divestments. Gifts or below-market transfers can create a benefit penalty. Review timing, ownership, and exceptions before moving assets.
- 02
Crisis Medicaid Planning
When nursing home care is imminent, assess available spousal impoverishment protections, exempt transfers, and compliant promissory-note arrangements. Each option requires careful eligibility analysis; notes must satisfy specific repayment and actuarial requirements, and there is no universal emergency workaround.
- 03
Irrevocable Asset Protection Trusts
Evaluate whether an appropriately structured and funded irrevocable trust can help plan for a home, family farm, or investments. Protection depends on trust terms, timing, retained rights, and the applicable Medicaid and estate-recovery rules. Irrevocability alone does not guarantee protection.
- 04
Caregiver Agreements & Divestment Planning
Structure and document eligible intra-family care compensation with appropriate agreements, records, and reasonable payment terms. Payments to relatives can still be penalized if Wisconsin’s requirements are not met; a signed contract alone does not make every transfer compliant.
Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery are separate questions. Avoiding probate does not automatically prevent recovery, and no planning tool guarantees that every asset will be protected.
Peace of Mind for Your Future
Work through Wisconsin’s estate and Medicaid rules in remote consultations, with a clear explanation of the options relevant to your situation.
- Step 1
Review Your Circumstances
Discuss your family, assets, existing documents, and expected care needs by secure phone or video.
- Step 2
Build a Coordinated Plan
Review Wisconsin Medicaid rules alongside your estate documents, property ownership, and financial priorities.
- Step 3
Prepare for Implementation
Walk through the proposed documents and next steps remotely. Required signing, witnessing, notarization, and funding formalities still apply.
Start planning for the people and assets you value.
Connect with Rowe Law Office, LLC by secure phone or video to discuss your situation and the next steps.