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Elder Law & Special Needs Section Blog | Elder Law and Special Needs Section
The Elder Law & Special Needs Section Blog, published by the State Bar of Wisconsin, focuses on legal issues affecting elderly individuals and those with special needs. Topics include managing elder law practice workloads, contested guardianships, estate planning and asset preservation, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs pension programs, and advocacy for vulnerable populations. The blog features practical guidance on legal strategies, client management, and navigating complex elder care legal challenges. It also highlights the experiences and insights of elder law practitioners in Wisconsin, addressing both substantive law and the professional aspects of elder law practice.
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Latest from Elder Law & Special Needs Section Blog | Elder Law and Special Needs Section
Who Can File and Maintain a Divorce When a Client is Incapacitated?
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
This is becoming more common as we see older adults divorcing, especially those in second marriages whose adult children do
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Saying No to New Clients: How Elder Law Attorneys Manage Their Workloads
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,
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Contested Guardianships, Advocacy, and a Podcast: A Lawyer’s Unexpected Retirement Journey
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
It is sometimes hard for
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Why Estate Plans Fail – and How Attorneys Can Prevent It

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
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Saving Private Ryan's Nest Egg: The Veteran Improved Pension Program
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
Peter Harbach, Marquette 2008, is a partner with Hooper Law Office in Appleton, where he focuses on elder …
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
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
…
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
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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
While the new law provides greater flexibility for estate
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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.
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