Protect what you built.

Long-term care is the real risk to your estate

Nursing home care in Wisconsin runs well over $9,000 a month. Very few families can pay that indefinitely, and Medicaid only steps in after your countable assets are nearly gone. Without planning, the estate you spent a lifetime building can be consumed in a few years of care.

The five-year rule

Wisconsin calls giving assets away for less than fair value divestment, and Medicaid looks back five years from your application. Gifts inside that window trigger a penalty period based on the state’s average daily nursing home cost, delaying your eligibility exactly when you need care. Well-meaning moves, like signing the house over to the kids, routinely backfire.

• Plan five years ahead and assets moved into an irrevocable trust can be fully protected.
• Married couples have protections. Spousal impoverishment rules let the healthy spouse keep significant resources.
• Even in a crisis, options usually remain. Later is harder, not hopeless.

What planning looks like

Elder law planning coordinates your estate plan with Wisconsin’s Medicaid rules: irrevocable trusts started early, spend-down strategies that convert countable assets into protected ones, spousal allowance planning, and an eye on Wisconsin’s estate recovery program. The earlier we start, the more of your life’s work stays in your family.