Patient Representative Law in Wisconsin: 2025 WI Act 115
Please join us for a discussion on the recently enacted 2025 WI Act 115, which is the new "patient representative" law. This law expanded Wisconsin Statute § 50.06 to allow a family member or "next-of-kin" to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated, hospitalized individual without the need for a legal guardianship proceeding. Join us as we delve into how this new legislation can help as we counsel clients and the ways it can complicate the situation, from both a healthcare and financial perspective.
About Mary Youssi:
Mary C. Youssi is a partner at Walny Legal Group, LLC. Her practice areas consist of elder law, estate planning, probate, and asset protection planning. The scope of Mary’s law practice involves preparing estate planning documents such as wills, revocable trusts, marital property agreements, powers of attorney, HIPAA waivers, and special needs trusts. Mary has over a decade of experience representing petitioners for adult guardianship and protective placement, on behalf of family members and large area hospitals. She takes court appointments as Guardian ad Litem for adults with cognitive impairments and has been appointed as fiduciary (trustee of irrevocable trusts and financial guardian for multiple legally incompetent individuals). Another aspect of Mary’s practice is to assist clients with long-term care and disability planning, using strategic gifting strategies, special needs trusts, pooled and community trusts, and ABLE accounts. She also handles special administration and probate matters for clients, including contested trust and probate litigation.
A native of the Milwaukee area, Mary graduated Summa Cum Laude from UW-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Political Science and English, with a Spanish Minor. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor degree from Marquette University Law School, as well as certificates in Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Currently, Mary is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin in the Elder Law Chapter and the Milwaukee Bar Association, where she is a member of the Probate Bench-Bar Committee. In addition to being the Vice President of the Waukesha County Estate Planning Council, she is a Member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) as well as its Wisconsin Chapter, as well as the Editor of the State Bar of Wisconsin Elder Law Special Needs Journal. She is honored to be a member of the Board of Directors for Adaptive Community Approach Program (ACAP), whose mission is "to encourage people with disabilities to achieve their highest potentials and acquire life-long skills which will enable them to become contributing and valued members within their communities."
