Q: My mother has dementia and no one to take care of her in Puerto Rico. I want to bring her to Wisconsin
What can I do? She apparently has a joint account with her partner that is hospitalized and will likely end up in a nursing home by his kids. We have no information about where anything goes as his family took that over.
A: Hello I am sorry to hear about this situation with your Mother. If she has a joint bank account with another person, then generally here in Wisconsin the last surviving person ends up as the owner of that account. In Wisconsin it is possible to name a "Payable on Death" or "P.O.D" beneficiary on an account. If your mother or her partner did this, then the account would pay out to the payable on death beneficiaries upon the death of both of them. If they wanted the account to distribute equally, they could name these payable on death beneficiaries equally among their children. This is how an account would work in Wisconsin. I know that in Puerto Rico they have forced inheritance laws, so dying there with or without a Will is a much different system. You should consult with an attorney licensed in Puerto Rico about how the inheritance laws work there for any assets in Puerto Rico.
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