2015 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
16. Department of administration.
16.643 Support accounts for individuals with disabilities.
16.643 Support accounts for individuals with disabilities.
16.643(1)(1) Definitions. In this section:
16.643(1)(a) (a) "Account owner" means an individual who establishes, and owns, an account under this section and who is one of the following:
16.643(1)(a)1. 1. The beneficiary of the account.
16.643(1)(a)2. 2. If the beneficiary is a minor or otherwise incapable of handling his or her financial affairs, the parent or guardian of the beneficiary.
16.643(1)(b) (b) "Beneficiary" means an eligible individual for whom an account is established under this section.
16.643(1)(c) (c) "Eligible individual" has the meaning given in 26 USC 529A.
16.643(1)(d) (d) "Financial institution" means any bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union that is authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions.
16.643(1)(e) (e) "Qualified expenses" has the meaning given for "qualified disability expenses" under 26 USC 529A.
16.643(2) (2) Duties of the department. The department shall do all of the following:
16.643(2)(a) (a) Ensure that an account established under this section meets the requirements of a qualified ABLE program under 26 USC 529A.
16.643(2)(b) (b) Promulgate rules to implement and administer this section.
16.643(3) (3) Account owners; beneficiaries; contributions; termination of accounts.
16.643(3)(a)(a) An account owner may do all of the following:
16.643(3)(a)1. 1. Establish an account under this section at a financial institution.
16.643(3)(a)2. 2. Change the beneficiary of an account to a family member, as defined in 26 USC 529A, of the previous beneficiary, if the new beneficiary is an eligible individual.
16.643(3)(a)3. 3. If the account owner is not the beneficiary, terminate an account upon the death of a beneficiary if the account owner is unable to change the beneficiary under subd. 2.
16.643(3)(b) (b) An individual may not be the beneficiary of more than one account established under this section.
16.643(3)(c) (c)
16.643(3)(c)1.1. The maximum total amount of annual contributions that may be made to an account established under this section for a particular beneficiary is the amount described in 26 USC 529A (b) (2) (B).
16.643(3)(c)2. 2. The maximum total amount of all annual contributions that may be made to an account established under this section for a particular beneficiary is the same as the maximum aggregate contribution limit to an account described under s. 16.641, as set by the college program savings board.
16.643(3)(c)3. 3. If any person attempts to contribute to an account established under this section and that contribution would exceed one or both of the limits specified in this paragraph, the financial institution to which the contribution is sent shall return to the prospective contributor any amount of the attempted contribution that is necessary to prevent the limits from being exceeded.
16.643(3)(c)4. 4. If more than one person attempts to contribute to an account established under this section and such contributions would exceed the limits specified in this paragraph, and if the attempted contributions arrive at the financial institution on the same day, the financial institution to which the contributions are sent shall return to the prospective contributors any amount of the attempted contributions, on a prorated basis, that is necessary to prevent the limits from being exceeded.
16.643(3)(d) (d) Upon the death of the beneficiary who is the account owner the account shall terminate, and upon the termination of an account as described in par. (a) 3., any amount remaining in the account shall be recoverable by the state under s. 49.849 as property of a decedent is recoverable under that statute. Any amount that remains in the account following such recovery under s. 49.849 shall be paid to the account owner's estate. Recovery authorized under this paragraph may relate only to public assistance received by a beneficiary on and after the date on which an account is established under this section.
16.643(4) (4) Payment of claims. If a beneficiary incurs costs for qualified expenses, the financial institution shall pay such expenses if sufficient funds to do so are in the account.
16.643(5) (5) Eligibility for long-term care programs. A person who is determining eligibility for an individual for a long-term care program under s. 46.27, 46.275, or 46.277, the family care benefit under s. 46.286, the family care partnership program, the long-term care program defined in s. 46.2899 (1), or any other demonstration program or program operated under a waiver of federal medicaid law that provides long-term care benefits shall exclude from the determination any income from assets accumulated in an account created under this section for a beneficiary.
