When heirs or beneficiaries can’t be located in a Wisconsin probate, the estate can’t ignore them; instead, the personal representative must use reasonable diligence to identify and find all interested persons before distributing the estate. That duty includes identifying heirs and beneficiaries, obtaining current addresses, providing required notices, and keeping records of...
Category: Beneficiary Designations
Wisconsin Estate Planning: Estate Planning for Schoolteachers: How Your Benefits Come into Play
As a schoolteacher, you do far more than teach lessons. You manage a classroom, mentor students, and juggle a busy schedule—often while balancing other responsibilities at home. But one important task is often too easy to postpone: estate planning.
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. It is...
Wisconsin Estate Planning: Seven Estate Planning Traps Most People Miss—and Seven Questions to Audit Your Family’s Future
Think back to how your life was seven years ago. Your family, your finances, your relationships, and even the accounts you use have probably changed in ways both obvious and subtle. Seven years does not feel like a long time until you start making the list.
Your estate plan...
Flying Solo: Why Estate Planning Still Matters and What to Do Next in Wisconsin
As a single person, you may find yourself wondering who will step in to make important decisions for you if you become unable to do so or who will receive your money and property after your death. Although parents, siblings, or other loved ones may be the first people who come to...
Raising Stewards, Not Mere Beneficiaries: Preparing the Next Generation for Inheritance in Madison, Wisconsin
Steward—a term for someone entrusted with the care of something that does not personally belong to them—is commonly used in such realms as business, public service, and environmentalism.
Conservationists may be referred to as stewards of the land. Business leaders may describe themselves as stewards charged with acting in...
How to Get Organized to Meet with Your Madison, WI Estate Planning Attorney
You have decided to meet with an estate planning attorney to get your affairs in order and ensure that your loved ones are protected. Now that you have scheduled the appointment, it is time to get yourself organized and prepare for the first meeting.
Before You Meet with Your...
Committed, Protected, Prepared: Estate Planning Tips for Unmarried Partners in Madison, WI
More couples than ever are building deep, lasting relationships without ever walking down the aisle. Whether by choice, circumstance, or principle, many Americans are opting out of marriage—but not out of commitment. Data indicate that cultural norms regarding marriage in the United States have undergone significant shifts over the past several decades....
National Regifting Day: Regifting for Your Future
During the holidays, we usually receive at least one gift that, let’s face it, falls a bit flat.
When we were young, it might have been an itchy sweater from Grandma or a toy from Mom and Dad that we had outgrown. As adults, maybe someone got your clothing...
Does Treating Your Children Fairly Mean Unequal Inheritances in Madison, Wisconsin?
When thinking through their estate plan and how they want their assets(money and property) managed after they pass away, most parents wish to treat their children equally, often out of a sense of fairness. However, sometimes being fair or doing what is right by your children may mean giving unequal inheritances.
Being Deployed? Here Is What You Need to Do
You have just received your orders, and you will be deployed shortly. No matter how soon you are leaving, there is still time to ensure that your affairs are in order.
Review or prepare a Family Care Plan. Regardless of the branch of the military...