In Wisconsin, divorce has a direct, automatic effect on a will: the law generally treats a former spouse as if they predeceased the testator for inheritance purposes. This means provisions in favor of the former spouse are revoked by operation of law, and the controlling statute is Wisconsin Statutes § 853.11, which...
Category: Divorce
Wisconsin Estate Planning: How do I shield an Inheritance from divorce, debt, and lawsuits in Wisconsin?
In Wisconsin, an inheritance is generally treated as separate property, which gives it strong protection by default. Whether it stays protected, however, depends largely on what you do after you receive it. The law typically treats inheritances and third‑party gifts as individual property rather than marital property, but they can lose that...
Divorce and Estate Planning
You and your spouse have recently divorced, and the judge has signed the divorce decree. Now what? Although you may feel that you have spent enough time and money on lawyers, there is one last attorney you need to talk to: an estate planning attorney. If you and your former spouse created...
Ways Your Will Can Be Revoked
A will (which should be accompanied by other important documents such as healthcare and financial powers of attorney, as well as an advance healthcare directive) is a foundational estate planning document. However, according to Gallup, only 46 percent of US adults have a will.[1] This number has remained consistent in...
Estate Planning and the Modern Family
As the name suggests, ABC’s TV show Modern Family depicts the relationships and experiences between a fictional extended family. Throughout the course of the series, the show addresses many issues that families deal with each day. For a close-knit family such as this fictional one, estate planning is crucial to ensure that...
Keeping Your Child’s Inheritance Out of Your In-Law’s Hands
About 40 to 50 percent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. Regardless of how you feel about your child’s spouse, you must face the possibility that they could become your child’s ex-spouse. Should that day come, the money you leave to your child could be subject to a...
An Estate Plan Should Not Be a Set-It-and-Forget-It Endeavor
As we all know, life happens. There is really nothing we can do about it. However, some of the most common life events can have a dramatic effect on your estate plan. If you think your estate plan is like a slow cooker and you can set it and forget it, you...
Protecting Your Children’s Inheritance When You are Divorced
Consider this story. Beth’s divorce from her husband was recently finalized. Her most valuable assets are her retirement plan at work and her life insurance policy. She updated the beneficiary designations on both to be her two minor children. She did not want her ex-husband to receive the money.
How You Can Build an Estate Plan that Includes Asset Protection
Much of estate planning has to do with the way a person’s assets will be distributed upon their death. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. From smart incapacity planning to diligent probate avoidance, there is a lot that goes into crafting a comprehensive estate plan. One important factor...
Which Life Events Require an Immediate Estate Planning Update?
Estate planning is the process of developing a strategy for the care and management of your estate if you become incapacitated or upon your death. One commonly known purpose of estate planning is to minimize taxes and costs, including taxes imposed on gifts, estates, generation skipping transfer and probate court costs....