Many people assume estate planning is only for the wealthy or the elderly, but a basic plan helps everyone minimize confusion, costs, and stress for loved ones after a death or during incapacity. Without clear documents, assets like a home, retirement accounts, and savings can get stuck in limbo for years and...
Category: Financial Power of Attorney
Wisconsin Estate Planning: How to know when a loved one can no longer make legal decisions in Wisconsin?
In Wisconsin, a loved one is considered unable to make legal decisions when they lack legal capacity—meaning they cannot understand, appreciate, or communicate decisions about their personal, financial, or medical affairs at a functional level. Capacity is decision‑specific, not all‑or‑nothing: a person may competently handle simple daily choices yet be unable to...
Estate Planning Tips for Someone Facing Major Surgery in Wisconsin
Receiving news that you need major surgery is never easy. Preparing for work absences, planning for childcare and household responsibilities, and understanding the procedure itself and your recovery timeline may be among the things you are worried about. If you have only a short time (weeks or days) to react, focusing on...
Estate Planning Tips for Unmarried Partners
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....
Planning for Absence and Incapacity as a Business Owner
As a business owner, you have likely considered establishing an estate plan to ensure your company’s continued success after your passing. However, comprehensive estate planning also addresses what will happen if you become mentally incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs) due to illness, injury, or cognitive decline, or if you need to...
Estate Planning for Military Families
Whatever the time of year, it is always good for members of the military and their loved ones to create or revisit their estate plan. Military families face unique estate planning considerations that others do not, especially when a family member is deployed overseas or receives a temporary duty assignment. In addition,...
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...
Estate Planning for the Newly Married in Madison, Wisconsin
Now is the perfect time to start working on an estate plan. As newlyweds, you are likely in the process of deciding which of your accounts and property (your assets) to combine and how to turn two households into one. You may also be setting up new bank accounts and creating a...
Whom Do You Trust to Make Your Financial Decisions?
You wake up and check your investments over a cup of coffee. That tech stock you have been eyeing continues to trend upward, so you log in to your online brokerage account and buy some shares.
Later in the day, you get a notice that your mortgage payment has...
What Is a General Power of Appointment?
Your family, the economy, the law, and society can change rapidly and unexpectedly, affecting your best-laid estate plans in unpredictable ways. To achieve your estate planning goals, you need a plan that can keep up with the changes. And few estate planning tools provide more flexibility than a general power of appointment.