Five words no one ever wants to hear from their doctor are “Get your affairs in order.” Unfortunately, 76 percent of Americans do not have a will, and it often requires a chronic disease, terminal illness diagnosis, or other life-changing event to prompt people to start the estate planning process.[1]...
Category: Trusts
Talking to Aging Parents About Estate Planning in Madison, Wisconsin
Beyond the practical purpose of transferring assets and reducing taxes, an estate plan reflects love, responsibility, and values. That emotional heaviness may be part of why many families avoid the subject. Pew Research reports that only about 3 in 10 US adults have created a basic estate plan (a will and a...
Mission Accomplished: Your Guide to Veterans’ Planning Essentials
Joining the military often sets individuals on a path that is distinctly different from pursuing higher education or entering the civilian workforce. Every year around Veterans Day, we honor the sacrifices of those who have served our country. However, we do not always pause to consider the unique experiences and challenges Veterans...
Homestead Exemptions and Estate Planning in Madison, WI
The term homestead may seem like a throwback to pioneer days, but homestead exemption laws are directly relevant to today’s estate planning and can play a valuable role in a modern plan.
Almost every state has some form of homestead exemption law primarily focused on reducing property taxes and...
Trust Funding in Madison, WI: Setting Your Trustee Up for Success
A revocable living trust can serve as a valuable estate planning tool to help ensure that your finances remain well managed if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs while you are alive) and to provide future financial security for your loved ones upon your passing. However, merely signing the trust...
How to Help Your Loved Ones (and Your Life Savings) Avoid Probate in Madison, WI
Today, many people use a revocable living trust instead of a will, joint ownership, or beneficiary designation as the foundation of their estate plan. When properly prepared, a trust avoids the costly public, and often time-consuming, court processes of conservatorship or guardianship (due to incapacity) or probate (after death). Still, many people...
3 Simple Ways to Avoid Probate Costs in Madison, Wisconsin
The bad news: When a person dies owning property in their sole name without a beneficiary, their loved ones will have to go through a court-supervised process called probate to transfer the property out of the deceased person’s name and into the name of intended beneficiaries or heirs at law. Going through...
3 Powers to Consider Giving to a Trust Protector in Madison, WI
Many estate plans today include trusts that become irrevocable upon the trustmaker’s death and continue for the benefit of a surviving spouse, children, or other loved ones. Some trusts are designed to span multiple generations. For example, a trust may leave an inheritance to a surviving spouse, then upon the surviving spouse’s...
While You Are Working on Your Golf Game, Don’t Forget to Work on Your Madison, WI Estate Plan
The course stretches out around you, lush and perfectly manicured. You step up to the ball, take a few practice swings, and inhale the morning air. It is a shot you have made hundreds of times. But years of playing golf have taught you that there is no guarantee you will hit...
Why a Trust for Your Child Should Mature with Your Child in Madison, WI
From the moment a child is born, a parent feels an instinctive drive to protect and nurture. We childproof our homes, carefully choose schools, offer guidance through adolescence, support their careers, and watch with pride as they start their own lives.
The desire to be there for them extends...