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You’ve worked hard all your life, building wealth for your family. Now, you want to make a comprehensive estate plan to protect that wealth and ensure it is distributed according to your wishes once you are no longer here.
Estate planning and administration is a complex topic, but it is much easier to navigate with the help of a skilled professional. Here in Wisconsin, the firm to turn to is Swanson Sweet LLP.
Whether your goal is to protect the assets you’ve acquired or to make sure your loved ones are provided for, we can help you achieve that goal with our carefully crafted wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents.
Our estate planning lawyer, Anne Schacherl, has more than 40 years of experience helping the people of Wisconsin with their estate planning needs. For top-quality estate planning services in Wisconsin, contact Swanson Sweet LLP today.
Do you need to create a will to ensure your assets are distributed to the right people? Do you need to change or revoke an existing will? An estate planning lawyer can help. Creating a basic will is a relatively simple process for a small estate with limited assets. In Wisconsin, a will must meet these requirements:
If you need to change your will, you can add a codicil modifying the existing will. If you want to make more significant changes, you should revoke the existing will before creating the new one.
A will is a valuable tool for distributing your assets after your death, but for many estates, a will alone is not sufficient. That’s why other tools exist, such as various forms of trusts.
A trust can allow you to manage your assets and keep your estate from going through probate. Types of trusts available in Wisconsin include:
When you place your assets in a trust, they don’t pass through probate when you die. This may be desirable if you have assets you’d prefer to keep private, as probate estates are matters of public record.
A special (or supplemental) needs trust (SNT) is a trust created for a family member with disabilities. The purpose of an SNT is to manage assets for the benefit of the beneficiary without impacting their ability to access government benefits that have income-related eligibility requirements.
An estate planning attorney can create a Special Needs Trust that will allow you to protect certain assets for your disabled family member, such as a home for them to live in, and that can only be used for their benefit, but will not count as an asset for the purpose of calculating benefits. If you’ve been caring for a disabled family member for years, a Special Needs Trust can allow you to continue to provide care for them after you are gone.
Probate administration is the process of validating your will, paying your estate’s debts and taxes, and transferring your assets to your beneficiaries after your death. A Wisconsin probate court will oversee the probate process. Probate is required for any estate worth $50,000 or more and may also be required if your beneficiaries disagree with each other about how the estate should be divided.
Probate administration in Wisconsin can be either formal or informal. Formal probate administration is necessary if the will is disputed or if the will itself requires formal probate. An estate planning lawyer can help you with all aspects of probate administration, from selecting a qualified personal representative to administering the estate on your behalf. Once a personal representative is appointed, they are responsible for identifying all the estate’s assets, paying debts and tax bills, and making sure that beneficiaries receive the assets they are meant to receive.
An estate planning attorney can also help with all aspects of trust administration, including:
Filing taxes on an estate or trust in Wisconsin can be complicated, but it’s a familiar process to an experienced estate planning lawyer. Whether you need to file Form 2, Wisconsin Fiduciary Income Tax for Estates and Trusts, or Schedule CC, Request for a Closing Certificate for Fiduciaries, or a Form 706 Federal Estate Tax return, we can spare your family the stress and complexity of dealing with your estate’s taxes, and make sure everything is taken care of.
If you’re concerned that you won’t be able to make your own health care or financial decisions at some point, you can use a Power of Attorney to specify who should have the legal authority to make these decisions for you.
In Wisconsin, you will need one Power of Attorney for Health Care and another Power of Attorney for Finances and Property. You can assign both Powers of Attorney to the same person, or you can assign the Health Care Power of Attorney to one person and the Financial Power of Attorney to someone else.
An estate planning attorney can help you prepare and execute these important estate planning tools and can assist you with the process of choosing a Health Care Agent and a Financial Agent.
Whether you need to write a new will, create a trust, help with the probate process, or choose a professional to administer your estate, an experienced Wisconsin estate planning lawyer can help. Estate planning is not a simple topic, and many details must be handled correctly to ensure that your wishes are met and your assets are distributed the way you want them to be.
The best solution is to seek out the legal services of a Wisconsin estate planning lawyer who knows how to protect your assets and ensure that your loved ones are taken care of. You’ve spent your lifetime working for the future. Now it’s time to safeguard what you’ve built with a comprehensive estate plan.
Swanson Sweet LLP is a respected Wisconsin law firm dedicated to achieving the best possible outcomes for the people who rely on us. Attorney Anne Schacherl has taught courses in estate administration and has worked in this field for over 40 years. She has the knowledge and experience to help you with any aspect of the estate planning process and management. If you’re looking for top-flight legal advice to help guide your estate, contact Swanson Sweet LLP today.
