Estate plans tailored to your unique needs.
A full estate plan includes numerous documents to be used both during your life and after. A standard estate plan created by Swails Law will include a Will, Financial Power of Attorney (POA), Healthcare POA, HIPAA Release Authorization, and Living Will. Trusts, revocable or irrevocable, can also be created for clients who wish to avoid expensive estate taxes when passing large or expensive assets to their heirs.
A will allows your family to speed up the probate process after you pass and ensures your assets pass to individuals of your choosing. Without a will, you are deemed to have died intestate. When this occurs, the State of Wisconsin applies the Wisconsin Probate Code Chapter 852 to distribute your assets. These rules can be confusing and cumbersome.
Estate Planning
Parts of an Estate Plan
Will
A Will is a legal document that communicates a person’s final wishes pertaining to their assets and who should receive them. A valid will must be signed by the Testator and two witnesses and notarized. It can also be handwritten and signed by the Testator.
Financial Power of Attorney
A Finacial Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document giving someone else the power to make financial decisions on your behalf. This document is used while you’re alive if you are incapacitated or unable to act on your own.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
The Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA) designates an agent, granting them power to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you cannot do so, due to incapacity.
HIPAA Release Authority
A HIPAA Release allows hospitals and government agencies to release your Protected Health Information (PHI) to your agent, so they can make an informed decision.
Living Will
A Living Will is a written statement detailing your desires and advanced directives regarding medical treatment when you are no longer able to express your wishes.
Trust
A Trust is traditionally used to minimize estate taxes by creating an entity to hold assets for the benefit of a beneficiary or beneficiaries and is managed by a trustee.
Estate Planning
Trusts
If all assets are placed in a trust during your lifetime, your estate may avoid the probate process. Revocable and irrevocable trusts are also known as living trusts as they are created and funded during your life.
Revocable Trust
Revocable trusts can be changed, amended, or dissolved after they are created. Additionally, you can take back property in the trust at any time, for any reason without having to get permission from anyone else as you continue to own the assets in the trust. At your death, a revocable trust may be dissolved and the assets transferred to your beneficiaries or it may continue for the benefit of your beneficiaries. If the trust continues after your death, it will transfer to an irrevocable trust. Additional details about revocable living trusts can be found here.
Irrevocable Trust
Irrevocable trusts typically can’t be changed or amended after they are created, giving you the most asset protection and tax benefits. Your assets move out of your estate after creation and the trust acts as a separate entity, paying its own income taxes and filling its own tax return. There are numerous types of irrevocable trusts available based on your desired goals. The drawbacks to an irrevocable trust are that it cannot be modified or dissolved after it is created, you may not act as the trustee of your trust, and you are no longer considered the owner of the assets in the trust.
Testamentary Trust
A testamentary trust is an irrevocable trust created through instructions included in your will. This type of trust does not avoid the probate process as the trust is not set up during your lifetime, but upon your death.
To learn more about when you should write a will, where to store your will, and what items generally pass outside of a will, visit the State Bar of Wisconsin.
Contact us today to set up a free consultation and discuss your estate planning needs with a knowledgeable attorney.