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If you die in Wisconsin without a will, state law states that your entire estate will be distributed to your spouse unless you have children from a prior marriage. In that case your spouse receives half of your non marital property, while the rest of your property is shared equally by all of your children (including children of your current marriage). If you do not have a spouse or surviving children when you die, state law lists the order in which your relatives will inherit, and if you have no relatives, the state will take possession of your property. A will is important because it allows you to: 1. Decide who gets your estate or assets when you die; 2. Decide who should act as guardian if you die with young children; 3. Decide whether your beneficiaries receive their gifts from you outright or in a trust; and 4. Select a personal representative (executor) who will have control over your assets and responsibility to pay bills and distribute your estate. Revocable living trusts are becoming more popular as a way of managing your assets during your lifetime including a period of incompetence or incapacity, and also for distributing your assets at death while avoiding the probate process. Most revocable living trusts provide that the person(s) who established the trust normally act as trustee and are the beneficiaries of the trust during their lifetimes. For tax purposes, during your lifetime the property held in trust is generally treated the same as if you still had it titled in your own name, therefore, there are no additional tax forms to file. Other trusts that are sometimes established depending on the circumstances include testamentary trusts, irrevocable trusts, life insurance trusts, or charitable trusts. In 2000 each person has a $675,000 unified credit exemption equivalent to be applied to large gifts or the value of your estate at death. An estate's value is determined by including all assets including, in most cases, the fair market value of your home, other real estate, investments, personal property, IRAs and other tax deferred investments, and life insurance proceeds. Estate tax rates on a taxable estate start at 37% and rise to 55%. With proper planning, estate tax liability can normally be reduced or eliminated. Proper estate planning may also include the use of living wills and/or health care powers of attorney, financial durable powers of attorney, marital property agreements, and sometimes other estate planning tools such as family limited partnerships, business buy/sell agreements, and medical assistance planning. Wisconsin became a Marital Property state on January 1, 1986. There are four classifications of property in Wisconsin: marital property, individual property, deferred marital property, and survivorship marital property. Wisconsin's Marital Property laws should be considered when drafting an estate plan. Our firm provides estate planning in the above listed areas in addition to more complicated or unusual situations. If you would like an estate planning questionnaire to review and complete, you may contact us and we will mail one to you. Upon completion of the questionnaire, you may then contact us to set up an appointment to review your estate and discuss the development of a suitable estate plan based on your assets, needs, and objectives. For further information about our estate planning department, please contact Attorney William E. Maas at wem@daublaw.com. Below are a few of the issues that would be addressed relative
to analyzing issues associated with your estate plan:
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