Estate planning provides peace of mind that you and your loved ones are taken care of in the future.
Everyone should have estate planning documents. It is essential to have an updated estate plan throughout all stages of life. Even though you may not need them any time soon, estate planning documents provide detailed healthcare instructions and help transfer your financial assets upon your death.
An experienced estate planning lawyer will ensure that your asset distribution is carried out according to your intentions while minimizing the amount surrendered to taxes.
Estate planning is one of the best investments that you can make for your loved ones. Everyone should consider having a lawyer assist in drafting estate planning documents. By preparing your estate documents, you can save your loved ones’ time, save money on taxes, avoid probate, and reduce end-of-life stress.
Wynn at Law, LLC takes a personalized and compassionate approach to estate planning. Our lawyers get to know you, your situation, and your goals. We will work with you to draft the documents that will help you achieve your objectives. We have drafted Wills, Trusts, and other legal estate planning documents for single clients, couples, families with children, and blended families.
We can help you through several different aspects of estate planning, including:
Our lawyers provide estate planning and estate administration services throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. Wynn at Law, LLC has three convenient locations to serve our clients:
To schedule a consultation with one of our estate lawyers, call 262-725-0175 or send us a message.
We are sensitive to the delicate nature of estate planning; you can count on our professionalism and confidentiality in this matter. It is common to give family members different amounts of money or assets in a will. In drafting your will, we are working on your behalf. It is not our place to judge your wishes. It is our job to make sure your wishes are carried out.
Estate planning allows for an individual to create healthcare instructions, make decisions for the future, and establish how to transfer assets and possessions at the time of death.
Without proper estate planning legal documents, including a Last Will and Testament, the government will decide your estate. This includes decisions such as who receives your property and who will receive guardianship of your children. For these crucial decisions, you will want to be sure that your estate documents correctly express your wishes and are legally enforceable.
Wynn at Law, LLC recognizes that estate planning requires a personalized approach. When meeting with our lawyers, we will work closely with you to create a plan for your interests. Below is an outline of how we work together with our clients to lay out their future needs.
The first step in drafting your estate plan is to understand your values, your family situation, and your desires for the future. In an initial consultation, we discuss your options and concerns about protecting assets, avoiding probate, protecting beneficiaries, charitable giving, and healthcare wishes.
If you have existing estate planning documents, we will review them together. It is necessary to routinely check your will or trust information because ‘life happens’; your assets will grow, your family will mature, and your wishes may change along with periodic changes to the law. We will ensure that your existing plans provide proper legal protection and remain accurate for your current goals.
The next step is to compile a detailed list of your assets, property, investments, and possessions. We will then review this information to determine how your estate could be subject to federal and Wisconsin state taxes – including estate taxes, income taxes, and capital gains taxes. We can then create a strategy that minimizes the tax burden for your estate. Wynn at Law, LLC can also help structure your estate plans to evolve as your assets grow in the future.
There are many legal strategies and detailed aspects of estate planning. Below we have highlighted some of the tools that Wynn at Law, LLC can use to help you with your estate planning needs.
Wills: The Last Will and Testament becomes effective at your passing and identifies your final wishes. After you pass on, the will speaks for you, directing how you want assets divided and appointing a personal representative to be in charge of acting on your estate’s behalf. An experienced lawyer will help you create a legally binding document that precisely suits your needs, expresses your final wishes, and is tailored to Wisconsin law. After your death, a will is enforced by the probate court. The probate court ensures that your last wishes are carried out.
Living Will: A Living Will makes known your wishes regarding life-prolonging medical treatments. This legal document identifies your wishes in the event of particular health care situations and speaks for you when you are unable to speak for yourself due to injury or illness. This may also be referred to as an advanced directive.
Pourover Will: This document “picks up” property you have left outside of your trust, and “pours” it into your trust after your passing. When you forget or neglect to add all property into your planning documents over the years, this tool puts the forgotten property into a trust.
Trusts: A trust is a mechanism for holding and distributing a person’s assets to avoid probate in Wisconsin. A trust is an entity separate from you that owns your assets while you are alive and sets forth how you want your assets handled after your passing. A trust is a separate entity from you and your trust continues when you pass away and can have designated beneficiaries and trustees. This document may also be referred to as a revocable living trust.
Financial Power of Attorney: This document designates an agent to manage your finances if you become incapacitated or are unable to make informed decisions for yourself. This document may also be referred to as a durable power of attorney for property and finances.
Healthcare Power of Attorney: Healthcare Power of Attorney allows someone else to make your wishes known and make decisions in your best interests. Generally, a healthcare power of attorney grants your agent broad authority to act on your behalf and can include facets of institutional admissions, life support, or surgery.
Probate: Probate is a court process that oversees the administration and distribution of a deceased person’s assets. As part of the process, the court system validates a person’s Last Will and Testament, if they have one.
Marital Property Agreements: In Wisconsin, a couple may use a marital property agreement (made before or after the marriage) to reclassify gifts, inheritances, and property owned before the marriage as marital property, or to classify assets acquired before and during the marriage as individual property.
Transfer On Death Deeds: This document is used to transfer your ownership interest in a real estate property from yourself to a grantee, effective upon your passing. This is often used as a tool to avoid the probate process.
If you need an Estate Planning or Wills and Trusts lawyer, please contact us by email or call 262-725-0175. Our law offices are located in Lake Geneva, WI, Delavan, WI, and Salem, WI, serving Southeastern Wisconsin.
Attorney Shannon Wynn and Associates are fantastically outstanding! Their exceptional professionalism, patience, trust, integrity, genuine caring attitude, and legal knowledge is of the highest level. They have been there every step of the way, always offering help in any way possible. I would highly recommend Attorney Shannon Wynn and Associates/staff for general or specialized legal needs.
Lake Geneva, On-Site Review
I enjoyed working with Attorney Wilson and the Wynn Law team for my recent purchase of land. Not working with a realtor to purchase real estate had me nervous. The Wynn law team stepped in and helped me through the process from writing the offer to ensuring the items needed for close were done to representing me at closing. The team was easy and pleasant to work with. I'd highly recommend them.
Lake Geneva, On-Site Review
Attorney Wynn and her entire staff are wonderful! They are all easy to work with and very knowledgeable. Attorney Wynn was always understanding of my situation, and worked hard for me. She responded to any questions I had in a timely manner and her staff did the same. I would HIGHLY recommend Wynn at Law to anyone looking for an attorney!
Lake Geneva, On-Site Review
We had a very good experience working with Shannon Wynn and her associates.She made us feel at ease and made the whole experience of Bankruptcy painless. We would recommend her to anybody that needed her services. She is such a nice lady and really cares about you and your family.
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