"I invite you to call or email my office if you have any questions regarding estate or asset protection planning - we're here to help!" - Kevin W. Davidson
GETTING STARTED IS EASY!
Time and again my clients tell me "we've been meaning to get this done for years, but just didn't get around to it", and "you make this so easy, I don't know why we didn't do it sooner."
We take every step to make sure your estate planning experience is pleasant, efficient, and easy to complete - Attorney Davidson will walk you through every step of the way, making sure your wishes are carried out and your important planning is in place and effective to protect you and your family.
Initial consultation is free, and we provide estate and asset protection planning services on a flat-fee basis, so you'll know what the costs are before we start - based on the plan put in place for you, not based on the attorney's billing time.
Getting startted really is easy - request your free Estate Planning Book here, then call for and appointment so we can then sit down together to discuss what planning is best suited to your needs and what specific information will go into ensuring your legacy and crafting your customized estate and asset protection plan.
What Is Probate? Will My Family Need To Go Through Probate Court?
There is a lot of misunderstanding on just what probate is, and when an estate goes through the Probate court. Many believe that if they have a Will, their family will not have to go through the Probate process - not true. If you have no Will, your estate goes through Probate and if you have a Will, your estate goes through Probate ... unless you have done specific probate avoidance planning, such as put in place a fully funded family revocable trust.
So, let's look at what probate is: Probate is the formal process of transferring your estate assets to your creditors, and the beneficiaries as designated by law, or within provisions set forth in your will, if you had prepared one. It is court-supervised, requiring validation and accounting of all claims by creditors against your assets at your death, as well as requiring an accounting of all remaining assets, and approval of the distribution of such assets. At the beginning of a probate administration, a petition is filed with the court, usually by the personal representative named in your will. After notice is given, and a hearing is held, your will is admitted to probate and a personal representative is appointed. If you die without a will (“intestate”), your estate is subject to the same probate court administration, only the personal representative, or administrator of the estate, is appointed by the court, and the distribution is carried out strictly as the law prescribes.
If your total estate assets at the time of death do not exceed $50,000.00, the beneficiaries of your estate may file for an “informal probate,” which is a simplified procedure to settle the estate without all of the formalities required in the standard probate administration.
The probate process has some advantages. In highly contentious situations, though the costs to the estate will be relatively high, the probate court strictly applies the rules set forth in the law to resolve disputes regarding asset distribution, with oversight and final accounting approved by the court to ensure proper application of the law.
Disadvantages of probate include its public nature; your estate plan and the value of your assets become a public record. Additionally the time to settle the estate, the formalities imposed upon the family, and the expenses to complete the process, can be significant. The average probate in Wisconsin takes approximatly 18 months to complete and consumes approximately 6% to 10% of the estate value - for example in a $100,000.00 estate, one can expect $6,000.00 - $10,000.00 in costs that won't go to the heirs or beneficiaries. The advantages and disadvantages of a probate proceeding should be discussed thoroughly with your estate planning lawyer.
This 4 minute informational video by Appleton Wisconsin wills, trusts and estate planning lawyer Kevin Davidson discusses four essential estate planning documents to ensure guardianship of minor children, to protect and pass assets without interference of probate, to ensure appropriate medical decisions in the event of incapacity, and to ensure timely administration of financial matters in the event of incapacity. The four documents discussed as essential to protecting your family and estate in Wisconsin are the Last Will and Testament, the Revocable Family Trust, or Intervivos Living Trust, Powers of Attorney for Health Care and Powers of Attorney for Finances and Property.
Time To Take Steps Toward Asset Protection
I've recently run into a string of situations wherein Asset Protection Planning could have saved my clients or their families significant monies and countless worries and headaches. The most important pair of words in that sentence is "could have," which, of course, begs the question "if?"
The answer to that "if" is simple, yet ignored by nearly everyone, every day. That answer is "if they had put in place an asset protection plan." Simply put, no plan, no protection.
Simple enough?
Of course, plans vary, and levels of protection vary along with those plans, but the bottom line is that everyone can benefit from the tools and techniques of asset protection planning.
The fundamentals underscoring the need for asset protection are counterintuitive to the American Dream - we want ot own things. Regrettably, everything you now own becomes a potential liability and a potential target.
A statistic related to me by a colleague recently was that it is now estimated that 1 in 3 Americans can expect to be dragged into a lawsuit. A staggering statistic - take a look at the person to your left, now take a look at the person to your right, one of you three are likley to be involved in at least one lawsuit.
Another staggering figure was related to me at a client's kitchen table. As we discussed the husband's pending return home from a short stay at a local nursing home, talk turned to the potential costs if he was unable to return home. The nursing home had quoted a rate of $7,480.00/month! It is easy to see how a modest estate may leave nothing for children, grandchildren or other loved ones with these levels of expenses for care.
Whether the particular desire or need is to protect real estate for heirs or from creditors, to protect assets for beneficiaries in the event of a need for medical care, or to protect business or family assets from unforseen creditors, or simply to avoid the erosion of esate value imposed by the probate process, steps can be taken to secure your assets, and to secure peice of mind.
First step, of course, is to contact an asset protection attorney to discuss what's at risk and what can be done to protect it.
It's time to take that step toward securing your assets, before it's another "could have" statistic.
What Is An Inter Vivos Trust? A Living Trust? A Revocable Trust?
A living trust, family trust, or revocable trust, is also often referred to as a revocable inter vivos trust, or a grantor trust. A living trust may be amended or revoked by the person creating it (typically called the “grantor”) at any time during the grantor’s lifetime.
A trust is a written agreement, akin to a contract, between the person (grantor) creating the trust, and the person (or institution) named to manage the trust assets (the “trustee”). It is often beneficial for you, the grantor, to be the initial trustee, until such time as you are unable to manage the trust assets, at which time your “successor trustee” would act on your behalf. This allows you to maintain full control over all of your assets during your lifetime. Typically, the living trust becomes irrevocable upon the death of the initial grantor or grantors. The trust is written with full instructions for the disposition of the trust assets after you die, so the trust assets do not pass through your will, and are not subject to expense, delay, publicity and formality of the probate process.
The trust, however, only controls those assets owned by the trust. Placing assets into a trust is referred to as “funding” the trust. It is important to note that an unfunded or improperly funded trust, does not allow an estate to avoid the probate process. A “back-up,” or “pour over” will, drafted in conjunction with the trust, should be put in place, providing for the transfer of any assets held in your name at death to the trustee of your living trust, so that those assets may be distributed in accordance with the trust provisions.
To ensure your estate plan is properly drafted and effective, you should consult with a qualified estate planning attorney to assist with planning and preparing your living trust, funding documents, back-up will and other estate planning documents.
Davidson Law Office, LLP is a Wisconsin wills, trusts, estate planning and asset protection planning law firm providing families and businesses with security and peace of mind through asset protection and estate planning. Serving clients throughout Wisconsin from the heart of the Fox River Valley, with offshore asset protection services, intertnational business corporations, domestic business structures, irrevocable trusts, family living trusts, life estates, powers of attorney, and complete estate and family security planning packages.
Davidson Law Office, LLP is a full service law firm providing estate planning services to individuals throughout the Fox River Valley communities, from Oshkosh to Appleton to Green Bay. Ensuring your legacy through comprehensive customized planning - Living Trusts, Wills, Asset Protection and Estate Planning. Kaukauna, Wisconsin.
Davidson Law Office is a full service civil law practice focusing on asset protection and estate planning for families and businesses. Protection from probate costs, loss to nursing home care expenses, and liability protections. Davidson Law Office provides trusts, comprehensive estate and family protection plans, irrevocable asset protection trust, domestic business entities and offshore asset protection entities as an overseas agent for Anguilla's Corporations Registry. Serving clients throughout Wisconsin, from the Fox River Valley, and across the U.S. with an emphasis on all apsects of asset protection, asset preservation and asset recovery for individuals, estates and businesses.
Call: WI (920) 558-9300 :: Toll Free (855) 558-9300
