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The estate planning attorneys of David F. Stickler Law Firm, LLC help you protect your estate assets against possible future mental or physical incapacity, and the catastrophic costs of potential long-term medical or nursing care. We are committed to helping you protect the assets you are starting to develop or have spent a lifetime accumulating.

Our goals are the same as yours:

• To assist you in providing for your future financial needs
• To leave a lasting, fulfilling legacy to your heirs in years to come

We want your family to get the most assets possible with the least amount of tax. Our estate planning and trust attorneys provide individualized attention, strategies, and options to ensure your personal and business assets go to your intended beneficiaries.

One of the best ways to manage your personal and business assets is to develop a comprehensive estate plan designed to meet your individual needs.

Last Will and Testament

Direct where and to whom your estate will go after death, enable ease of administration for your heirs, choose Personal Representative of your choice, reduce estate taxes, appoint guardian for minor children, establish trust for minor children and heirs with disabilities. If you have a Will as your primary estate planning document, there will be a court probate proceeding in which a judge is in charge of administering the Will, the probate proceeding, and the distribution of your assets. 

Trusts

A trust is a legal document which holds property for the beneficiaries of the trust. Trusts have several purposes. Often trusts are established to avoid the time and expense of probate on the death of the donor. The settlor (the person who establishes the trust) continues to use and enjoy the property during his/her lifetime. Some trusts are created for “credit shelter” tax advantages for the settlor and/or the beneficiaries. Other trusts protect property and allow the settlor to qualify for Medicaid. We will work closely with you to ascertain which, if any, trust will fit your needs and your family’s goals.

Revocable “Living” Trusts

The settlor maintains complete control over the trust assets and the right to amend, revoke or terminate the trust at any time.

• Asset Management: The named trustee (who is in most circumstances the settlor) administers and invests the trust property for the benefit, initially, of the settlor, during the settlor’s lifetime.
• Probate Avoidance: Upon the death of the settlor, the assets in the trust will be distributed to the beneficiaries named in the trust by the successor trustee, without any probate court getting involved.
• Confidentiality: Having a Revocable Trust provides significant privacy to the settlor, as the only individual who will be privy to the information in the trust will be the settlor, the beneficiaries of the trust, and the successor trustee. A probate proceeding is public record. 
• Tax Planning: A Revocable Living Trust allows a settlor to accomplish many different tax planning benefits. 

Irrevocable Trusts

Examples of Irrevocable Trusts would be as follows:

• Trust for children and/or grandchildren.
• Credit Shelter Trust, which is a type of irrevocable trust that helps save, reduce or eliminate death taxes.
• Insurance Trust, which is an irrevocable trust that owns a life insurance policy on the settlor.
• Qualified Personal Residence Trust, which is a special type of irrevocable trust that allows gifting of the title to the settlor’s home in a tax-advantaged manner.
• Many types of charitable trusts. 
• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts

Whether or not an Irrevocable Trust is a "fit" for the settlor, will depend on the circumstances and goals of the settlor and applicable Internal Revenue Code provisions. Irrevocable Trusts can protect property from creditors, can provide avoidance of probate, tax savings, care for disabled children, and assistance in qualifying for needs-based public benefits. What particular type of irrevocable trust will benefit a settlor will be addressed by the estate planning specialist. 

Financial and Health Care Power of Attorney

We all worry about our ability to manage our own affairs in the case of mental or physical incapacitation. Proper and legal long-term planning helps to clearly and specifically inform your family and friends of your wishes should you become unable to state them yourself. We can help you draft a Financial Power of Attorney and/or Health Care Power of Attorney to ensure your wishes are respected.

Durable Financial Powers of Attorney

Appoint agent to handle your financial affairs in the event of incapacity. Will prevent the need for an expensive and intrusive guardianship proceeding in court.

Healthcare Power of Attorney

Appoint agent to handle health care decisions in the event of incapacity. Provide instruction to medical providers regarding terminally ill or vegetative state care. May prevent the need for an expensive and intrusive guardianship proceeding in court.

These documents are used in both Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Marital Property Agreement

Wisconsin is a marital property state. This fact has a significant bearing on almost every estate plan that involves a husband and wife. This document would be used in conjunction with either a will or a trust. In those situations where one or both spouses to a marriage are in a second marriage, serious consideration should be given, in almost every instance to a pre-nuptial marital property agreement, which means a marital property agreement entered into by the couple prior to their marriage.

Other Estate Planning Services

• Assisting with Probate
• Planning for disabled children-Special Needs & WisPact Trusts
• Gifting strategies
• Retirement planning
• Business succession planning
• Family limited partnerships
• Pre-nuptial Agreements

No matter the size of your estate, the importance of a comprehensive estate plan is indisputable. Protect your loved ones and yourself.

Services