What Exactly Is An Estate Plan?

What Exactly Is An Estate Plan?

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

February 28, 2025 

Crown - Copenhagen, Denmark, Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi

“So, what exactly is an estate plan, and do I need one?” asked the client seated across from me earlier this week.  “Um, my life is really pretty simple…do you think I need something like that?” they added.

My response was a simple “Yes”. To me an estate plan means preparing for illness, death, and taxes. It may not look like the estate plan used by the rich and famous, but it will address preparing for illness and death”

Here are common types of documents that make up an estate plan:

• Power of Attorney for Finances is a document that allows another person to handle financial tasks and decisions, such as banking, taxes, real estate, legal actions, and professional assistance if you are alive but too sick to act.
• Power of Attorney for Health Care – is a document that gives someone else the power to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself.  For example, consenting to surgery, coordinating in home health care, or securing long-term care. 
• Advance Directive (also known as a Living Will) is a document that allows you to express your wishes about feeding tubes and other life sustaining procedures if you are in a persistent vegetative state or are terminally ill and the physicians do not think you will recover. 
• Authorization of Final Disposition is a government form that allows you to designate a person to make burial and funeral arrangements as well as express your intention for cremation or green burial.  In Wisconsin, when you die your powers of attorney end and our statutes assume your next of kin will make burial decisions.  This may not mirror your wishes, especially if you are in a committed relationship but not legally married.  
• Beneficiary designations are labels you place on assets that direct the assets distribution at your death.  You can create these for life insurance, retirement accounts, pensions and annuities with a death benefit, financial investments (brokerage, HSA, money market, etc), standard bank accounts such as checking, savings, and CDs, as well as real estate in some states (in Wisconsin it is called a Transfer on Death Deed).  
• A will is a legal document that facilitates probate (a will does not avoid probate).  A will tells the court who will be in charge of administering your estate (called an Executor in many states; in Wisconsin the role is called Personal Representative); nominates guardians for any of your minor children; and distributes property that did not have a co-owner or named beneficiary.  
• Living Revocable Trust is an instrument that you create during your lifetime to hold your assets, and then upon your death the instrument states where the assets held in trust shall be distributed.  This designation means they pass outside of the probate process.  They are very useful in states with high probate fees.  

The expression Estate Plan may come off as highfalutin; do not let it deter you from the important work of creating a plan for illness and death.  Without legal documents in place, a sudden illness or death can cause chaos on top of grieving.  Make the time to make a plan, then put it into a legal binding format that conforms to the laws of your state of residence.

Thank you for reading. As a reminder, a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection.  Please seek legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state of residence.  Make sure to receive future posts; enter your email in the upper right corner to receive notifications when new material is posted.  Thanks again for reading, be well!

What I’ve Been Reading: Let’s Talk About Aging Parents: a real-life guide to solving problems with 27 essential conversations by Laura Tamblyn Watts

What I’ve Been Reading: Let’s Talk About Aging Parents: a real-life guide to solving problems with 27 essential conversations by Laura Tamblyn Watts

February 18, 2025

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

“Ahhhh, Mom….why are you reading a book about aging parents?” asked my observant 14 year old.  With her head tilted just so she added “....um you know we don’t have grandparents, right, you “k”?”  Rather than be frustrated with my teenager for pointing out the obvious and conveying with her eyes a concern about my possible dementia, I classified the moment as one in which my child’s maturity is starting to deepen.  The simple “k” being her way of saying “mom, are you doing okay?”  Smiling, I reminded her that I often read books for work to find ones my clients might enjoy.  Well aware that we have no “aging parents” on either branch of our family tree, I still picked up a copy of Let’s Talk About Aging Parents: a real-life guide to solving problems with 27 essential conversations by Laura Tamblyn Watts at our local library.

Book, tea, and more books.

True to its title, the book presents 27 chapters, each addressing a discrete topic covering a wide and realistic range of issues.  From how safe a home is to legal documents to addressing drinking problems of the elderly, the book is easy to read and offers a variety of conversation starters.  Most of us either have an elderly loved one in our family circle or may be ourselves the aging person others care about; either way, most readers can read this book and finish with a few useful tools and things to think about.

What stood out to me the most was the book's approach to the reality of life.  How to approach thorny conversations that reflect modern life is the biggest asset of this book.  For me (who lost both of her parents at a relatively young age due to alcoholism) I appreciate how the book addresses the issue of elderly drinking.  A reality of life in many homes, but one not portrayed on Thursday night sit-coms.  

If I had to point to a weakness in the book, which any solid book review should do, I would say it was the section on estate planning documents.  The reader is left feeling like they could and or should guide their parents through the process of setting up powers of attorney, a will, and or trust.  From where I sit as an estate planning and probate attorney, I find this problematic. An ideal situation for me is to hear directly from a client who wants to create or update an estate plan; I do not want the child to contact me saying “my parent needs to do work with you.”  The appearance of undue influence is so easily created by an overly helpful child trying to get paperwork in order.  Keep that in mind as you work to assist your parent, but not cross the line into taking over.

All in all, I think most readers will enjoy this book.  My favorite take away are here 3 rules: keep moving, but never rush; ask for help if needed; and stay hydrated.  This is the perfect example of her easy to embrace suggestions for navigating life with an older loved one.  

My 14 year old.....before the more mature side kicked in.

Thanks for reading!  Never miss a post; follow this blog by entering your email in the box located in the upper right hand corner of this page.  Remember, a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection.  Please consult with an attorney in your home state for advice specific to your situation.  

Embrace A Low-Tech Foundation For Your Estate Plan

Embrace  A Low-Tech Foundation For Your Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

February 7, 2025

Geroges -- everyone paid attention!

“Rome is a lasagna,” said Georges, our tour guide for Palatine Hill, the Forum, and The Colosseum, “we have built layer upon layer.” Spry and a fountain of information on Roman history, Georges filled my brain not only with basic facts about Rome, but he planted a seed in my mind to reinforce the importance of a quality foundation in my verbal and written work as an estate planning and probate attorney.  

Roman Holiday

For just about twenty years I have spent my working days counseling on the ins and outs of estate planning and probate.  As a result of my work in this often gloomy area of life, I know that tomorrow is never guaranteed.  Rather than wait until my retirement years to travel, I work travel in whenever our schedules and budgets allow.  That is why this past December, Santa pulled out the passports and delivered my family a Roman Experience as a holiday gift.  

As we toured the modern capital city, its lengthy history was constantly visible. The sun soaked structures upon which Rome was built reinforced the power of a solid foundation. Foundation – the word means the underlying structure or backbone of a building or enterprise.  It provides essential support, allowing for stability and longevity.  For those interested in building a solid and sound estate plan, start with your fundamentals.  Specifically, review what foundation do you have in place for your estate plan.  Can it be built on overtime?

Roman Foundations, the Lasagna Style of Building

In addition to my wanderlust, I am also a luddite.  My interest in travel fits well with my spouse’s travel habits, but my resistance to technology leaves him baffled.  In his defense, he is an electrical engineer who spends his working days designing the green printed circuit boards in medical devices (and other electronics).  He loves the digital world, while I am a bit more skeptical.  That is why our estate plan is built off of a 3-ring binder rather than a digital application.  

My resistance to digital estate planning approaches is how quickly they become obsolete.  If I were to attempt to access files from my undergraduate days at UW-Madison I would hit a brick wall.  Back in the early 1990s everything was stored on floppy disks.  I cannot just open those up. Yet, I can easily flip through writings from my middle school and high school years because they were on paper and stored in a trapper-keeper.  And, not only can I just flip that trapper keeper open, so can my kids.  Ease of access is my primary draw to using a tangible system upon which to create an estate plan.  

Examples of low-tech, easy to access, and affordable foundations for your estate plan include:

• three-ring binder; 
• drawer in a filing cabinet; 
• portable plastic storage box; and 
• small home safe

Thank you for reading.  Please remember that a blog is not legal advice; it is intended to spark thought and reflection.  It is always best to seek legal advice from an attorney licensed in your state to address your own unique situation.  If you found this post helpful, consider sharing it on your favorite social media platform.  And never miss a post; become a “follower” of this blog by entering your email in the prompt above (upper right).  Again, thanks for reading and be well.

Looking for A Solid Estate Plan? Who You Appoint is Key

 Looking for A Solid Estate Plan?  Who You Appoint is Key

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

January 30, 2025

As I approach my 20th anniversary of operating an estate planning and probate practice I find my mind cataloging lessons I have learned along this journey.  There is the flippant quip that the word deceased is typed entirely with my left hand.  Interesting, but not of much value in terms of passing along wisdom.

Which brings me to today’s blog post.  Without doubt, a primary motivator for my clients creating or updating an estate plan is to have things in order so that their death is as easy as possible on their loved ones.  Just this week a client asked for my opinion on a decision, stating “I’ve never died before, so this is all new to me….what do you think?”  Well, I have not died before either, but for two decades I have paired my estate planning work with a practice administering probates and trusts.  My take-away has been that far more than the tool you use (oh that eternal question, should I use a will or a trust) it is who you appoint to handle your final affairs that matters the most.  It’s the who, not the what.

Delay, discord, disaster – they all seem to stem from a person who is in charge that is well beyond their skill set.  Perhaps they are a smart person, but simply do not have the bandwidth to take on all that is involved in dying.  So the work is pushed off and off until a crisis develops.  Managing a crisis is never ideal.  Other times the person put in charge has the time and skill-set, but not the best temperament when interacting with other loved ones who are also grieving.  Perhaps they relish the chance to finally take the reins and do exactly what they have wanted to do for so long, forgetting the feelings of others involved.  And sometimes the person who finds themself in charge of a probate estate or a trust is simply not good with details and numbers.  “Oh, I didn’t know that” is not a viable defense when the IRS starts asking questions about income tax filings that were wrong, or never even filed.  Trust me, no one enjoys an IRS inquiry.

Estate planning is one area in life where you can take control and make things happen.  Whether you need a Personal Representative (that is the title we use in Wisconsin, other states use Executor) of your will or you need a Successor Trustee for a Living Revocable Trust (the go to for residents of California) give a good deal of thought to you name to be in charge of final affairs.  Aim for Switzerland.  Who in your life is efficient, precise, and relatively neutral.  If no one fits that bill, look for a corporate entity to act as your fiduciary.  

Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2025, Hamburg, Germany

Thank you for reading.  If you have found this helpful, considering sharing it via your favorite social media platform.  Remember, a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection; please seek legal counsel specific to your situation in your state of residence.  Be well!

Don't Let Frugality Complicate Your Estate

Don't Let Frugality Complicate Your Estate

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

January 21, 2025

It's waiting for that lazy morning when I have time to bake.....

A piece of satire from our neighbors to the North recently popped up in my social media feed.  Woman with freezer full of overripe bananas dies never having made banana bread – the algorithm decided this 2017 piece from The Beaverton (Canada’s version of The Onion) should rise to the top of digital articles waiting for my eyes.  So yes, the algorithm nailed it.  In my professional world I tend to read about end of life regrets and assorted issues; I’ve been practicing estate planning and probate law for 20 years.  And in my personal life, I have a freezer full of ripe bananas waiting for the one lazy morning when I have time to bake.

Show of hands – who else stashes useful items away for the proverbial rainy day.  Bananas in the freezer?  Check.  Twist ties from the bread bag in the kitchen drawer?  Check.  A precarious tower of boxes in assorted sizes waiting to be summoned to the frontlines to deliver a package?  Check.  My inner frugal identity runs deep and strong.  Why buy a box to ship something to my family in Texas when I can hold on to one that recently delivered slippers for my teens holiday gift.  Frugality is great.  But sometimes it needs to have a reality check because our cabinets, drawers and freezer become overrun with good intentions.  So I either need to bake the banana bread already or acknowledge reality and clear out the freezer.  As I often quip to my husband – one day will either move or we’ll die, but eventually someone has to deal with all of this STUFF.

Personally I find a deadline creates a nice boundary to tackle a task.  February is going to be my “use it up” month for kitchen supplies that have been hanging around a bit too long.  At the end of the month, it I still have an item (think of those bananas) I will:

• Offer it to friends or neighbors via email or a social media post
• Donate non perishable and unexpired items to my local food pantry (the entryway of our library has a collection bin)
• If suitable, add it to my backyard compost
• If suitable, drop it in my recycling bin (those boxes towering in the basement)
• Consider if a charity thrift store can sell it to raise funds
• What creative ways do you use to keep your closets and cabinets neat and orderly?  Share a comment!

Remember that a blog is not legal advice; it is a tool to spark thought and conversation.  Always seek legal advice from an attorney licensed in your home state.  Thank you for reading, be well!

Piece of Cake: 12 Ways to Boost Your Estate Plan

Piece of Cake: 12 Ways to Boost Your Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

January 13, 2025

Now firmly planted in a new year, my office newsletter is off to the printer for processing.  This year the “winter edition” theme is getting your ducks in a row.  Continuing with that focus, today’s blog post offers 12 ways to improve your estate planning game; one for each month of this new year.

One, embrace your inner luddite and turn to paper over digital documents.  If this recommendation shocks you, consider how hard it is to get into your phone, email or computer at times.  Now project that situation to someone else trying to gain access to your digital world when you are incapacitated.  Part of estate planning is the goal to make life easier on our loved ones.  Having well-organized hard copies of documents to look through may be far easier during a time of crisis and or grief.

Two, find yourself a three-ring binder or divided storage box.  Any office supply store or thrift store carries numerous options.  This simple tool gives you a structure to fill in, creating a tangible and organized estate plan.  Personally, I use a three-ring binder with subject dividers: powers of attorney, will, beneficiary forms; letters of instructions; financial documents; titles & deeds; contact information for loved ones; and information for an obituary.

Three, assess what you have created in terms of estate planning documents.  Perhaps it is nothing, but chances are you have a beneficiary form for the life insurance and retirement at work or a simple power of attorney from a surgery you had six years ago.  Before striking out into new territory, take time to make an honest and accurate assessment of what you already have in place.  Then you can determine what is missing or out of date.

Four, decide on who will act for you if you are alive but too sick to make decisions.  In the State of Wisconsin this is called your Power of Attorney.  There is one for healthcare decisions and another for financial matters.  Note, each state has its own set of laws and regulations about estate planning and probate, so it is important to understand the legal structure where you live.  Creating powers of attorney is your way of saying who is in charge and speaks for you if you are alive and too sick to act.  Rather than list your first born simply because they are older, I encourage you to nominate the person who is best suited for the role.  Who is comfortable in the medical setting and making decisions in the ICU?  Who is confident when it comes to hiring a CPA, reviewing long-term care insurance, and understanding your retirement system?  

Five, determine what will happen to your assets at death.  Make a plan for what will happen to your assets once you have died and final bills are paid.  Once you know, sort out a contingency plan.  This will give your documents a lot more longevity.  For example, I leave my entire estate to my spouse.  If my spouse has predeceased, then to my children in equal shares.  If they too have died, then equally between four nonprofits that have been pivotal in my life.

Six, settle on the person or entity that will handle your final affairs.  Wisconsin calls this person your Personal Representative, other states use the term Executor.  It can be a person or it can be an entity, such as a bank or other financial fiduciary.  This is the person who will determine what final bills need to be paid, liquidate your assets, empty your fridge and medicine cabinet, sell your car, and distribute your assets per the instructions in the will.  It is not an easy job; imagine going through what feels like an IRS Audit while grieving.  Then ask yourself who is the best person for the job. 

Seven, consider who will step in to care for dependents.  If you have minor children, you will need to name a guardian.  This is the person who will step into the day-to-day role of packing lunches, buying school supplies, coordinating birthday parties, taking them to urgent care, and celebrating milestones like birthdays and graduation.  If you do not have minor children in your life, you may have a furry or feathered companion who also needs a loving caretaker to step in should you pass away.  Who might that be?  Make your decisions legally binding and create a will nominating a guardian for children and a caretaker for pets.

Eight, decide if a nonprofit organization belongs in your plan. Many people wish to make a final gift to a nonprofit they are involved with.  This may be a small percentage of life insurance or donating your personal library to the library book sale fundraiser or designating the entity in your will.  If you do opt to name a nonprofit, make sure you list it by its full and correct legal name.  

Nine, once you have made all of these decisions you need to draft legal documents in your state of residence.  While you do not need to work with an attorney, doing so may make this daunting task just a bit easier.  If your budget does not allow you to hire counsel, take the time to learn about how to properly execute documents.  Witnessing, signatures, and dating requirements must be followed. 

Ten, review and update beneficiary forms as needed.  Beneficiary forms on life insurance, retirement accounts, and other financial instruments control where an asset will go on your death.  Oftentimes this controls, not what your will says.  It is imperative that you know if you have beneficiary forms and what they say.  If they are out of date, updating them is key.  And keep a hard copy of them in your paperwork.  It is not only a road map to your loved one on where you hold assets, it is proof of what you wanted to happen to those funds upon your death.

Eleven, purge the unnecessary from your life - both tangible and intangible.  Look around your home.  All of that stuff will need to be dealt with; you will either move and deal with it, or you will die and someone else will deal with it.  Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.  Purge - donate, re-home, recycle, or trash it now rather than later.  It is a true gift.  And do not overlook the clutter piling up in your digital world as well.  It may not be as obvious, but storing it online consumes precious energy.

Twelve, write guidance letters to those you have appointed. While not legally binding, letters of instruction can save a tremendous amount of time and energy for those whom you appoint to act on your behalf.  Focus on the big picture.  Who does your taxes?  What is your neighbor’s phone number? How do you get in touch with your employer?  A simple list of important phone numbers or emails can be a wonderful support to those stepping up during a time of grief.

Routinely I drop the African proverb “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time” into my work with clients when developing an estate plan or administering a probate. Break it down into small, easy to process tasks. As we work our way through 2025 I will blog in more detail about these 12 steps to a better estate plan.

A blog is not legal advice; it is meant to spark thought and reflection.  Please seek legal counsel from an attorney licensed in your home state.  Thank you for reading, and be well!

 

4 Quick Tasks To Keep Your Estate Plan In Great Shape

4 Quick Tasks To Keep Your Estate Plan In Great Shape

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

December 27, 2024

Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi,
2024
Departing buses, Panama

There is a “National Day For ……” everything, including “Still Need To Do Day”, which is celebrated on December 29th.  A day that is set aside to make a final push to complete items on their To-Do List of the current year.  While 2024 may be fading fast, there is still time for those eager to create or update an estate plan.  In fact, you may be off of work this week, creating more more free time than usual.  Here are 4 quick tasks you can work on before 2025 arrives:

1. Print off your holiday mailing card list and put a hard copy with your estate planning documents.  I do this every year.  When my earthly time comes to an end I want my loved ones to send a note to those I felt close enough to receive a holiday card.  Having a printed list of names and addresses is low-tech and easy has heck to access in a time of grief;
2. Confirm beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts, life insurance and other substantial financial assets say what you think you say.  Take this one step further and print out the designations to add to your estate planning documents.  Hard copy proof of those designations may be extremely helpful to your heirs as they process end-of-life documents; 
3. Create a list of all your online platforms, and I mean ALL of them.  From Netflix to LinkedIn to Bluesky – where do you spend time in the digital world.  Perhaps you ended accounts in 2024 in an effort to clean up and purge platforms you no longer use.  An list of current accounts will be immensely helpful to whomever you have put in charge of your final affairs; and 
4. Document that name and contact information for the professional services you rely on: accountant, financial planner, housekeeper, lawn person, pet sitter, and other service providers that might be needed if you are suddenly ill and not able to handle your normal routine.  Again, I recommend putting these on paper – which is a lot easier to access than a digital form on your iphone or computer. 

If you found this post helpful, consider sharing it on your social media.  Get notified of future posts by following this blog; enter your email above, in the upper right hand corner.  And remember, a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection.  It is best to seek legal advice from an attorney in your state of residence.  Thank you for reading and best wishes for 2025!