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Sample Letter to your Personal Representative By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi December 1, 2021 Ireland Window.  Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2021 Samples are back !?! was the first thought that passed through my mind this past weekend when my spouse and I stopped at the westside Woodman's Liquor Store to select a few bottles for the upcoming holiday season.  Yes, samples at the liquor store, Johnnie Walker Double Black to be exact -- that is how we role here in Wisconsin. It felt a bit like the before-pandemic times and reminded me that samples of my work can be fun for my readers as well.  So today I share with you a sample of a document I provide to all of my current clients.  It provides suggestions for composing a letter of instruction to the personal representative (called an executor in other states).  Sample Letter to the Personal Representative Providing instructions to your Personal Representative (a.k.a Executor in other states) will increase the acc...

Book Review -- From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi November 5, 2021 Keeping with the ghoulish nature of the past week, Halloween and Day of the Dead, I picked up Caitlin Doughty's book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death .  Published in 2018 the book chronicles her travels around the globe to experience death rituals different from those commonly practiced here in the US and Western Europe.  The reader travels with the author to Mexico, Japan, Bolivia, Indonesia, Spain and other destinations.   Without question this book is a macabre read.  Some of the practices explored, such as decomposition of the human body in a literal compost heap are intriguing to those interest in a low carbon end to their earthly time.  However, other experiences may be more challenging to read about.  For example, the "ma'nene' " in Tana Toraja, Indonesia where relati...

Sample Letter to the Trustee of a Child's Trust By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi October 22, 2021 Today I dip into my own files to share the sample letter I give to all of my clients who have opted to create a testamentary trust for their children.  What is a testamentary trust?  It is a will that allows a parent to appoint the Personal Representative (known as an Executor in other states), a Guardian for a minor child, distribute their probate assets, and includes the recipe for a trust to be created if both parents die.   This is a way to transfer your assets into a trust if you die, managed by a trustworthy trustee you appoint, until an age you set for the children to reach before taking control of the money themselves.  Children can request funds from the trustee for expenses, but the trust has to agree to the expenditure.  Providing guidance to that trustee on what you think should be paid for is crucial when making this trust the most useful if you die be...

5 Overlooked Items to Include with your Estate Plan By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi October 11, 2021 Estate planning is the act of taking control of paperwork related to illness, death and taxes.  The obvious documents include things such as a power of attorney for health care, durable power of attorney for finances, beneficiary forms, a will, and sometimes a trust.  If you are looking to have an well organized plan that offers easy access to documents to ease the burden of your final affairs on your loved ones, consider including the following with these otherwise obvious documents: Copy of your state and federal income taxes for the past 3 - 5 years.  The include information on your accountant and assets that generated a loss or gain that may not otherwise be found; Deed to your home, cabin, or other real estate.  The deed will be needed at some point during the handling for your affairs, and finding it now allows you to review the wording to confirm it says what you ...

16 Lessons Learned: Estate Planning & Probate Practice By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi October 1, 2021 Today my practice is old enough to have its own driver's license -- #16!  Since 2005 I have been fortunate to counsel clients in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin on issues related to estate planning and probate.  Today I pause to share 16 lessons I have learned while navigating my practice: People often need a push to make the call to get on an attorney's calendar to complete an estate plan.  International travel and the arrival of a baby used to be the biggest nudges, then COVID 19 arrived to spur record numbers of people to take action and make a plan; It is immensely easier to make decisions about who will do what and where assets will go when you are NOT also dealing with a severe illness.  Don't wait to plan until you have a stage 4 cancer diagnosis.  Sadly, it is the number one thing to prompt clients to call; The type of estate planning vehicle (will v...

9 Things to Mention When Writing Instructions to a Trustee for Children By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi September 22, 2021 With a flourish you date the document and scrawl your signature on the line hovering above your name typed in Times New Roman font.  You drop the pen, sit back, let out a breath and say "we'll, I'm glad that is done".  In that moment you have created (or updated) your will.  Your children, age 13 and 11, now have legally appointed guardians if you and your spouse were to die.  The document also creates a trust fund to hold assets for the kids if they are orphaned before the youngest is age 30 (an age you set).  You are ready to cross "draft a will" off of your to-do list and get back to living life! It's true. The will is dated and signed (hopefully in accordance with the witnessing requirements of your home state), but is it really ready-to-go? If both you and your spouse were hit by the proverbial bus on your way home, would the trust...

Lost 401Ks and Pension Accounts - In Estate Planning Everything Needs a Home By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi July 13, 2021 Pop culture routinely tells us that the human mind is meant to be creative, solving problems, and dreaming up new ideas.  The brain, they claim, is not meant to hold a laundry list of to-do items or an inventory of our assets.  Attempts to go against the grain inevitably leave us standing in the produce aisle of a grocery store scratching our heads about what items we need to buy in order to fix dinner.  The same pit-fall captures quite a few of us when it comes to our retirement dollars.  According to CNBC from 2004 to 2013 more than 16 million 401K and pension accounts, with a balance of $5,000 or less, were left with a former employer.  In total, $8.5 billion was lost and not usable by retirees.  As a result, there is a current legislative proposal aimed to help connect individuals with lost accounts through a national “lost and found” ...

Estate Planning - Does Your Filing System Make Sense By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 14, 2021 What makes sense to you today does not mean it will make sense to others or even to yourself a few years down the road.  This is problematic for your important documents, including your estate plan.  A half-dozen years or so ago I answered my phone to hear a client having a mini-panic attack.  We had worked together a year or two prior, and now the client simply could not find the estate plan we had created. "I looked EVERYWHERE!  It's not under A for Attorney.  It's not under E for Estate Plan.  And it's not under W for Will!  I guess I am going to need you to redraft everything for me......"  With a sigh the client scheduled a meeting for the following week.  Fifteen minutes later the client called back, this time with joy.  "I found it! It was under D for Death!!!!" Here are a few take-aways from that client call: Not being able to find you...

Estate Planning in the Age of Misinformation By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 7, 2021 As the academic year comes to a close, I reflect on the many concepts my children studied during a year of virtual learning.  Math has gone from numbers the symbols used in geometry and algebra and social studies as moved beyond memorized State Capitals to more in-depth critical analysis skills.  Primarily the validity of source information.   As my daughter finishes her elementary school years I read along as she studied the last novel of her 5th grade education -- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.  Published by Puffin Modern Classics in 1978 the book plunges the reader into a mystery surrounding the will of an eccentric millionaire who lived in town.  Sixteen named heirs compete with each other to determine who killed the testator, Sam Westin, with the winner set to claim the $200 million estate.  Well I wasn't 5 pages into the book and rolling my lawyer eyes at th...

When to Update an Estate Plan By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 1, 2021 Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi 2021 June has arrived.  Gone are the drab brownish lawns and tree branches.  Lush green foliage is juxtaposed by the light blue skies.  When you live in Madison, Wisconsin, with is harsh winters and drastically different seasons, you tend to stop and appreciate when the verdant landscape arrives on your doorstep.  June also ushers in three common life events that illustrate times when it may be appropriate to update your estate planning documents: Graduations -- has a younger person in your life reached a more mature life stage to allow them to serve as your health care agent, personal representative, etc; Weddings -- has someone nominated in your estate plan had a name change?  If it has been "awhile" since you updated your documents, this name change may be the extra nudge towards updating your documents; and Retirements -- have you moved out of state?  I...

Estate Planning: develop a comprehensive list of your assets By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi May 24, 2021 Frenzied frustration, that is how I describe the adolescent emotions evoked when I played Whack-A-Mole at the Dane County Fair or random arcade.  Armed with a black mallet, the goal was to whack moles randomly popping up out of the half-dozen or so holes.  You would hit one another another would taunt you from the corner of your eye.  It was frenzied.  It was frustrating.  Yet, I loved that game and the challenges it presented.  Today as an estate planning and probate attorney that feeling emerges in each and every probate I assist with. Frenzied because someone has just died and the surviving family and/or friends want to move quickly to "take care" of things.  Sometimes a large family is all together for a funeral or memorial service, combining that event with cleaning out the deceased's home.  Grief, memories, surprise, and confusion hover o...

Tips for Managing Your Beneficiary Forms By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 12, 2021 Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2021, Dandelions! Signs of Spring 2021 are popping up all around us.  Before warmer weather pulls you outdoors and offers an abundance of activities, there is one Spring Cleaning Task I urge you to consider.  Making sure your beneficiary forms are in order.  I few weeks back I contacted my Brokerage with a question about its management fees.  The call was short, efficient, and eye opening.  The call started with my questions about how management fees are calculated and ended with the representative telling me that one of my IRA's did not have a beneficiary form listed.  "Seriously?" was my response.  I knew with certainty that I had completed those beneficiary forms, taking great care to name my spouse as primary and our children's trust as the contingent.  "No Ms. Gustafson Gervasi, I am sorry.  We have no record of a beneficia...

Pandemic Pets -- Do You Need a Pet Trust? March 26, 2021 By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi Georgie in Wisconsin Americans adopted a record number of pets during the COVID 19 pandemic .  Georgie joined the household of our dear friends towards the end of 2020, a few short weeks after being rescued from the streets of Austin, Texas. The rescue organization estimated his date of birth as May 5th.  Our families are looking forward to years celebrating Cinco de Mayo and toasting Georgie.   My social media feed now overflows with cute pet pics and queries about traveling with dogs, hiring pet sitters, and tips on preparing our new family members for the days when their devoted humans return to schools and workplaces.  Of course, me being me, I wonder -- has anyone asked themselves if their new family member necessitates updating their estate plan to include a pet trust? What is a pet trust?  In general terms (estate planning law varies from state to state) a pet trust...

What is a Beneficiary Form? March 24, 2021 By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi Every day I work with clients to create or update an estate plan.  Over the years I have learned many things from my clients.  One of the standout lessons is that many people are fuzzy on what a beneficiary form is.  Beneficiary forms are a critical piece of an estate plan because they control the distribution of certain assets  Here are a few key concepts I share with clients when educating them about this area of estate planning: The forms tell your financial service company where those specific assets will go upon your death.  Normally you can list a primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) as well as contingent(s). But for a few exceptions, the person(s) named on your beneficiary form will receive those funds no matter what your will or trust might say. Name the person(s) you intend for the assets to belong to on the form rather than a person who will "take care of handling the money"....

What Is A Personal Representative? By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 17, 2021 Are you delving into writing your own will?  Chances are you might be struggling with some of the legal jargon associated with Estate Planning & Probate.  Take a short pause and educated yourself on the various legal terms to minimize confusion or misunderstanding when you draft a document.  Here are a few suggestions for deepening your knowledge of a key role in an estate plan, the Personal Representative What is a Personal Representative:   This person is appointed by a court to administer the estate of a deceased individual.  In my home state of Wisconsin, the term Personal Representative is used.  However, other estates use the more familiar Executor or Executrix.  There are 50 different states in America.  Each has it's own laws governing estate planning and probate since the topic is a state's issue rather than a federal issue, such as immigration.  As a ...

What Makes a Good Estate Plan? Being Organized By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 12, 2021 What is that old saying, life happens suddenly on a Tuesday morning?  For me, life happened on a Friday morning earlier this month.  Settling down on our sofa with a hot cup of coffee and a new book, my plan was to start the day reading.  Then the phone rang.  Yes, an actual call.  "Husband" flashed across the screen.   Me: "Hey, what's up?  Did you find your wallet? Husband: "......Melinda?" came a dazed voice,  unlike my spouse's energetic way of speaking. Me: "What's the matter?" came out of my mouth as my gut told me something was wrong. Husband: "um, um,.....I fell off of my bike".  After 16 years together the call I dreaded had arrived.  I am married to a bike commuter, and year-round bike commuter.  The weather had just begun to warm up and he had returned to his 8 mile bike ride to work, using the recommended studded tires.  ...

What Does "Estate Planning" Mean? By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 3, 2021 Mystified may be the word many people opt to describe how they feel when they hear the phrase "Estate Planning".  For many the phrase evokes images of expensive lawyers sitting behind mahogany desks  serving clients with a seven-figure net worth.  When a person cannot insert themselves into that image, they dismiss "estate planning" for the wealthy and move on to the next item on their perpetual to-do lists.  Sadly, this is not true and learning the reality of estate planning can be a rude awakening when life reels up and places you or a loved one in the Emergency Room on a random Friday morning.  Estate planning is for everyone over age 18. Estate planning boils down to three things, planning for: illness, death and taxes.  The documents that comprise your estate plan may look very different than  the plans of America's Top 2%, but they will address illness, death, and in som...

Will Safekeeping Your Compass Series By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi February 22, 2021 Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2021 Creating an estate plan is one thing, maintaining one is a completely different issue. Recent news stories indicate that fewer than 35% of Americans have an estate plan.  Entering this group deserves a pat on the back, well done!  If you can, muster the focus and energy to go further and to maintain your plan.  An estate plan that is out of date or cannot be found is not much of an estate plan. From that concept grew my new series, Your Compass , where I will explore what it means to manage your estate plan once the ink is dry. Where is the dang will?  After fifteen years of working with estate planning and probate clients I can tell you a fact.  People lose their wills: accidentally shredded; misfiled and found years after it was needed; dementia takes the memory of where it was kept; it was packed with "important stuff" prior to the move, bu...

  At the Heart of Estate Planning: Where can you do the greatest good if tragedy strikes By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi February 5, 2021 Lawyers ask a lot of questions when counseling clients.  In my estate planning practice a typical sequence of questions when developing an estate plan sounds like this: Me:  When you die, where do you want your probate assets to go? Client:   To my spouse. Me:  And what if your spouse has predeceased you? Client:  Oh, well to my children equally. Me:  And if a child had predeceased you, would his/her share go to any child(ren) he or she may have had. Client.  Umm, well....yes, yes that makes sense. Me:  Okay, this is the last one, but if the unthinkable happened and you had no surviving children or grandchildren, what would happen then? Client:  Wow, I never thought of that before. One of my favorite things about working with clients is when they surprise me and give me tools to use with other client...

Talking to Children About Death -- What I've Been Reading  By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi January 8, 2021 Grief during the current pandemic is unlike anything most of us have experienced during our lifetimes. Gathering, hugs, sharing a meal are not recommended. Instead Zoom Memorial Services or limited attendance at the grave site puts a twist on our grieving process. In the middle of it all, we are raising children. Inevitably the adults will need to talk about death and dying. This past year I was introduced to two different illustrated children's books that may smooth the path for discussing the path of a loved one with young children. Badger's Parting Gifts by Susan Varley was introduced to me by the Rev. Kelly Crocker of the First Unitarian Society of Madison last Memorial Day weekend. Discussing death with children is never an easy duty, but it will be with us forever. In Badger's Parting Gifts the readers meet Badger, who is quite old, tired, and ready to go down ...