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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” ...