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Insurance and Your Estate Plan by Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 28, 2024 Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2024 -- Focus on the Details Happy National Insurance Day to all who celebrate!  Yes, today, June 28th, is a day set aside to encourage us to review of insurance policies.  It's a thing, look it up!  Let's use this day take a broad view of insurance in your life.  Common types of insurance include: Life (whole life or term policy) Disability Long-term Care Health (including dental and vision) Automobile Homeowners or Renters Pet Health Care Whether you are in a car accident and are too sick to manage your financial world or your Earthly time has come to an end, someone is going to pick up the financial paperwork of your life and begin sorting it out.  Make that task easier by creating an up-to-date account of your insurance policies.  It can be as simple as handwritten notes on a piece of paper; the value is in organizing your thoughts and policies. Lis...

Wisconsin's Authorization for Final Disposition Form By Melinda Gustafson Geravsi June 20, 2024 The author with her father, approximately 1976. It was 11pm on a Friday night when the hospital called with the news that my father. who had been in palliative care for the past week, had left this Earth.  It happened just after my mother and I left his room for the evening.  Not in the best of health herself, my mother needed to rest at her home.  If he had control over his last breath, I believe my father waited until my mother was out of the room, a final effort to shield her from pain. While we knew what was going to happen, until it actually did the shock and grief hovered above, descending first with the phone call, then deeper when we walked into his room for a final time to say a good-bye.  I will never forget my mother's gasp as she entered his room.  Lifeless, she knew and felt his absence.   As we walked out of the hospital room door, the staff at...

Word of the Month: Intestate By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 14, 2024 At first glance you may have thought this month's word to define was interstate.  We all have road trips on our minds as we dive into the heart of summer.  However, the word this month is intestate , meaning to die without leaving a valid will.  Over the years I have commented frequently on the fact that the laws governing estate planning and probate are state specific.  Each state legislature writes its own laws.  While there are common aspects to this area of law, you will find variation as you cross state lines. Here in my home state of Wisconsin there is a statutory plan for what happens to a person's assets if they die without a valid will.  We call them the Intestacy Statutes and they can be found in Wis. Statutes, Chapter 852 Chapter 852 , where assets pass according to your next of kin. If you are a visual learner, check out this chart those shows next of kin relationships ...

Welcome to June and All of Its Change By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi June 3, 2024 June has long been a month known to usher in change, both in terms of the seasonal weather to your daily lifestyle habits. Underneath the long, sun-filled days brought by the Summer Solstice , there are graduations and weddings.  There are cross-country moves and the laying down of roots in a new community.  New jobs bring human resources paperwork for retirement accounts and life insurance.  Our weekend calendars fill up with parties and celebrations.  Once the dust settles, it is important to exhale and assess whether any of these changes warrant you creating or updating your estate plan.  Three key events include: Moving to a new state:  The laws of estate planning and probate are written by state legislatures, meaning the law varies from state to state.  If you created an estate plan ten years ago when you moved to Boston, but have now relocated to Minneapolis, new doc...

An Important Reminder When Setting Up 529 Plans -- Name a Successor Owner By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi May 27, 2024 Writer's need inspiration.  Combing the online "National Day Calendar" website gives me creative insight for blog posts, including todays.  Did you know that May 29th is National 529 Day -- a day to remind us of the ease and importance of saving for a child's post high school education. Funds in a 529 savings plan can be used to pay tuition for 4 and 2-year college programs as well as trade schools and accredited apprenticeship programs.  Within weeks of their birth, I set up a 529 plan for each of my children.  Personally, our family used Wisconsin's EdVest program, which offers multiple tax savings.  When I set the forms up I did so with the eye of an estate planning and probate attorney.  While I was the account owner and my child was the beneficiary, I made certain to name my spouse as the Successor Owner of the account.  That way, ...

20 Ways to Make Probate More Efficient By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi May 20, 2024 Weekly I hear from clients coming into my office that they want to make life easy for their loved ones when their time comes.  If you fall into that category, here are 20 action items you can take now that may make the work of probate easier on your loved ones: Write a will.  Only 32 percent of Americans have an estate plan. Without one there is no clear person to handle your final affairs.  Take control now and create a legal plan to say who is in charge. Nominate an institution to be your Personal Representative (called an Executor in other states).  An institution, such as the wealth management office of a bank, does this work day in and day out.  They can likely complete a task in an hour that might take your loved one a week to figure out; If available, file your will with your local courthouse for safekeeping.  This is a service offered here in Dane County, Wisconsin....

Word of the Month: Power of Attorney By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi May 13, 2024 Power of Attorney is a legal phrase commonly known among everyday Americans. However, just because a term is familiar to you, it does not mean you actually understand the term. Case in point, recently I was reading the book Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy by Dr. Sharon Malone. I thoroughly enjoyed the book until I got to the last chapter.  Despite admonishing medical doctors who gave advice outside their area of focus (think genecology vs. allergy), she proceeds to give legal advice in the last chapter going as far as recommending someone make their Power of Attorney a joint owner on bank accounts.  Dr. Malone's goal is to prevent a financial crisis from happening during a medical event.  While her intentions are good, her advice is not sound.  Adding someone to your bank account creates ownership interest, something most people do not intend to do.  A prop...