Estate Planning & Estate Administration
A Wisconsin estate plan is a set of decisions — who makes medical calls for you, who handles money if you cannot, where your property goes when you pass. Rebecca builds plans that fit the life you actually live, in language your family will understand the first time they read it.
What an estate plan does for a Wisconsin family
Most first-time clients come to Rebecca with the same three worries: making sure a spouse or partner is protected, making sure minor children have a named guardian, and making sure no one has to guess about medical decisions in a hospital hallway. A Wisconsin estate plan addresses each of those directly.
A will directs where your probate property goes after you pass. A revocable living trust can move assets outside of probate entirely and provide a private, faster path to distribution. A durable financial power of attorney names the person who can pay bills, manage investments, and deal with the IRS if you cannot. A healthcare power of attorney and an advance directive put your medical wishes in writing, so a hospital has something to follow.
None of those documents replace the others. A thoughtful Wisconsin plan stacks them — so whichever challenge arrives first, your family is not starting from scratch.
The Wisconsin law behind your plan
Wisconsin's probate code lives in Chapters 851 through 882 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Chapter 851 defines the core terms; Chapter 853 governs wills; Chapter 854 covers anti-lapse, no-contest, and non-probate transfers. The Wisconsin Trust Code (Ch. 701) governs revocable and irrevocable trusts. Powers of attorney for finances sit under Ch. 244 (the Uniform Power of Attorney Act), and the healthcare POA is in Ch. 155. Advance directives (living wills) are in Ch. 154.
You do not need to know these chapter numbers to get an estate plan. Rebecca does — and she builds documents that use Wisconsin's statutory forms where they help and custom drafting where they do not.
Wisconsin is also a marital property state under the Marital Property Act (Ch. 766). That affects what each spouse owns, how assets pass at the first death, and whether a marital property agreement belongs in your plan. It is one of the places Wisconsin estate planning diverges most sharply from the advice you might see in a national blog.
How Rebecca builds the plan
The first meeting is a conversation, not a sales pitch. Rebecca asks about your family, your assets, any prior planning, and what is worrying you most. If an engagement makes sense, she explains what is needed, what it costs on a flat-fee basis, and how long it will take.
Drafting happens next — usually within two to three weeks. Every draft arrives with a plain-language summary that explains what each document does and why a particular choice was made. Clients read it, ask questions, and we revise before signing.
At the signing appointment, Rebecca walks through every document out loud, point by point, with any family members you want present. You leave with executed originals, clear instructions on where to store them, and a short list of next steps — updating beneficiary designations, retitling accounts, moving property into a trust if one was funded.
When to revisit the plan
Estate plans are not one-and-done. Rebecca suggests clients revisit their plan every three to five years, and sooner when something material changes — a marriage, divorce, death in the family, the birth or adoption of a child, a significant change in net worth, or a move into or out of Wisconsin.
Changes in federal estate or gift tax law also matter. The federal exemption is currently historically high, but sunsets in the statute are real and Congress revisits them regularly. Rebecca flags these in her blog and in follow-up letters to existing clients when thresholds move.
In this practice area
Go deeper
-
Wisconsin Wills
A Wisconsin last will and testament directs where your probate property goes, names a personal representative, and names a guardian for minor children.
-
Revocable Living Trusts
Keep control of your assets while you are alive, avoid probate, and make distribution to your family private and faster.
-
Special Needs Trusts
Provide for a loved one with a disability without disqualifying them from SSI, Medicaid, or other means-tested benefits.
-
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
Name the person who pays bills, manages investments, and handles the IRS if you lose capacity. Wisconsin's statutory form under Ch. 244.
-
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Name the person who speaks to doctors if you cannot — including end-of-life decisions — under Wis. Stat. ch. 155.
-
Advance Directive & Living Will
Put your wishes about life-sustaining treatment in writing so hospitals have something to follow under Wis. Stat. ch. 154.
Frequently asked
Common questions
- Do I need a will, a trust, or both?
- Most Wisconsin families need a will plus durable financial and healthcare powers of attorney plus an advance directive. A revocable living trust is added when it solves a specific problem: avoiding probate, privacy, managing property for a beneficiary with special needs, blended-family distributions, or out-of-state real estate. Rebecca will tell you directly whether a trust adds enough value to justify its cost.
- How much does an estate plan cost in Wisconsin?
- Rebecca charges flat fees for estate-planning engagements, quoted after your first meeting when she knows exactly what documents you need. Simple wills with powers of attorney are at the lower end; revocable living trust packages cost more and reflect the additional drafting and funding work. You will have a written fee quote before you are asked to sign an engagement letter.
- Can my spouse and I share the same estate planning attorney?
- Most married couples with aligned intentions are represented jointly — Rebecca works with you as a couple with a written joint-representation agreement that explains how she handles information. If your intentions diverge (a second marriage with children from a prior relationship, a spouse who wants separate planning), Rebecca will tell you when separate counsel is advisable.
- Do my documents need to be notarized? Do I need witnesses?
- Wisconsin wills must be signed in the presence of two disinterested witnesses (Wis. Stat. § 853.03). Self-proved wills also include a notary's acknowledgment. Durable financial powers of attorney and healthcare powers of attorney must be signed before witnesses, and some must be notarized. Every plan Rebecca signs is executed in her office with witnesses and a notary present — no hunting for witnesses afterward.
- What happens if I die without a Wisconsin estate plan?
- You die "intestate," and Wisconsin's intestate succession statute (Wis. Stat. §§ 852.01–852.05) decides who inherits. If you are married without children, your spouse inherits. If you have children from a prior relationship, the estate is split between your spouse and those children under a statutory formula. Minor children without a named guardian are placed by a court. The state never "takes" your estate — but it also does not know what you would have wanted, so it applies the default rule.
- Does a Wisconsin estate plan cover long-term care and Medicaid?
- Not automatically. Medicaid planning is its own specialty and overlaps with but is not the same as estate planning. If long-term care is a near-term concern for you or a parent, raise it at your first meeting — Rebecca will walk through whether the plan needs to address Medicaid eligibility, asset protection, and the five-year look-back, or whether a separate Medicaid-focused engagement is the right call.
Ready to talk?
Tell Rebecca a little about your situation. She will be in touch — usually within one business day.