Articles
I Signed My Will, Now What?
By Attorney Katherine A. Young Completing your estate plan for the first time is a significant milestone. It means that you have taken an important step forward in planning for your family’s future. Our clients often breathe a sigh of relief after...
Harassment in the Headlines, Employers in the Headlights?
By Attorney Brian G. Formella It is hard to ignore the daily dose of headlines that assert new allegations of sexual harassment or abuse in American society. While the problem of sexual harassment may be analyzed on many levels – personal, societal,...
Life Events Require a Fresh Look at Insurance Coverages
By Attorney Bradley A. Yanke I recently had the incredibly good fortune of getting married to my wonderful wife, Kat. In addition to the name, address, and health insurance changes that came with this life event, I volunteered to get our auto and...
Special Needs Estate Planning
Special needs planning involves parents or caregivers who are interested in ensuring quality of life, advocacy and services to a child or individual with special needs. The planning itself is two-fold: First, parents and caregivers will want to be sure...
“As Is” Clause in Real Estate Agreement
When using an “as is” clause, the seller and the realtor are still obligated to make disclosures about the property, unless the buyers executed a valid waiver to receive the real estate condition report. Under Wis. Stat. § 709.01, the law requires that...
Health Savings Account Account (HSA)
Have a Health Savings Account? Do you know what happens to your HSA when you die? An HSA account is a tax-exempt, medical savings account that is available to United States taxpayers who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. Over the last few...
LLC Operating Agreement – Do I really need one?
As many people have learned, it is relatively easy to form a new limited liability company (LLC) these days. Often when new clients come in for business advice, they have already filed the Articles of Organization through the Wisconsin Department of...
Legal Separation or Divorce?
A physical separation of spouses is not a “legal separation” regardless of how long it has been since the parties have lived together. A “legal separation” occurs through a court proceeding that is almost identical to a divorce proceeding. There are two main...
Imperfect Title: A Survey Exception Primer
There is little risk in presuming that the majority of homeowners rate their property as their most important asset. Paradoxically, homeowners likely know more about their car insurance than the insurance purchased for the purpose of protecting legal title to their...
Beneficiary Designations
Clients often ask questions about the use of beneficiary designations in their estate planning. Beneficiary designations can be a convenient way to avoid probate in some situations. If an individual is named as a direct beneficiary on an asset, that asset passes...