Reflection: Estate Planning Is Not Just For Boomers By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 29, 2024 Yesterday marked 18 years since I turned in my State of Wisconsin employee badge to focus on building my own estate planning and probate legal practice.  After nearly two decades of running my own legal practice, which is focused on wills, powers of attorney and administering probate, I have learned quite a few things.  The one that impacts me the most and drives my habits outside of the office, is that fact estate planning and probate are not just for the Baby Boomers.  This fact see ..read more

Earth Day and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 22, 2024 Regular readers of my blog and recipients of my office newsletter (click here to check out past editions) know of my interest in The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.  Fueled in part by nearly twenty years as an estate planning and probate attorney with its visibility to how hard it is to clear out a deceased loved one's possessions as well as my general interest in all things Swedish (I attribute that to my Nordic genetics), today's post melds purging our possessions with taking care o ..read more

Taxes Due! By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 15, 2024 It's Tax Day; specifically, today is the day your federal and state income tax returns are due along with any payments you owe.  I recognize that not everyone finds the tax code to be as interesting as I do, so I will take this opportunity to highlight two areas in estate planning where an income tax may be due that can be a surprise: People who inherit from a Traditional IRA, 401K or other "qualified plan".  Distributions made from these types of inherited assets are likely subject to income tax by the new owner; and Fees paid ..read more

Don't Let the Cart Get Before the Horse in Estate Planning By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 8, 2024 The expression "don't let the cart get before the horse" comes to my mind most weeks at the office; clients approach estate planning in the wrong order. All too often a new client will say "I need a trust", usually because someone without a legal degree has told them they need one.  Gently I re-direct the clients to talk about their goals and wishes in estate planning.  Establish the wants first, then figure out which tool to use.  Sometimes it may be a trust, other times it may ..read more

Play Ball! Estate Planning and the Movies By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi April 1, 2024 Play Ball!  This All-American cry was heard from coast to coast last week as a new season of major league baseball started.  In a nod to this American past-time, I decided to watch the 1994 movie Little Big League which tells the tale of a 10 year old boy who inherits the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather.  Combine that storyline with today being April Fool's Day, and I am here to share what is likely obvious -- estate planning is not a joking matter.  Too often Hollywood uses estate pla ..read more

 Word of the Month: Issue By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 25, 2024 Conjure up an image of "lawyer" in your mind and chances are high that it will have a word bubble over the image's head that is filled with lengthy yet empty legal jargon.  While the legal profession is characterized as using far too many complex words, our legal education emphasizes concise writing.  For example, the word "issue" is only five letters long, but conveys a detailed concept. Within the context of estate planning and probate, the word issue means your "children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren ..read more

The Philanthropist Inside Us All By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 18, 2024 Earlier this year a news headline caught my attention, Reflecting on your legacy could make you more philanthropic, new research finds. Specifically the statement that "...when people are prompted to consider how their lives will impact future generations, they allocate more of their wealth to collective causes like charities and less to family members." This rung true with me based on nearly twenty years of client meetings; here is a standard discussion with clients creating or updating a will: Question: "W ..read more

Book Review: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Melinda Gustafson Gevasi March 11, 2024 Legacy Letters, also known as Ethical Wills, have grown in appeal in recent years.  Not a legally binding document, a Legacy Letter is just that, a letter you write with the intent it be read at the end of your life aimed at focus on your values, insights and life lessons.  Generally they are a few pages long, however, my recent re-reading of Randy Pauch's The Last Lecture reminded me that they can be more in depth. A 2008 NY Times Bestseller, the book is an expansion on the last lecture Prof. Randy ..read more

Rain Man: A Lesson in Estate Planning By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi March 4, 2024 It's March and the annual Academy Awards show is just around the corner.  Loving all types of storytelling, I make it a personal goal to watch as many of the nominated films as I can each year.  This year in addition to the nominated films, I revisited the movie Rain Man, which took home eight Oscars at the 1989 awards show, including Best Picture.  The film explores a week in the life of Charlie Babbit (played by Tom Cruise) who has just learned that his estranged father has died.  Charlie ..read more

Word of the Month: Personal Representative By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi February 26, 2024 Personal Representative is the term used in Wisconsin to identify the person authorized to administer the estate of a deceased person.  In other states it is called an Executor. A will or a codicil (an amendment to a will) nominates a person for this role. The actual authority of a Personal Representative is expressed in a document called the Domiciliary Letter, issued by a probate court.   This explanation of the term, as offered in Wisconsin's Personal Representative's Handbook is academi ..read more