Aug 27, 2024

Hi, I'm attorney Trevor Pedersen with the Pedersen Law Office. And today I want to talk to you about the four basic estate planning documents everybody needs in the state of Wisconsin. The first document you would do would be the will. The will covers three major issues. One is if you pass away, who do you want to inherit your estate, and under what circumstances, meaning at what age do they receive it, do they have to use it for college education, or some other criteria that you may want to put in place for some reason.

Next, it will cover if you have minor children, who you want to raise those children for you. Last thing it will cover is who is to be the executor of your estate. We always make sure you put down at least one person and if they can't do it, at least one backup to make sure that there's someone available to take care of that.

The next two documents you'll do for your estate planning is a health care power of attorney and a financial power of attorney. The health care power of attorney is appointing who you want to make your health care decisions for you If you cannot for some reason, this could be due to an auto accident you had, or maybe due to a mental condition such as dementia that comes upon you.

It's just making sure that there's someone who's able to make those decisions. And again, you'll have at least one person, and then a backup, and then we always recommend a backup for the backup. So no matter what, there's someone who can make those decisions. That health care power of attorney will also include a HIPAA authorization to make sure that the person you have chosen can look at your medical records, talk with your doctors, so that the decision they're making for you, of course, is educated.

The fourth document you would need would be the Declaration to Physicians. This is the one where you put down if you want to be left on life support, if you end up in a vegetative state.

For most people, the answer is no. So this is a very important document to make sure you don't end up on that life support. The last document that some people need, or want, would be a trust. Not everybody in the state of Wisconsin needs a trust, but in certain circumstances, it's very beneficial. For instance, if you have a multi million dollar estate and you're worried about death taxes, you can use a trust to avoid those. Another time a trust is useful is if you have a special needs child or other beneficiary that receives supplemental security income.

Receiving an inheritance can mess with those benefits, but if you use a trust, that trust can go through and make sure they receive enough of the inheritance without actually messing up their benefits. Also, it is used a lot for a mixed family to make sure that everybody in the family does receive their fair share of the estate after both parents have passed away.

The other time that a trust is used is if you have to worry about nursing home costs. Under certain types of trust, you can take your assets and protect them from the nursing home cost if it seems like you are likely to end up in a nursing home sometime in the future. If you have any other questions about estate planning, or if you'd like to use my office to do those estate planning documents for you here in the state of Wisconsin, give me a call.

Again, I'm attorney Trevor Pedersen with the Pedersen Law Office.