Basic Estate Planning in Grafton
Customized Plans to Meet Your Goals
Our Basic Estate Plan sets out to accomplish three goals: to avoid probate, be tax efficient, and protect your beneficiaries. At Kitzke & Canfield, we rely on a revocable living trust as the best tool to accomplish all of these goals with healthcare and financial powers of attorney to support you during your life as well as a declaration of trust ownership, marital agreement (if applicable) and backup will to support your trust. No matter what you and your family need, our Ozaukee and Waukesha Counties estate planning attorneys can help you achieve it.
This process doesn’t end with the revocable living trust. After creating your plan, we walk through the best actions to take to ensure your assets flow through to your trust. This process is called funding. Some law firms try to charge you additional fees to fund your trust, but we believe it is unfair to charge you to explain to you how your documents work for you and accomplish your goals.
As life goes on and circumstances evolve, you may find that you want to make changes. In these situations, we are here for you and can help you get what you need. Finally, when you do pass, we are here for your family to help walk through trust administration. We are with you every step of the way.
There are several aspects of estate planning that we can help you and your family to navigate, such as:
- Revocable Living Trust
- Healthcare & Financial Powers of Attorney
- Declaration of Trust Ownership
- Marital Agreement
- Back Up Will
- Prenuptial Agreements
Why Isn’t a Will Enough?
One of the biggest deceptions surrounding estate planning is that a will is all you need. However, a will is only a guide to probate. Probate is the legal process through which the court and your personal representative pay your debts and distribute your assets after you pass. Probate, like most court processes, is slow, expensive, and publicly available information. If your goal is to avoid probate – the will should not be your main document. This is one of the reasons we rely on the revocable living trust to convey your wishes to your family without a trip to the courthouse.
Determining if a Revocable Living Trust Is Right for You
There are several advantages to setting up a revocable living trust. These advantages generally apply to estates of all sizes.
Trusts allow you to:
- Control how your assets will be distributed
- Help your estate/beneficiaries avoid probate
- Simplify the estate tax planning process
- Maximize your privacy
- Protect children from a previous marriage/relationship
- Administer property in multiple states with one document
A revocable living trust can offer you peace of mind in knowing that the terms of the trust must be honored.
Kitzke & Canfield Working for You
Our Grafton estate planning attorneys are committed to providing you with skilled and knowledgeable counsel. Whether you need basic or advanced estate planning tools, we can help you create a quality estate plan.