Probate
A Family Legacy Since 1920
• Family and Locally Owned
• Compassionate Legal Experts
• Family and Locally Owned
• Compassionate Legal Experts
Experienced Probate Attorneys in Wausau, WI
Probate can be an expensive, complicated process that leaves your surviving family members confused, angry and without the assets you intended to give them. It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, with proper estate planning now you can “die broke,” essentially – making a plan to have all of your assets given away before your death and make the probate process a simple and straightforward one for everyone concerned.
At Schmidt & Schmidt S.C., we provide knowledgeable guidance and quality estate planning, probate and estate administration services to families and individuals throughout North Central Wisconsin. Call or email
us today for probate and estate administration advice from a lawyer you can trust.
What Happens After Is Largely Up to You
Once you die, your will and your death certificate are filed with the probate register. A petition for formal probate or informal probate is then filed with the probate court. Sometimes on larger estates, a hearing will be ordered to determine the personal representative (formerly known as the executor), the legal heirs and the veracity of the will.
Informal probate
is fairly simple, fast and very affordable. It is used in the vast majority of probate actions and is most appropriate for non-contested matters or simple estates.
Formal probate, as you might have guessed, can be lengthier, more complex and more expensive. It is used when there are complex issues that were not resolved before death. The ONLY way to avoid probate is to “die broke”.
Generally speaking, probate gets expensive when (1) there is fighting amongst the decedent’s relatives, (2) when there are a large number of claims against the estate, (3) when there is a lot of debt to be resolved or paid, or (4) when the estate is large and has been poorly managed. Making the correct decisions now, with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney, can minimize the chances of this happening.
How To Avoid Probate
It is really quite simple: You die “broke!"
Not meaning to sound crass, flippant or stupid, the only way to avoid having a need for a probate action is to have no assets, debts or claims to deal with. By now you already know that the word “broke” has more than one meaning, don’t you?
So you have worked hard all your life and have accumulated a nice nest egg. In fact, you may even have some money or property left over to give away to family, friends or charity. To die broke does not necessarily mean you are living in a box under the bridge. It just means that upon your death ALL of your financial affairs have been dealt with in a way that leaves you “broke” at the moment of your death.
OK, How Do I Become “Broke?"
You do this by (1) ‘Divesting’ [giving away for no or low market value], (2) by designating a beneficiary to your property, or (3) “selling” everything [converting the nature of your property] you have before you die.
When you visit Schmidt & Schmidt S.C. to work with the experienced probate attorneys in Wausau, WI, you can have a plan drawn up that will deal with Divestments [giving property away], selling/spending and other Beneficiary Designations [deciding who will get certain property upon your death] in a way that allows you to keep possession of your home, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement plans as well as insurance and annuity plans.
WARNING:
Some of these plans do have significant impact on your estate, especially if you are ever in need of using the services of a nursing home. Even if you do not want to go to a nursing home, your health situation may require the use of one. If you plan wrong the vast majority of your estate will be used to pay for a nursing home.
Kinds of Probate
Here at Schmidt & Schmidt S.C., we have practiced administering families’ and decedents’ estates for over 90 years. We take great pride in the hard work that we do, and the accuracy and the efficiency with which we close out an individual’s estate.
If you need assistance with your estate planning or just want to know more about anything you read in this article, contact our Wausau law firm online or call (877) 757-6995 to schedule an appointment with a probate attorney.
Probate is the orderly distribution of what is left of your property after you have passed away.
Probate essentially works like this: After your death, an individual you have appointed in your will, typically called a “personal representative,” steps up and files papers asking to become the personal representative with the court. After a period of time, the court approves the appointment of the personal representative and that individual then is in charge of and responsible for (1) finding all of your property, that is, marshalling it together; (2) notifying the public and creditors that you have died and that they have 90 days to file a claim against your money, and (3) the personal representative is then to pay on those claims and after those claims are done, to pay out what is left to your heirs and beneficiaries.
In Wisconsin, there are three major groups of probate. Whether or not you have a will, it does not matter. Probate is frequently divided into formal probate, informal probate and “special” probate.
If you need assistance with your estate planning or just want to know more about anything you read in this article, contact our Wausau law firm online or call (877) 757-6995 to schedule an appointment with a probate attorney.
Probate is the orderly distribution of what is left of your property after you have passed away.
Probate essentially works like this: After your death, an individual you have appointed in your will, typically called a “personal representative,” steps up and files papers asking to become the personal representative with the court. After a period of time, the court approves the appointment of the personal representative and that individual then is in charge of and responsible for (1) finding all of your property, that is, marshalling it together; (2) notifying the public and creditors that you have died and that they have 90 days to file a claim against your money, and (3) the personal representative is then to pay on those claims and after those claims are done, to pay out what is left to your heirs and beneficiaries.
In Wisconsin, there are three major groups of probate. Whether or not you have a will, it does not matter. Probate is frequently divided into formal probate, informal probate and “special” probate.
Formal Probate
Let’s start with formal probate. Formal probate is where the personal representative, with the aid of the attorney that the personal representative has hired, commences a court action. In formal probate, the court will monitor all aspects of the handling of the administration of the estate. Therefore, the initial appearance commences what may be several appearances in front of a judge. At court, the personal representative informs the court that the decedent has died, that there is a need for probate of the estate, that the decedent died with or without leaving a family, identifies the family and submits the will and asks the court to take the will and approve it. Then the attorney for the personal representative asks the witnesses to the will to come forward and testify that they did sign the will and it is a true and accurate copy of the will.
Upon approval by the court, the personal representative is then given Domiciliary Letters. This is proof to all individuals that the personal representative is fully authorized by the court to act in the same footsteps as the decedent. They can open and close bank accounts, deposit money in bank accounts, open and close brokerage accounts and collect on insurance policies. They can commence litigation, end litigation, settle claims, sell or purchase real estate, fund or terminate a trust, and in essence do everything that the decedent could have done had the decedent been alive.
However, there is one caveat and that is that the personal representative must strictly account for all money coming in and going out of the estate. If there are any large expenditures necessary or sales of real property, the personal representative may have to step up in front of the judge to get permission to sell the property, if necessary.
Here is an interesting story. Many years ago, Aunt Violet died leaving a rather sizeable estate and no heirs to speak of. She had a rather complex will with many gifts to many individuals. In formal probate, the personal representative soon discovered that Aunt Violet had expenses that needed to be paid. The total of those expenses exceeded her available cash. Aunt Violet’s personal representative went to the court and got permission from the court to sell an old farm that Aunt Violet had inherited many years ago. Although it took a half a year to sell the farm, when the money was raised, that money was then applied to existing debts as well as to the estate.
Informal Probate
Informal probate is the standard for many of Wisconsin probates. It is designed to be somewhat easy and not very complex. The difference between informal probate and formal probate is that in informal probate, appearance before a judge is not necessarily required and that is why it is called informal. All the other requirements of accounting for money, handling the money with great care and closing the estate timely and efficiently are still required. The personal representative must account for all the money that comes into the estate and all the money that goes out of the estate.
This is not to say that the personal representative is strictly personally liable for any errors, but if the personal representative makes gross errors or keeps any of the money for himself or herself, that is considered a “conflict of interest” and perhaps could be considered a felony if it was egregious.
Special Probate
“Special” probate or administration involves many different things. Most of all it involves very small estates or estates where many years ago someone forgot an asset or there is a piece of real estate in Wisconsin and the decedent lived in another state.
The most widely used form of “special” probate administration in Wisconsin is called a transfer by affidavit. A transfer by affidavit can be used when the decedent had a total estate of not greater than $50,000. If the decedent had less than this amount, including the home and all property, then the personal representative or a lead family member can assume personal responsibility for taking the decedent’s property under their wing, paying the decedent’s bills and income taxes, and then distributing the remaining amount according to the decedent’s will or according to Wisconsin rules of probate asset distribution.
The personal representative or the individual who handles this money and this kind of estate is more responsible for the quality outcome than he or she is typically with the other estates and there is less protection by the court for errors, bad judgment or outright embezzlement. This is a risky proposition and should be undertaken with extreme care and discipline.
Probate is Hard Work
As a warning to all individuals who are personal representatives, it is wise to hire an attorney if you do not have the time to do this work, accounting and bookkeeping are difficult for you, you do not wish to be involved in family politics, you don’t live in Wisconsin, or the decedent has an estate that is a little more complex than you thought. You can hire an attorney to reduce your exposure to claims by family or creditors that you have taken or improperly managed the decedent’s money. Hiring a probate attorney in Wausau, WI is not very expensive to handle a typical informal probate. Lawyers do not usually charge based on a percentage of the estate. Here at Schmidt & Schmidt S.C., we charge based on time and materials, our normal hourly rate and any out-of-pocket cost that we have.
We employ ethical constraints to the work that we do. We enjoy assisting our clients, the personal representatives, with administering the estate of the decedent.
While we try to close down estates within four to six months, there are some estates which take longer to close down due to other issues beyond the control of you or this law office. It could be the fact that the decedent owed money to others and there is a dispute as to the amount. There could be difficulty in selling real estate that needs to be taken care of. There could be problems where the decedent gave away his or her cash assets and has no cash left to manage the estate. All of these items can cause delay in the closing down of an estate.
In the experience of Attorney Andrew W. Schmidt and of Schmidt & Schmidt S.C., we have seen that delays are caused primarily by these factors: 1) having to sell real estate, 2) debts are owed by the decedent and the estate has no cash to pay them until real estate or other assets are sold, and 3) when family members fight with each over personal property issues within the estate. None of these are pretty; all are stressful and can lead to anxiety and difficulties by the personal representative in talking to the decedent’s other heirs and legatees.
At Schmidt & Schmidt S.C., we take pride in working with every personal representative to come up with a quick solution to difficult problems in order to avoid large attorney’s fees.
No matter what you have in place, what the will says, or what your family would like to do, it is very beneficial to seek out competent legal advice with regard to your probate, if not for the speed and efficiency, definitely for the reassurance that you are handling the process right.
Save Time & Money
on Your Probate –
Get it done right by our experienced attorney at Schmidt & Schmidt.
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