Estate Planning
At Ruder Ware we strive to make a difference – and we appreciate differences. We enjoy working with a wide variety of clients to address their immediate and long-term estate planning needs. Our clients include couples with young families, small business owners, corporate executives, retirees, dairy producers, and philanthropists. We listen carefully and respond with innovative and flexible strategies designed to preserve, enhance, and transfer our clients’ assets as they desire.
Personal Client Services
Our estate planning attorneys apply their creativity, knowledge of the law, and drafting skills to tailor cost-effective estate plans for each client’s circumstances. They do not use a one-size-fits-most approach. Depending on your circumstances, our attorneys are able to provide a wide range of services, including:
- Income, gift, and estate tax planning
- Prenuptial Agreements
- Marital Property and Domestic Partnership Agreements
- Probate avoidance
- Planning for the sale or retention of a family business
- Planning for the financial security of family members
- Planning gifts to charities and individuals
- Guardianship
- Special needs planning
- Durable Powers of Attorney for Financial Matters
- Powers of Attorney for Health Care and Living Wills
- Wills
- Trusts (including trustee services if requested)
- Revocable and Irrevocable Living Trusts
- IRA Protection Trusts
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
- Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIPs) Trusts
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
- Generation-skipping Trusts
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
- Charitable Lead Trusts
Peace of Mind Through Organization
We also help clients organize their affairs to reduce the cost and simplify the administration of their estates. This includes coordinating beneficiary designations of life insurance policies and retirement plans, properly titling assets, and assisting with the collection of information that will be necessary for estate administration.
We Work With Your Trusted Advisors
Our attorneys will work directly with your accountant, financial planner, life insurance agent, and other professional advisors to ensure that the various components of your estate plan are integrated properly.
Founded in 1920, Ruder Ware provides business, employment, estate planning, and litigation services through its offices in Wausau, Eau Claire, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. A full-service law firm, over 40 attorneys provide clients with a one-stop approach to their legal needs. Ruder Ware, Business Attorneys for Business Success.
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Financial Powers of Attorney
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The Importance of Health Care Powers of Attorney
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Ruder Ware’s Estate Planning Team Recognizes National Estate Planning Awareness Week
Posted on July 30, 2020 by Mark J. Bradley, Shanna N. Yonke and Mark D. Munson
Peter, Paul, and Mary have done well for themselves. Each has a nice home, a seasonal residence, and a large IRA. Coincidentally, each also has an additional $11 million worth of real estate, savings, brokerage accounts, and closely-held business interests. We advised Peter, Paul, and Mary that in 2020 each has a federal gift and […]
Posted on June 24, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
Yesterday, the IRS issued additional guidance regarding two hot topics over the last six months: the waiver of the 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans and IRAs, and the change in the required beginning date for RMDs from age 70 ½ to age 72. Extension and Expansion of 60-Day Rollover for 2020 RMDs […]
Posted on May 7, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann
On the same day we published the article My Deceased Family Member Received a COVID-19 Stimulus Check, Now What? the IRS provided guidance on how to return stimulus payments that were made under the CARES Act to deceased individuals. If your deceased family member or relative received a paper check by mail, you should follow these […]
View More Trusts & Estates Blog Posts
Trusts & Estates VLog
Posted on July 30, 2020 by Mark J. Bradley, Shanna N. Yonke and Mark D. Munson
Peter, Paul, and Mary have done well for themselves. Each has a nice home, a seasonal residence, and a large IRA. Coincidentally, each also has an additional $11 million worth of real estate, savings, brokerage accounts, and closely-held business interests. We advised Peter, Paul, and Mary that in 2020 each has a federal gift and […]
Posted on June 24, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
Yesterday, the IRS issued additional guidance regarding two hot topics over the last six months: the waiver of the 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans and IRAs, and the change in the required beginning date for RMDs from age 70 ½ to age 72. Extension and Expansion of 60-Day Rollover for 2020 RMDs […]
Posted on May 7, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann
On the same day we published the article My Deceased Family Member Received a COVID-19 Stimulus Check, Now What? the IRS provided guidance on how to return stimulus payments that were made under the CARES Act to deceased individuals. If your deceased family member or relative received a paper check by mail, you should follow these […]
Posted on May 6, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann
There has been significant publicity surrounding the issue of deceased individuals receiving stimulus checks under the CARES Act. It is far more common than you may think, simply because of the speed in which our government operated to send out the payments. The stimulus checks were issued to individuals that met certain income requirements and […]
Posted on April 29, 2020 by Mark J. Bradley and Jessica A. Merkel
Maybe you were informed ahead of time or maybe you found out when you were first called upon to act. In any event, someone (a parent, a sibling, a friend, a neighbor) named you as their agent or attorney-in-fact under a Wisconsin power of attorney for finances.[1] Now what?[2] What Are Your Rights and Responsibilities? […]
Posted on April 17, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
In our recent blog post, The Early Bird RMD Doesn’t Get the Tax Relief Worm, we provided guidance regarding the suspension of required minimum distributions (RMDs) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). We advised that if you already took your RMD for 2020, the CARES Act may allow you […]
Posted on April 15, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann and Ashley L. Hawley
As many churches in our area celebrated Easter in their parking lots or over video recordings, we cannot help but think what impact the coronavirus is having on not just churches but other local nonprofit organizations in our communities. Loss of jobs or lowered salaries have left many people cutting non-essential expenses, including club memberships […]
Posted on April 6, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke and Melissa S. Kampmann
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) into law on March 27, 2020. Ruder Ware’s COVID-19 Focus Team provided a summary of the CARES Act in a previous blog post. In that post, they mentioned that the CARES Act suspends most required […]
Posted on March 31, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
In our blog post on estate planning in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Melissa Kampmann and I noted that it isn’t possible to create a valid will in Wisconsin without two witnesses, and it isn’t the best practice to create a will without two witnesses and a notary public. But there’s more to creating […]
Posted on March 20, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann and Shanna N. Yonke
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many people are stocking up on food and other supplies to get them through prolonged periods of quarantine and government-ordered shutdowns. Schools are closed and in some locations, businesses are also closing doors to visitors. Yet people are concerned about planning for a potential incapacity or even […]
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