Nonprofits and exempt organizations are focused on delivering upon their mission, however complicated regulations dictate every structure of their life-cycle. It’s crucial nonprofits know how to stay in compliance with government rules and regulations. Our attorneys understand the important work these organizations provide and realize they can ease the burden of compliance.
We work with public charities, private foundations, social service organizations, and family trusts from their inception – preparing organizational documents and tax exempt applications – through ongoing maintenance and daily operations. Specifically services include:
- Incorporation and corporate structures
- Nonprofit board governance
- Mandatory filings
- IRS issues
- Tax-exemption applications
- Legal audits
- Charitable solicitation registration
- State and local tax matters
- Charitable gifts and fundraising
- Unrelated business income tax (UBIT)
- Board governance
- Employment
- Investment and endowment policies
- Reasonable compensation
Our lawyers also counsel section 501(c)(3) organizations in fundraising and donor-related activities, providing advice on matters such as:
- Compliance with charitable solicitation laws
- Availability of income tax deductions for donors, and substantiation requirements
- Creation of donor advised funds, field of interest funds and endowment funds
- Creation of charitable remainder and lead trusts
- Creation of gifts annuities and pooled income funds
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.
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 […]
Posted on March 20, 2020 by Amy E. Ebeling
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced via Twitter that the tax filing deadline for federal income tax returns has been extended by 90 days to July 15, 2020. Earlier this week, the federal government extended the time for individuals and businesses to pay their federal income tax by 90 days, but did not extend the filing […]
Posted on February 27, 2020 by Jessica A. Merkel
When people ask me what they can do to make things easier for their loved ones if something happens to them, the first question I ask is if they have power of attorney documents in place. A good financial power of attorney (“POA”) is one of the most important estate planning documents you can have. […]
Posted on January 15, 2020 by Kayla E. Murphy
For many people, the first time they start thinking about an estate plan is when they start to have family members that depend on them financially – typically, a spouse or a child. Let’s take, for example, a young married couple with young children. The couple may think they need a will, but they might […]
Posted on January 7, 2020 by Ruder Ware Estate Planning Attorneys
The federal appropriations bill enacted into law on December 20, 2019 changed federal law in ways that may affect your retirement assets, including 401(k) plans and IRAs. Those changes, often referred to as the “SECURE Act,” may affect you during your lifetime and also the way those retirement assets may be distributed to your beneficiaries […]
Posted on December 19, 2019 by Ashley L. Hawley
Picture this: you are lying on the beach in sunny Aruba, thinking about your best friend, Kristin, who valiantly volunteered to watch your three children while you and your spouse got away from the Wisconsin winter for the first time in ages – when all of a sudden you see a hotel staff member racing […]
Posted on November 14, 2019 by Aric D. Burch
It is common for a client whose spouse is receiving Medicaid to lack adequate estate planning to protect those Medicaid benefits in the event the client dies before their spouse. Yet, after all of the time and energy spent to qualify for Medicaid, it would be awful to see those benefits lost simply because proper […]
Posted on October 9, 2019 by Shanna N. Yonke
It seems like our world becomes more digital each day. We can manage almost every aspect of our lives online. But, unless you have updated your estate plan in the last few years, chances are good that your estate planning documents do not address what will happen to your electronic documents, e-mails, text messages, blogs, […]
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