For so many Wisconsin families, summers up north are a source of fun, family bonding, and priceless memories. It’s only natural to want these same memories for future generations of your family. The family cabin, cottage, or whatever name it goes by, are where these memories are made. As the summer ends and you prepare the family cabin for the coming winter, have you prepared it for the long-term future too?

Ask yourself:

1)  What is your goal? Is it to retain ownership of the cabin in your family, to assist your children in buying their own cabin, or something else?

2)  Have you talked with your family about your wishes? What do they want?

3)  Does your plan accomplish your goal?

4) Does your plan anticipate potential disputes and proactively address them?

Without a plan, family cabins are often sold, especially if children can’t agree or if equity in the cabin is needed to provide equal distributions to children. Another common result in the absence of a plan is outright co-ownership among siblings. This presents an entirely different set of problems. Disagreements commonly arise over responsibility for financial upkeep, chores, shared use, and when and for how much to sell the cabin for.

These situations, although common, can be proactively addressed by creating a plan that accomplishes your goals, minimizes potential areas of disagreements, and takes into account your financial situation and your family’s wishes. A thoughtful plan should consider:

• Who will ultimately make decisions about the property?
• How will expenses be divided?
• What happens if someone wants to sell?
• How will disagreements be resolved?
• Is there a plan for eventually transferring or selling the property?

Whatever your goals and financial situation, having a plan in place helps ensure the family cabin is a continued source of family unity and joy, not one of headaches and hard feelings. Before you lock up for the season, take a moment to plan beyond next summer and give your family the gift of preparedness.

Think a DIY estate plan is enough?

You found a template online. Maybe you used AI to create your documents or perform research. It was quick, inexpensive, and seemed easy enough. But will a DIY estate plan work the way you want when your family needs it most?

An estate plan, regardless of how it’s created, should be: (1) in the proper form; (2) goal-oriented; and (3) contain substance consistent with your goals.

In order to be valid, estate planning documents must be in the proper form.  They must be properly prepared, executed, and consistent with your other estate planning documents. They should also clearly and consistently communicate your wishes.

Form and validity aside, a properly drafted estate plan must have your goals in mind. Unless you tell it, an online template doesn’t know your family, your assets, or your life circumstances. And it doesn’t always ask. Even when it does ask, some things just can’t be fully explained by auto-filling a template or questionnaire.

Some pitfalls with DIY estate plans can include:

• Placing too many or too few restrictions on access to and management of property;
• Failing to recognize and minimize areas of potential future conflict; and
• Missed opportunities for tax or administrative savings.

These may result in unforeseen consequences, leaving your family dealing with problems you never intended.

A DIY estate plan could work just fine, and certainly might be less expensive than professional guidance. But it could also create unanticipated problems. If not done correctly, those savings now might end up costing your family much more down the road… financially or, worse, at the expense of relationships.

If you are relying on a DIY estate plan, it might be time to take another look.

If you’re lucky enough to be a season ticket holder for our local sports franchise, you might own one of the most coveted assets in Wisconsin. With more than 155,000 people on the Packers’ season-ticket waiting list (and decades of waiting to get those seats), your tickets may be priceless to your family.

You might assume that your season tickets will automatically pass to your family through your estate plan. However, it isn’t that simple. These tickets are subject to the Packers’ transfer rules. The Packers, like most sports franchises, have specific rules for what happens to season tickets when a ticket holder dies. Tickets may only be left to a spouse or close blood relative, and cannot be transferred to friends. And even when planning to leave your tickets to your surviving spouse or children, certain circumstances must be met.

Season tickets are a license to your seats, not an ownership interest in them. Disputes among family members over who gets season tickets following a loved one’s death often lead to revocation of the tickets altogether.

Avoid this unfortunate result by specifically designating who will receive the tickets. You could also, out of fairness:

• Establish a plan to share the tickets among your children; or
• Make additional distributions to children not receiving the tickets.

Your estate plan should also account for the Packers’ ticket-transfer requirements. A provision in your plan can’t override the Packers’ rules, so understanding both is essential. The best way to avoid disputes is to clearly and effectively communicate and have a plan in place ahead of time. If your season tickets are important to your family, account for them in your estate plan.

When you think about your estate, what comes to mind? There’s a good chance your home, bank accounts, investments, jewelry, vehicles, and other personal property came to mind. But what about your digital footprint?

Your digital life may include social media accounts, email, photos and documents, and financial assets. In an increasingly digitalized world, having accounts and sensitive documents with digital-only access is common. What happens to those accounts after you die depends on the type of account, the provider’s policies, and the legal authority your estate plan gives to your representative. Digital assets and accounts require special consideration in your estate plan. Often these accounts are not actually owned by the user. Instead, the ability to use and access these accounts is licensed, and the ability to obtain data stored on them is subject to a user agreement.

An estate plan can include an Authorization and Consent for Release of Electronically Stored Information, a document which gives your representative legal authority to obtain certain electronic records during estate administration. This document can be especially important when family members need information but are not listed as legacy contacts.

Some other steps to protect online assets and information include creating a complete inventory of online accounts, and designating legacy contacts where available.

Planning for your digital accounts also gives you the opportunity to decide which accounts and information you want (and don’t want) others to access.

The goal is to transfer the legal authority, information, and instructions for your digital accounts to your representatives. A proper plan will avoid leaving your accounts unprotected and inaccessible to those responsible for settling your estate.

Your digital accounts are also part of your legacy. Don’t risk losing important files, photos, and memories; include them in your estate plan.

Probate avoidance is one of the top reasons our clients cite when creating an estate plan. But what is probate? Why do people talk about it like it’s the plague? And if it’s so bad, how can it be avoided?

When someone dies, so does the only person with authority to control their assets. That’s where probate comes in. Probate is nothing more than court-supervised collection of a deceased person’s assets, paying off their taxes, debts, and liabilities, and distributing whatever’s left to the appropriate persons. Doesn’t sound so evil to me.

While probate might not be inherently bad, it takes several months at a minimum. There’s a mandatory waiting period at the outset. This allows persons time to object to the Will and who the personal representative will be. During this time, all assets are frozen. After that, there’s another mandatory waiting period to allow creditors time to file claims. And depending on the size and complexity of the estate, probate can take even longer.

Also, probate (like any other court case) is a public process. All documents filed in probate, including Wills and the inventory of assets, are accessible by anyone. Including creditors, disinherited relatives, curious neighbors, and scammers.

A common misconception is that a Will allows your family to avoid probate when you die. But having a Will doesn’t bypass the probate process, it’s the roadmap for it. A Will designates who’s in charge, and dictates how, in what manner, and to whom assets are distributed.

If avoiding probate is a goal, a properly funded revocable living trust is the most effective and comprehensive solution. Unlike a person, a trust can’t die; it simply distributes assets to new beneficiaries after its initial one dies. Unlike in probate there’s no initial waiting period, so assets can almost immediately be accessed to pay bills and support dependents. And because trust administration occurs outside the courtroom, financial and estate details remain private.

If privacy, efficiency, and probate avoidance are your goals, consider creating a revocable living trust personalized to your priorities, assets, and family circumstances.