#Wills

Aug 21, 2018
1 min

What is a Family Pot Trust?

Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses a Family Pot Trust and how it can be used as part of your comprehensive estate planning to provide for your minor children after your death. #PotTrust #MinorChildren #EstatePlanning #EstatePlanningforMinorChildren #Trusts #Wills #WisconsinTrust #WisconsinWill

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Thomas B. Burton

Apr 9, 2018
1 min

How Many Wills Can You Have at One Time?

Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses how many Wills you can have at one time and what you should do with any old Wills you may have after making a new Will. Click here to obtain my Free One Page Will vs. Trust Estate Planning Guide. Transcript of Video: How Many Wills Can You Have at One Time? Today's question how many wills can you have at one time? The answer is only one. That means if you form a new will you should revoke the previous will and I suggest physically destroy i

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Thomas B. Burton

Mar 3, 2018
1 min

Do I Have to use the Attorney Who Drafted the Will to Probate the Will?

Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses why lawyers place their name and firm contact information with the Wills they draft and why your Personal Representative should work with a lawyer with whom they are comfortable when probating a Will. For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office. Click here to obtain my Free One Page Will vs. Trust Estate Planning Guide. #EstatePlanning #WisconsinLaw #Wills #Probate #EstateAdministra

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Thomas B. Burton

Feb 23, 2018
1 min

How Do I Revoke My Old Will?

Wisconsin Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses the best way to revoke your old Will after your new Will has been executed. For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office. Click here to obtain my Free One Page Will vs. Trust Estate Planning Guide. #WisconsinWill #WisconsinEstatePlanning #AttorneyThomasBBurton #Will #Wills #AdvancedEstatePlanning

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Thomas B. Burton

Feb 7, 2018
1 min

Top 3 Reasons for Avoiding Probate

Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses the top 3 reasons you should consider avoiding probate for your estate and discusses why many people choose to avoid probate in order to make the disposition of their estate efficient and as pain free as possible for their heirs after their death. For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office. Click here to obtain my Free One Page Will vs. Trust Estate Planning Guide. #ProbateAvoidanc

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Thomas B. Burton

Jan 17, 2018
1 min

If I Have Life Insurance Do I Still Need an Estate Plan?

Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses how life insurance works as part of your estate planning and discusses why a comprehensive estate plan fills in gaps that life insurance does not cover. If you have a question about this topic, or would like to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office. If you would like a free one page guide to help you decide what estate plan is right for you, please enter your email address on this page and this guide will be autom

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Thomas B. Burton

Jan 12, 2018
1 min

Why Executing a Will Won't Avoid Probate

Attorney Thomas B. Burton explains why drafting and executing a Will alone is not enough to avoid probate for your estate (the court supervised process of administering and distributing your estate following your death). Instead, a Will based plan will almost always ensure your estate will go through probate if you die with any assets subject to probate under your Will. If you have a question about this topic, or would like to submit a question for a future video blog post, p

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Thomas B. Burton

Jan 10, 2018
1 min

3 Plans for your Estate--No Plan, Will Plan, and Probate Avoidance (Trust Plan)

Attorney Thomas B. Burton explains the three basic levels of planning for your estate, which he calls (1) No Plan, (2) Will Plan, and (3) Trust Plan. Attorney Burton explains in this video why even if you have no plan for your estate, your state statutes have laid out a plan for the disposition of your assets. Attorney Burton also explains how you can opt out of the statutory plan for your estate by forming your own Will or Trust based plan. If you have questions about this

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What Does my Spouse Get When I Die? (or: What Does Wisconsin State Law Say About My Surviving Spouse

Thomas B. Burton

Oct 21, 2017
2 min

What Does my Spouse Get When I Die? (or: What Does Wisconsin State Law Say About My Surviving Spouse

Wis. Stat. 861.01 Ownership of marital property at death. (1) Surviving spouse's one-half interest in marital property. Upon the death of either spouse, the surviving spouse retains his or her undivided one-half interest in each item of marital property. The surviving spouse's undivided one-half interest in each item of marital property is not subject to administration. Ownership and management and control rights are set forth under ss. 857.01 and 857.015. (2) Interest of a

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2 Reasons Why Every Parent Should Have a Will

Thomas B. Burton

Dec 4, 2016
4 min

2 Reasons Why Every Parent Should Have a Will

1. Nominate a Guardian for Minor Children For parents of minor children, your will can be used to nominate a “Guardian” for your children. The “Guardian” is the person legally responsible for raising your children if something happened to both parents. This is often one of the primary reasons parents of minor children choose to execute a will. In the absence of a Guardian nominated in your will, the local court of jurisdiction would decide who would become the guardian of an

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Prince's Death Illustrates Importance of Having a Will

Thomas B. Burton

May 9, 2016
1 min

Prince's Death Illustrates Importance of Having a Will

Many of you will be familiar with the artist named Prince, who died recently at his Paisley Park Recording Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Local media has covered this story quite extensively and one of the most surprising and tragic aspects has been the discovery that Prince died without a will. There now looms a likely lengthy and expensive legal fight between his siblings over control of his estate. This article does a great job of illustrating so

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What is Probate? Some Common Questions and Answers

Thomas B. Burton

Mar 20, 2014
5 min

What is Probate? Some Common Questions and Answers

Today, I decided to look at a few commonly asked questions surrounding the probate process. I have attempted to ask questions that I think commonly come up when people think about estate planning and the administration of their estate following their death. I hope this question and answer format is a useful format for conveying this information to you, the readers. If you have a specific topic you would like to see addressed in the future, please contact me with your suggesti

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