Plain-language guides to Wisconsin law

A will is a set of instructions that takes effect at death. It names who inherits, who handles the estate (your personal representative) and, if you have young children, who you want as their guardian. Property that passes under a will goes through probate, the court process that confirms the will and oversees the transfer.

A revocable living trust holds your property while you are alive, with you in charge as trustee. At your death the successor trustee you chose hands it out without a court case, as long as the property was actually put into the trust, meaning deeds and accounts are titled in its name. A trust also lets someone step in and manage money if you become unable to.

A trust costs more to set up and needs follow-through. A will costs less now, but probate takes time and some money later, and probate files are public.

Many people with a house, a retirement account and grown children do well with a will, current beneficiary forms and a transfer-on-death deed. Land in more than one state, a farm or business, a blended family, or an heir who needs help managing money all tilt toward a trust.

Take the will-or-trust questionnaire

A Power of Attorney for Finances and Property names someone, your agent, to pay bills, manage accounts and handle property for you. Wisconsin has a statutory form for it, and it can take effect right away or only if you become unable to act.

A Power of Attorney for Health Care names someone to make medical decisions if you can't. In Wisconsin it has to be signed in front of two witnesses who meet the state's rules (a relative cannot be one), and it takes effect only after you have been found unable to make your own health care decisions.

Being someone's spouse or adult child does not, on its own, give you legal power to sign for them. Without these documents a family may have to ask the circuit court for a guardianship, which takes time, costs money and is a court proceeding.

Sign them while you are healthy. You have to understand what you are signing for the documents to be valid.

Probate is the court process for passing on property that was in the person's name alone, with no joint owner or named beneficiary. Jointly owned property, accounts with a payable-on-death beneficiary, and life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary usually pass outside probate.

Transfer by affidavit. If the person's property subject to probate in Wisconsin totals $50,000 or less, an heir or another eligible person can usually collect it with a sworn affidavit instead of a court case (Wis. Stat. 867.03).

Informal administration. When the paperwork is in order and nobody disagrees, the estate is handled through the probate registrar in the county where the person lived, without hearings before a judge. It is the usual path when nobody disagrees.

Formal administration. A dispute over the will, an heir who cannot be found, or a complicated estate sends the case before a circuit court judge.

On every path the personal representative's job is the same: find and protect the property, notify heirs and creditors, pay valid debts and final taxes, then distribute what is left.

When you open a retirement account or buy life insurance, you fill out a beneficiary form. At your death the company pays whoever is on that form. Your will does not change it.

Review your forms after a marriage, divorce, birth or death in the family. An outdated form naming a former spouse or a parent who has died is a common and avoidable problem.

Naming a minor child directly can mean a court-supervised arrangement until the child is an adult. Naming a trust for the child, or a custodian under Wisconsin's Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, usually works better.

Naming "my estate" sends the money through probate. There is usually a better choice.

Since January 1, 1986, most property a married Wisconsin couple acquires during the marriage is marital property: each spouse owns half, no matter whose name is on the title or the paycheck.

Property a spouse owned before the marriage, and gifts and inheritances received by one spouse, are generally that spouse's individual property. Mixing them with marital property, such as depositing an inheritance into a joint account, can change that.

Couples can change these rules with a marital property agreement, signed before or during the marriage. It has to be in writing and signed by both spouses.

Married couples can also title property as survivorship marital property, so it passes to the surviving spouse at death without probate.

In a divorce the court starts from the presumption that the divisible property is split equally, and can depart from that for reasons the law lists.

Before filing: one spouse must have lived in Wisconsin for at least six months, and in the county where the case is filed for at least 30 days.

Filing: one spouse files a petition and has the other served, or both file a joint petition. Wisconsin is a no-fault state. The question is whether the marriage is irretrievably broken, not who is to blame.

Waiting period: the court cannot hold the final hearing until 120 days after service or the joint filing. Many cases take longer, especially with children or a business involved.

Temporary orders: either spouse can ask for a temporary hearing on who stays in the house, support, and the children's schedule while the case is going on.

Children: parents usually attend a parenting class, and if they disagree about custody or placement the court generally sends them to mediation first. A guardian ad litem may be appointed to speak for the children's best interests.

Final hearing: the judge approves a written marital settlement agreement, or decides whatever is still in dispute after a trial.

Legal custody is the right to make major decisions for a child: school, non-emergency health care, religion. Wisconsin courts start from the presumption that joint legal custody is in the child's best interest, with exceptions such as domestic abuse.

Physical placement is the schedule: the time a child spends with each parent. The court sets a schedule meant to give the child regular, meaningful time with each parent, as long as that is in the child's best interest.

Child support in Wisconsin is figured with percentage-of-income standards set by the state, adjusted for shared placement and other factors.

Orders can be changed later. A change to placement within two years of the last order is harder to get; after that, the court looks at whether circumstances have substantially changed.

If you are worried about your safety or your child's, say so at the first call. There are faster court tools for that, and we will talk about them.

On a land contract the seller acts as the bank. The buyer moves in or starts farming and pays the seller in installments, and the seller keeps legal title until the contract is paid off. Then the seller signs a deed.

Spell out the price, the interest rate, the payment schedule, who pays property taxes and insurance, what happens after a late payment, and whether there is a balloon payment at the end.

Record the land contract with the county Register of Deeds. Recording puts the buyer's interest on the public record, which protects the buyer if the seller later runs into debt or tries to sell to someone else.

If payments stop, the seller generally cannot just change the locks. Getting the property back usually takes a court case, often a strict foreclosure, where the judge sets a deadline for the buyer to pay up.

A title search before signing protects both sides from surprises such as an old mortgage or a lien.

Wisconsin lets an owner of real estate name one or more beneficiaries who will receive it at the owner's death. You do it by recording a transfer-on-death designation with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is.

Until your death you keep full ownership. You can sell, mortgage or change your mind, and the beneficiary has no rights in the meantime.

It works well for a home going to one or two people. It can cause trouble when beneficiaries cannot agree on keeping or selling, when one of them dies before you, or when the land is a working farm that needs a plan for who runs it.

It does not make debts go away. A mortgage stays with the property, and other debts can still matter.

Pick a name that is available and ends in "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company", and check it with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).

File Articles of Organization with DFI and name a registered agent with a Wisconsin address.

Get an EIN from the IRS, open a business bank account, and keep business money separate. Mixing it is the fastest way to lose the protection an LLC gives you.

Sign an operating agreement. Wisconsin does not require one, but it is where you decide how profits are split, who can sign for the business, and what happens if a member wants out, dies or divorces.

Register with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for a seller's permit if you sell taxable goods or services, and check local licenses with your city, village or town.

File DFI's annual report every year to keep the LLC in good standing.

Estate planning: a rough list of what you own and how it is titled, copies of deeds, your current will or trust if you have one, beneficiary forms, and the names of the people you are thinking of.

Probate: the death certificate if you have it, the will, recent bank and tax statements, deeds, and any letters from the court.

Real estate: the offer to purchase or listing, any title commitment or survey, and the land contract or lease if there is one.

Family law: existing court orders, recent pay stubs and tax returns, a list of debts, and your children's current schedule.

Small business: your articles and operating agreement, the contract or lease in question, and last year's financial statements.