Last wills and Testaments
Revocable Trust
Irrevocable Trusts
Living wills
Power of Attorney
Marital Property
Probate

At Brookhouse & Hemsing Law Offices, we can help you protect your assets from estate taxes; the unnecessary costs, inconvenience, and burdens of probate; and the costs of a nursing home. Through the use of wills, simple and complex revocable and irrevocable trusts, durable financial powers of attorney, advance health directives such as living wills and powers of attorney for health care, succession planning for business owners, lifetime gift and asset protection planning techniques, charitable gift planning, and other estate planning tools, we can help you accomplish your short-term and long-term planning goals and help you plan for your future so that you are protected during lifetime and upon death and so that the inheritances that you leave to your children, grandchildren, and loved ones are protected from themselves, their spouses, their creditors, or other wasteful spending.

Our legal services include but are not limited to:

Last Wills and Testaments

Although a Will alone will not avoid probate, for some of our clients this is the most cost effective solution to ensure that their assets are received by the beneficiaries of their choice, while ensuring that the person or entity of their choice is in charge of their affairs following death.

Revocable Trust

A revocable trust can help avoid probate, protect assets of beneficiaries, and hold assets following death for young children and for people unable to properly manage their finances. In certain circumstances, revocable trusts can also help limit estate taxes.

Irrevocable Trusts

Irrevocable trusts can be used to protect assets from a nursing home, creditor protection, limit estate taxes, and prevent life insurance from being included in your taxable estate. Some types of irrevocable trusts include: Special Needs Trusts, Grantor Irrevocable Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, and Dynasty/Multi-generational Trusts.

Advance Health Care Directives including a Wisconsin Power of Attorney for Health Care and the Wisconsin Living Will

With proper advanced legal planning, we can aid in making sure that your health care wishes are carried out in the event that you are unable to make your own health care decisions. We can work to lessen the family burden and keep the courts out of the health care decision process, resulting in less cost and expense to you and your loved ones. Through the use of a power of attorney for health care, we can help you avoid a court-appointed guardian and all of the attorney fees and court costs associated with a guardianship proceeding.

At Brookhouse & Hemsing Law Offices, we understand that you want to position yourself to remain in control of the major decisions in your life.  Let us help you address who will be in charge of your health care decisions and what, if any, artificial equipment and life support will be used if you are unable to make your health care decisions.

Durable Financial Power of Attorney

Delegate who will make your financial decisions during your lifetime if you are not able to do so and allow for maximum flexibility to plan for the future if you are not able to manage your financial affairs. Do not leave it to the courts to appoint a guardian to make these decisions for you at significant costs and expenses to your estate.

Marital Property Agreement

Help us protect assets, avoid probate, and ensure that your estate plan is carried out the way that you intend. We often help our clients utilize prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for second marriages, to protect assets, and to help avoid probate.

Probate Administrations, Trust Administrations, Guardianships, Contested Matters

We often help our clients with probate administrations, trust administrations and/or litigation, guardianships, and other contested matters such as will contests.