Estate Planning
Genzler Tax & Legal, S.C. provides estate planning services designed to protect individuals, couples, and families through clear, carefully drafted legal documents. An estate plan is not a product you buy off a shelf — it is a set of decisions about the people and things that matter to you, put into writing so those decisions are honored. Our job is to ask the right questions, listen carefully, and draft documents that reflect your actual circumstances, not a template's assumptions.
Our estate planning services are designed to meet you where you are and give you clear, durable documents you can rely on.
Wills
Trusts
A will is the foundation of most estate plans. It names who inherits your property, who carries out your wishes, and for parents who cares for minor children. Without one, Wisconsin’s intestacy statutes decide who inherits, and the result may look nothing like what you would have chosen. We draft wills tailored to each client’s family structure and wishes.
A revocable living trust lets you manage your assets during your lifetime and pass them to your beneficiaries without probate. Trusts can also help when a will alone is not enough: providing for a beneficiary who should not receive a lump sum, holding property for a minor, or managing assets if you become unable to manage them yourself. We draft revocable trusts and other trust arrangements under Wisconsin law and will tell you honestly whether you need one.
Healthcare Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives
A healthcare power of attorney names the person who will make medical decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. An advance directive records your wishes about life-sustaining treatment, so the people you love are not left guessing at the hardest possible moment. These documents are among the least expensive and most important in any estate plan, and every adult should have them.
Keeping Your Plan Current
An estate plan is a living set of documents. Marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a new home or business, or the death of someone named in your plan are all reasons to review it. We encourage clients to revisit their documents after major life events and every few years as a matter of course, and we make that review process simple. Ms. Genzler brings the same attention to detail from her tax practice to estate planning, helping clients create documents that reflect their actual circumstances and are designed to hold up when they are needed most.
Powers of Attorney
A durable power of attorney for finances names someone you trust to handle your financial affairs including paying bills, managing accounts, and dealing with the IRS if illness or injury leaves you unable to act. Without one, your family may need a court-ordered guardianship to do what a short document could have authorized. We draft durable financial powers of attorney scoped to your comfort level.
Where Tax and Estate Planning Meet
Estate planning decisions carry tax consequences, and tax decisions shape what an estate plan can accomplish. How a trust is structured affects how its income is taxed. How assets pass at death determines whether beneficiaries receive a step-up in basis or forfeit it. Wisconsin’s marital property system adds a layer that out-of-state templates often miss. As an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and more than thirteen years of tax compliance experience, Ms. Genzler drafts estate planning documents with the tax picture in view from the start.
Estate Planning Consultations
If you have questions about wills, trusts, or how Wisconsin law applies to your family, a conversation is often the best place to start. Call Genzler Tax & Legal, S.C. to discuss your situation and learn how an estate plan can protect the people and assets that matter most.