As the population ages and life expectancy increases, there has become a need for attorneys who focus on the issues facing seniors. This is partly due to the increase in individuals diagnosed with dementia and other chronic diseases and therefore, an increase in individuals requiring long-term or nursing home care. Over the last thirty to forty years, elder law has developed into a focus area that addresses the variety of issues seniors face within several different fields of law.
Elder law attorneys have additional training, education, and knowledge on the issues older individuals may face. This can include helping individuals…
Wisconsin Managed Forest Law:
A Brief History and How to Legally Protect Your Forests
By: Atty. Logan Wood
While many people know Wisconsin as “America’s Dairyland,” this was not always the case. Long before agriculture took over, Wisconsin used to be known for their lumber production. The southern parts of Wisconsin were largely cleared of their trees in the 1800s to make way for agriculture, with the northern parts of Wisconsin heavily cut for timber in the early 1900s. In fact, so much timber was harvested, that by 1893, Wisconsin was a world leader in lumber production at more than…
Although the November 3rd general election is months away, the ballot for the presidential race has essentially been set for some time, with former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump each poised to become the official nominee of his respective party this August. While the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is the major focus of fiscal conversation, a potential Biden administration could also result in sweeping changes to the existing income and transfer tax landscapes.
While tax legislation necessarily originates in Congress, Biden has laid out a number of tax reforms that he would make a priority…
Probate is the legal process during which a court oversees the collection and transfer of a person’s assets upon his or her death. In general, the probate process includes filing a will, appointing a personal representative, inventorying the decedent’s assets, paying the decedent’s debts, filing taxes, and distributing the balance of the estate according to the decedent’s will. If the decedent did not leave a will, then the decedent’s property is distributed according to Wisconsin’s intestacy laws.
Many people seek to avoid probate because probate documents are public record, so avoiding probate means maintaining a sense of privacy. Additionally, the…
By: Attorney Samuel J. Spurney
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid shift to remote working unlike anything experienced before. While many businesses have scrambled to connect employees remotely using VPN, encrypted email, and other common data protection measures, one crucial in-home data protection practice has undoubtedly been overlooked by many – turning off Siri, Alexa, and other personal digital home assistants during work hours.
While Google, Amazon, and other tech companies have attempted to downplay the ability of these devices to record all conversations in your home, these devices are on at all times, are listening to all conversations,…
At Steimle Birschbach, we are dedicated to doing all that we can to help the communities we serve in these difficult times. As heavily reported in the news, to combat the disruption that the coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused to the general public and to the United States economy, the federal government is in the process of rolling out several programs to provide direct relief to taxpayers and to small businesses. Below are links to information published by the Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the IRS, and the Department of Labor providing guidance on the programs and initiatives that…
Every fall most estate planning professionals start looking for the release of the annual Revenue Procedure that announces federal inflation-adjusted numbers for the coming year. These include the estate tax applicable exemption amount, the gift tax annual exclusion, and the income tax rates, among others.
For the first time, this past year also brought us a state number to look for.
July 1, 2019, marked the fifth anniversary of the effective date of our new trust code, Wis. Stat. chapter 701. Wis. Stat. section 701.0414 addresses the termination of an uneconomic trust, and the threshold for determining which trusts…
Steimle Birschbach, LLC qualifies as an essential business which allows us to continue uninterrupted operations during the “Safer at Home” order issued by Governor Evers. In our efforts to do the right thing for our employees, clients and communities, we have instructed all firm employees to work from home. We all remain ready and available to help you in our secured communications environment, so please call, email or text us and we will promptly assist. Please note that we have instructed our attorneys and staff to avoid all in-person meetings. However, if you are experiencing an urgent situation that can…
“Transferring your copyrights to this living trust will activate the copyright termination right.”
Estate planning professionals who have never uttered those words may inadvertently have thwarted their clients’ objectives.
The copyright termination right (17 USC 203) can be little known among lawyers who don’t practice copyright law, yet it can alter the course of estate and marital property plans. Simply put, the termination right permits authors to terminate lifetime grants of any right under a copyright, and reclaim ownership of the rights so transferred.
We’re talking about any lifetime grant. It could be a grant of copyright from…
When is a cow not a cow? When it is part of a herd at a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO), which means that the cow is actually 1.4 “animal units.”
A CAFO generally involves a farm operation with more than 500 animal units. CAFOs are mega farms, and have more in common with industrial uses than family farm operations.
CAFOs create large volumes of animal waste that needs to be stored, transported and disposed of. Housing so many animals can create offensive odors and attract flies. CAFO operations also require intense truck traffic to transport feed, bedding sand, animal…