By: Logan Wood © 2020 The CARES Act is an overarching Act aimed to help those affected by COVID-19. In particular, this Act authorized the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to provide temporary guaranteed loans under a program known as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). In general, the Act allowed certain borrowers to be eligible for forgiveness of their PPP loan. This forgiveness was limited to the number of certain payments made throughout the covered period. Because the program is a first of its kind, not all questions were answered through the initial draft. To address this issue, the…

By: Logan Wood © 2020 Beginning in April of 2020, U.S. citizens began to receive Economic Impact Payments (i.e. stimulus checks) from the Treasury Department due to the impact of COVID-19. In determining the amount each citizen would receive, the Treasury Department relied on the last filed tax returns to identify qualifying individuals and to calculate how much each citizen would receive.  Because the official filing date for taxes for the 2019 filing year has also been extended due to the impact of COVID-19, in some instances the IRS was required to rely on taxes filed for the 2018 tax…

By: Thomas A. Griesbach © 2020 In the last few weeks of 2019, Congress passed the SETTING EVERY COMMUNITY UP FOR RETIREMENT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019 (the “SECURE ACT”) which, among other things, made drastic changes to the rules governing inherited retirement accounts. For many of us, our largest assets are our retirement accounts, and so the SECURE ACT greatly affects many of our estate plans. Under the pre-SECURE ACT rules, most individuals who inherited a retirement account could withdraw the funds over their life expectancy, as yearly-required minimum distributions, deferring tax payment and spreading tax liability over many tax…

By: Attorney Gina C. Ziegelbauer © 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many to think about what-if scenarios and realize they can’t put off end-of-life planning. An estate plan generally includes documents (i.e. will or trust) which direct where your assets will go after you die, and appoint a personal representative (also called an executor) or a trustee to administer your estate after you die. If you have minor children, your will is important to appoint a guardian for your children if both parents die. But it should also include a healthcare power of attorney and power of attorney for…

By: Alison C. Petri © 2020 Recently, the Wisconsin State Board of Aging and Long Term Care set forth suggested options for visiting residents of assisted living, nursing home, and other long term care facilities. In-person visitation may be an option if the resident is at the end of his or her life. However, you will need work directly with administrators at the facility to discuss if such a visit is an option. If allowed, the facility may screen you to ensure you do not have symptoms that could cause risks to residents or employees such as a runny nose,…

As widely reported, Governor Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services extended Wisconsin’s Safer At Home Order through May 26, 2020.  Click below to read the updated Order and for additional information published by Governor Evers’ office clarifying the terms of the updated Order. Resources: Safer At Home Order Safer At Home Order – Frequently Asked Questions The post COVID-19 Update: Safer At Home Order Extended Through May 26th appeared first on Steimle Birschbach, LLC.…

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…