Wisconsin Rapids Lawyers - Over 50 Years of Experience Fighting for You
Business and Real Estate
This firm has done legal work for business clients since its inception. If you are interested in going into business, forming a new corporation, or confronting a legal problem in your business, we are prepared to assist you. Assisting clients in the formation of a new corporation involves much more than simply filing Articles of Incorporation in Madison. There are many advantages to a businessperson who incorporates his/her business. Those advantages were intentionally created by the Legislature and have been supported by an extensive field of Supreme Court cases, which provide detailed meaning to the Legislation. If you do not have the assistance of a law firm in setting up or modifying your corporate existence, you forfeit substantial opportunities, which have been created for your potential benefit.
The field of real estate law includes the transfer of land and buildings (real estate) from one party to another, as well as obtaining loans and creating security (mortgages) to facilitate those transfers. Real estate law also includes border disputes, adverse possession, easements and damage to property rights. The expertise and assistance that our firm can provide you in these areas is relatively inexpensive compared to the value of the property that you are buying, selling, or otherwise dealing with. Attempting to prepare a deed, mortgage, land contract or other device related to real estate is a serious matter. A mistake can cost you a substantial part of your life savings. Not to avail yourself of the services of a law firm when dealing with real estate is one of the most extreme examples of the old adage of being "penny wise and pound foolish."
We look forward to assisting you in these endeavors.
Estate Planning and Probate
Estate planning involves planning for the transfer of your assets from yourself to others at your death. In order to do that planning, you must consider how your personal arrangements could create inheritance or estate taxes, which would become burdensome to your spouse, children, or others to whom you wish to leave your property. You must also consider your own security and needs since you should be thinking about these problems long before your death.
Your own plans may involve giving property to children now to avoid the excessive appreciation in value of some of your assets before they are transferred to your children. It may mean that Trusts need to be established into which property can be transferred so that it technically belongs to your children, but still permits you to receive the income.
You may be concerned about potential nursing home expenses, social security entitlement, Medicaid, or Medicare issues. All of these matters are what is commonly referred to as estate planning.
Planning for the future is very important to you. Your plans may save not only taxes or expenses in the future for your spouse or children, but may also avoid disputes among your children that could have easily been avoided if you had addressed these issues during your lifetime. We are prepared to assist you in all of these matters. The cost of this effort on your part is relatively small; particularly in comparison to the importance of the issues being dealt with.
Probate is the process of transferring assets from a deceased person pursuant to the arrangements made by that person during his/her life, or pursuant to the law if that person did not make adequate arrangements during his/her life. If appropriate estate planning was done during your lifetime, probate costs can be kept to a minimum. The probate process can be arranged by you so that it is quite easily dealt with by your spouse or children after your death. In any event, your assets and obligations will have to be transferred, one way or another, to your survivors. That may be by using the probate system, or by other methods, which have been established by you during your lifetime. We are prepared to provide you with expert, efficient and economical assistance in these regards.
Schmidt, Grace & Duncan
Attorneys at Law
250 East Grand Avenue
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495
Telephone: (715) 423-4100 | Facsimile: (715) 423-4102
