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Serious Diagnosis
A serious diagnosis changes priorities. Healthcare proxies, financial powers of attorney, and the documents that ensure your wishes are honored.
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Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
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Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
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New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Learn moreForms for Planning Your Estate in Wisconsin
Free forms for planning your estate in Wisconsin: a will, living trust, pour-over will, both powers of attorney, living will, and TOD deed.
Financial Power of Attorney
Wisconsin treats a power of attorney as durable by defaultWis. Stat. § 244.05Verified Sep 20, 2026View source, and it is signed with no witness or notary requirementWis. Stat. § 244.05Verified Sep 20, 2026View source.
Transfer on Death Deed
In Wisconsin, a transfer on death deed is signed before a notaryWis. Stat. 705.15Verified Oct 19, 2026View source, then recorded with the county before the owner's deathWis. Stat. 705.15Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
Living Will
In Wisconsin, the living will is the Declaration to Health Care Professionals (Wisconsin Living Will)Wis. Stat. ch. 154, subch. II (§§ 154.02-154.15), with definitions in § 154.01Verified Sep 27, 2026View source, a document of its own, apart from the healthcare power of attorney.
Last Will and Testament
In Wisconsin, a will is signed before 2Wis. Stat. § 853.03Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyWis. Stat. § 853.03Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
Tools for Planning Your Estate in Wisconsin
Free tools for planning your estate in Wisconsin: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.
Do I Need a TOD Deed?
Wisconsin authorizes transfer on death deedsWis. Stat. 705.15Verified Oct 17, 2026View source: a recorded, revocable deed that passes real property at death outside probate.
Do I Need a Vehicle TOD?
Wisconsin does not offer a transfer-on-death designation on a vehicle title; a vehicle passes by will, trust, joint title, or probate.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Wisconsin runs $3,320Estimate: 10 hours at $332, Clio's Wisconsin Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $4,980Estimate: 15 hours at $332, Clio's Wisconsin Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $981Estimate: 3 hours at $327, Clio's Wisconsin Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $1,962Estimate: 6 hours at $327, Clio's Wisconsin Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
In Wisconsin, four years at a public university cost about $73,752NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 6% below the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; no state estate or inheritance tax appliesWis. Stat. § 72.36 (Sunset; 2013 Wis. Act 20) — the ch. 72 estate tax "does not apply to deaths occurring after December 31, 2012, unless the federal estate tax law is modified to provide a federal estate tax credit for state death taxes." Ch. 72 remains on the books as a dormant federal-credit (pickup) tax that computes to $0, not a repealed one. Wisconsin has no inheritance tax for decedents dying on or after January 1, 1992 and no gift tax for gifts made on or after January 1, 1992 (WI DOR, Estates, Trusts, and Fiduciaries common questions).Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?
Wisconsin automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceWis. Stat. § 854.15Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
How Do I Sign Estate Documents?
Find witness, notary, and remote signing requirements for all 50 states.
Will My Estate Documents Transfer?
Check if estate planning documents signed in one state are valid in another.
How Much Does Probate Cost?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Wisconsin costs an estimated $22,090Wis. Stat. § 851.40(1) (just and reasonable compensation for services under chs. 851-879, incl. ch. 865 informal administration; no statutory percentage for attorneys — estate value may not be the controlling factor)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source. Attorney fees run 1.8%Wis. Stat. § 851.40(1) (just and reasonable compensation for services under chs. 851-879, incl. ch. 865 informal administration; no statutory percentage for attorneys — estate value may not be the controlling factor)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source to 2.9%Wis. Stat. § 851.40(1) (just and reasonable compensation for services under chs. 851-879, incl. ch. 865 informal administration; no statutory percentage for attorneys — estate value may not be the controlling factor)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source of the estate under a reasonable-compensation standard.
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Wisconsin Estate Planning Resources
In-depth guides covering Wisconsin probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.