The estate planning team at O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong and Laing, S.C. is safely helping clients create estate plans, or update existing estate plans, during this COVID-19 crisis. Estate planning documents must comply with Wisconsin’s strict signing requirements to be legally enforceable. For example, some documents require two witnesses or a notary to witness a […]
When a gift is made, the fair market value of the gift must be determined for federal gift tax purposes. The fair market value of a gift is important to determine whether the donor’s gift exceeds the annual gift tax exclusion amount ($15,000 per person per year in both 2019 and 2020), and if so, […]
Aretha Franklin’s heirs are embroiled in a court battle due to several handwritten documents that the Queen of Soul wrote before her death. The issue at hand is: Are these handwritten documents valid wills under Michigan law? Shortly after Aretha’s death in August 2018, no will could be found, which meant that Aretha’s assets would […]
O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C. has received notification from Martindale-Hubbell that Attorney Kelly M. Spott has received a Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review RatingTM. Kelly was given an “AV” rating from her peers–the highest rating–which means that she was deemed to have very high professional ethics and preeminent legal ability. Only lawyers with the highest […]
When we think of children blowing through trust funds, we often envision the rich and famous. The reality, though, is that everyday folks waste vast inheritances, too. Take, for example, Mary McClelland who, throughout her 20s, squandered her tri-annual $5,000 and $10,000 payments from her grandfather’s investments on traveling and shopping and ran out of […]
Let’s say you have been named trustee of a loved one’s trust. Now, you’ve just found out how much time and work it will take to fulfill your trustee responsibilities and duties. How much should you be paid to be trustee? Because every situation is unique, there are no hard and fast rules in Wisconsin […]
Attorney Kelly M. Spott, a graduate of Marquette University Law School, has recently joined the Milwaukee law firm O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C. Previously Kelly was an Advanced Planning Attorney at Northwestern Mutual. Kelly is a member of the Business Law and Tax & Succession Planning Groups. She assists clients with estate planning, probate, […]
