Nobody wants to spend an evening on this. It takes one.

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, Medicaid planning for Milwaukee County families. Flat fees, published below. First thirty minutes cost nothing.

Book the thirty minutes See where things land without a plan

Ruth Danforth, WI Bar 1041-227
Marcus Kesler, WI Bar 1058-903

Schedule A
Inventory &
distribution

This is the whole argument for doing it.

A composite Milwaukee estate: a paid-off bungalow, a retirement account, a half-share in a cabin, and a second marriage. Switch the column and watch where each line goes.

The bungalow on 68th StHeld jointly, paid off 2019

$340,000

Retirement, 401(k) & IRABeneficiary named 2011

$286,000

Checking & savingsTwo accounts, one credit union

$41,000

Half the cabin near Eagle RiverWith your brother since 1997

$96,000

Your mother's ringAnd the rest of the house contents

Unvalued

The 1998 F-150Titled in your name alone

$2,100

Time before anyone can act: 2weeks
Cost to the estate: 3,200dollars
Days in Milwaukee County court: 0hearings

Wisconsin has no estate tax, which is why people assume there is nothing to plan. There is: intestate succession splits an estate between a surviving spouse and the children of any earlier marriage, and probate in Milwaukee County runs 9–14 months and 4–7% of the estate. The figures above are a worked composite, not an average.

Questions
we are asked
every week

My mother has started forgetting things. Is it too late?

Usually not, and the honest answer depends on one narrow question: can she understand, today, what she owns and who her family is? That is a lower bar than people expect. We meet with her alone for part of it, not to exclude you, but because a document signed under a relative's eye is the one a sibling contests later.

If the answer is genuinely no, we stop and talk about guardianship instead, which is a different and slower road. We will tell you which one you are on in the first meeting.

Do we have to go through probate?

Only for assets that are titled in one person's name with no beneficiary and no survivorship. A great deal of estate planning is just moving assets out of that category: deeds, beneficiary forms, account titling. It is unglamorous and it is most of the value.

Wisconsin does offer a summary procedure under $50,000, which helps a small number of estates and almost nobody who owns a house.

What does the nursing home take?

Wisconsin Medicaid looks back five years at gifts and transfers, and the state files an estate recovery claim afterward. The planning that works has to happen early; the planning that happens the week someone is admitted is mostly damage control, and we will say so rather than sell you a plan that cannot work.

Average Milwaukee-area nursing care runs about $10,400 a month. That number is the reason this practice exists.

My brother and I disagree. Can you represent us both?

No. One of you is our client and the other one needs their own lawyer, and any firm that tells you otherwise is storing up a conflict for the worst possible moment. We will say this in the first ten minutes and give you two names.

What should I bring to the first meeting?

Nothing. Genuinely. People put this off for months assembling a folder, and the first thirty minutes is a conversation, not an audit. If you happen to have a deed, a mortgage statement, and a list of accounts, bring them; if you do not, come anyway.

Counsel

Two attorneys. You will work with one of them, not an associate.

Ruth Danforth

Elder law · Medicaid

Ran the elder law clinic at Marquette for six years before opening the firm. Sits on the Milwaukee County guardianship rota. Does most of the hard conversations, and prefers them at the kitchen table.

Admitted 1998 · WI Bar 1041-227

Marcus Kesler

Trusts · estates · probate

Twelve years in probate administration before moving to the planning side, which is the right order to learn it in. Handles the trust drafting, the deed work, and the family businesses.

Admitted 2006 · WI Bar 1058-903

Schedule B
Fees

Flat fees. Quoted before we start, in writing.

We do not bill estate planning by the hour, because an hourly estate plan punishes you for asking a second question. If your matter falls outside these, we quote it flat as well.

Will packageWill, financial and healthcare powers of attorney, living will, for one person or a couple

$1,450

Revocable living trustTrust, pour-over will, all four powers, funding instructions

$3,200

Trust with deed transfersThe above, plus we retitle the real estate ourselves rather than handing you a checklist

$4,100

Medicaid asset protection planIrrevocable trust, five-year strategy, application support

from $6,500

Probate administrationFull administration through closing, Milwaukee County

2.5% capped at $12,000

First meetingThirty minutes, in the office or by phone. No pitch, no follow-up calls.

Thirty minutes now saves your family fourteen months later.

Pick a time and we will confirm by phone the same day. If it turns out you do not need a lawyer, which happens, we will tell you that and you will owe nothing.

SignatureDate

Request the first meeting

Or call (414) 555-0172. Ruth or Marcus, not a receptionist, between 8:30 and 5.

Sending this does not create an attorney–client relationship, and please do not include confidential details here. We will collect those properly once we have spoken.