Greenhalgh Legal Services LLC

Happy September everyone. This is always one of my favorite months with the cooler breezes and sunny days along with the changing colors of the leaves. Fall is also a great time to take stock of your estate plan and contact us for any updates before the busy holiday season swings into full gear.

Last month I was out of the office for a two weeks in England and Scotland. Highlights appear below starting with a stroll Marlys and I took across Abbey Road. No Beatles sightings, but their recording studio was right nearby!

• The office will be closed on September 2, 2024 in observance of Labor Day.

Enjoy the video below on the upcoming 2024 Fall Art Tour to be held October 18, 19, and 20. My wife is one of the exhibiting artists. Come visit our home during the tour dates to see Marlys' oil paintings and woodcut prints! For more information, visit www.fallarttour.com.

If the time comes that your loved one can no longer live without a higher level of care than you are able to provide, you may be faced with the decision to move them to an assisted living or skilled nursing facility. This can be very stressful both emotionally and financially. There are programs available to assist with the costs. Greenhalgh Legal Services provides a full range of services for elderly individuals who are facing the prospect of long term care and who seek to maximize asset protection strategies under today's ever-changing laws. If you or a loved one appear headed for long term care, please contact our office immediately for a free consultation.

Call us at (608) 355-0907 to schedule an appointment today to make sure your current estate plan is in order.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you review your estate plan:

• Living Trusts should be reviewed with your attorney every two to three years.
  
• A living trust might be more beneficial to clients than a Will especially if privacy is important.
  
• Life events happen. If you experienced a life event since your estate plan was written, i.e. marriage, divorce, or death of someone named in your estate, you need to review you estate plan today.
  
• Encourage your friends and family members to get their estates in order.

If you think you are too young for estate planning, think again. Incapacity and death can occur at any age. If you want to have control over what happens to your belongings when the unthinkable happens, you will need to have an estate plan put in place. An estate plan will include all of the following:

• Last Will and Testament
• Health care directives -
• Financial power of attorney
• Funeral instructions

A quick note on our file retention policy: We NEVER keep original estate planning documents here at our office. Those are all given to the clients. We retain copies of all such documents including copies of completed signature pages, so we can always reproduce what we've done for you. All our estate planning files are retained at our office until either the client dies or requests to take the file. All our other client legal files are retained for ten years and then destroyed to make room for other files.

If you haven't done so already, check out our Facebook page, Greenhalgh Legal Services LLC, and follow us on Twitter, @greenhalghlegal, where we update you with upcoming events in our area as well as breaking legal developments.

You and your families matter to Greenhalgh Legal Services LLC. We appreciate your business and referrals!

Greenhalgh Legal Services LLC is the current incarnation of a law firm begun over 70 years ago in Baraboo, Wisconsin by Atty. Robert L. Greenhalgh. Today, Bob’s son, Atty. William F. Greenhalgh, carries on the firm’s traditions of honesty, integrity, and the highest quality legal services in its core practice areas of estate planning, estate administration, and elder law.

Email: bill@greenhalghlaw.com
Website: greenhalghlaw.com
Location: 202 Broadway Street, Baraboo, WI, USA
Phone: (608) 355-0907
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenhalghlaw
Twitter: @GreenhalghLegal