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We would be happy to further discuss these or any other issues with you. Please call (262) 886-9720 to speak with your attorney or any of the following individuals:
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| Greetings!
Welcome to the Fall issue of our firm's newsletter. This issue contains legal information regarding business, estate planning, litigation and tax issues.
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Meet Your Attorney
Katherine M. Bach
Kathy practices in the areas of estate planning, trusts, probate and guardianships. She works with all types of clients and handles simple wills through complex estate plans for professionals and executives.
Kathy received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1985, and bachelors degree from the University Michigan in 1982. Additionally Kathy is a Certified Public Accountant.
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New Tax Return Preparer Standard of Care
On October 3, 2008 the President signed into law the "Emergency
Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" (the "Act"). The Act amends the standard of care
applicable to tax return preparers with respect to non-abusive positions
reflected on tax returns. This change is retroactive effective with respect to
tax returns prepared after May 25, 2007.
Prior tax legislation had raised the applicable standard of care by
requiring tax return preparers to adequately disclose the relevant facts
affecting any such tax return position, unless the tax return preparer had a
reasonable belief that the tax return position would "more likely than not" be
sustained on its merits.
The Act replaces the "more likely than not"
standard with a less stringent requirement, that the tax return preparer must
have "substantial authority" for any such undisclosed tax return
position. This change will be welcomed
by all income tax preparers and reflects a more balanced and fair standard of care.
For further information or assistance with this matter please contact Greg Ruidl
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BASIC ESTATE PLANNING
Estate planning is important for everyone. The key documents for a basic estate plan
include:
- Will. Your Will states who should receive your assets
at your death. A Will for a married
person will usually name the spouse as the primary beneficiary. The Will should also designate who will
receive your assets if your spouse dies before you. If you have minor children, the Will should
provide that all assets will be held in a trust for the children.
Your Will also names a personal representative
and alternate personal representative to settle your affairs at death. Finally, the Will should name a guardian to
care for minor children in the event that neither parent can do so.
A
Will does not avoid probate. If probate
avoidance is desired, a revocable trust may be desirable. -
Durable
Power of Attorney. A Durable Power
of Attorney names another person to act as your agent (sometimes referred to as
an attorney-in-fact) to handle financial affairs if you are unable to do so
yourself due to incapacity. It is
important to name both a primary agent and an alternate agent in the event your
primary agent is unavailable.
A
Durable Power of Attorney is an inexpensive document and avoids a guardianship
in the event of incapacity. - Health
Care Power of Attorney. A Health
Care Power of Attorney names an agent to make health care decisions for you if
you are unable to do so yourself. Again
it is important to name both a primary and alternate agent. A Health Care Power of Attorney can authorize
your admission to a nursing home, the withholding of feeding tubes and/or life
support and can address any other health care issue that you choose.
If
you become incapacitated and need to go to a nursing home,a guardianship will be needed unless you have a Health Care Power of Attorney.
- Beneficiary
Designations. It is critical to
update beneficiary designations to be consistent with your estate plan. Your Will does not cover assets that have
beneficiary designations such as life insurance, retirement plans, annuities
and IRAs. Often people only name a
primary beneficiary on their forms and neglect to name a contingent
beneficiary. Keeping your beneficiary
designation forms up to date is an easy way to avoid probate.
For further information or assistance on this matter please contact Kathy Bach
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ECONOMIC STIMULUS ACT OF 2008
Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 offers enhanced expensing and
bonus depreciation for purchases during the remainder of 2008.
Section 179 Expensing
Internal Revenue Code Section 179 allows taxpayers to elect
to treat the cost of Section 179 property as an expense deduction for the tax
year in which the Section 179 property is placed in service, instead of having
to capitalize the expense and recover the cost over several years. Section 179 property is property acquired by
purchase for use in a trade or business, and is either tangible property or
computer software. Under prior law, the Section
179 expense deduction for 2008 was to be limited to $128,000 with the deduction
phased out by the amount by which the cost of the Section 179 property exceeds
$510,000. The 2008 Economic Stimulus Act
raised the amount of the maximum annual expensing deduction from $128,000 to
$250,000 and increased the start of the phase out threshold from $510,000 to
$800,000. Note that it does not matter
when during the year the property is placed in service. Therefore, a business can purchase Section
179 property in the last two and a half months of the 2008 year and get the
full benefit of the new law.
Bonus Depreciation
The 2008 Economic Stimulus Act allows an additional deduction
of 50% of the property's depreciable basis on qualified property acquired by
purchase in 2008. Bonus depreciation
applies to tangible property acquired for use in a business which property is
depreciated under the modified accelerated cost recovery system with a recovery
rate of 20 years or less. Bonus
depreciation is taken after any Section 179 deduction and before figuring the
regular depreciation deduction. Bonus
depreciation only applies where the property is being placed in service for the
first time (as opposed to used property).
The Economic Stimulus Act's provisions as to Section 179
expensing and bonus depreciation offer a tremendous opportunity for businesses
to realize current year tax savings on their investment in new capital property
with respect to purchases made before the end of the 2008 calendar year.
For further information on this matter please contact Dan Pettit.
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PURSUING ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE With the economic hardships that many businesses are facing, it is more important than ever to pursue your accounts receivable, especially those that are past due. One avenue to recovery is the small claims court. Indeed, Wisconsin courts are seeing substantially greater numbers of small claims lawsuits being filed. The small claims court offers an expedited procedure for cases where less than $5,000 is involved. The court also handles eviction actions, another type of case that is much more common these days.
However, the small claims courts can present procedural and substantive obstacles that may require an experienced litigation attorney to surmount. These include service of process and jurisdictional issues, specific deadlines to meet and dealing with unrepresented, or pro se, litigants.
For further information on this matter please contact Tom Binger. |
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS...ARE THEY NECESSARY?
For some reason,
a majority of employers do not believe that they need an employee
handbook
until they reach a certain size or because they have a "handle on
things". These are common misconceptions. The difficulties brought
about by a lack of
an employee handbook usually only come to light after a situation
arises where an
employer needs to rely on an employee handbook.
Under Wisconsin law, as soon as an employer has at least
one employee, it is covered under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act and
employees can avail themselves to these state discrimination laws.
An employee
handbook is not a binding contract between the company and an employee. Thus, a
handbook should be utilized to communicate to employees basic expectations and to
set forth the general rules, guidelines and policies that comprise the
day-to-day operations of the company. An
employee handbook should be specifically tailored to each particular business; downloading
a form employee handbook from the internet will not suffice. As businesses evolve and grow over time, it
is prudent to review the company's employee handbook annually to determine
whether any modifications, amendments or deletions are necessary. You do not want to maintain obsolete provisions
within the handbook.
A well written
employee handbook will encompass many items including but not limited to an
introduction, the employee-at-will language, contract disclaimer language, discrimination
and harassment policies, equal employment policies, FMLA and COBRA information
(if applicable), drug and alcohol policy, disciplinary procedures, attendance
policy, benefits, confidentiality, trade secrets, open door policy, technology
policy and an acknowledgement receipt whereby the employee attests that he or
she received a copy of the employee handbook.
If your company
would like to implement an employee handbook or have its current handbook
reviewed and perhaps modified to reflect current laws and operating procedures,
please contact Mark Brault.
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This document provides information of a general nature. None of the information is intended as legal advice. Additional facts and information or future developments may affect the subjects addressed in this document. You should consult with a lawyer about your personal circumstances before acting on any of this information because it may not be applicable to you or your situation. | |
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