Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin

Assuming that the home is still titled in the name of the deceased parents, nothing can be done with it (in terms of the changing the title or financing it) until the deceased parents' names are removed from the title. That will probably require a probate court order and a probate process in which creditors are placed on notice and allowed to file claims. It is hard to tell you what the best option for titling the home might be, since that will depend upon the financial condition of the surviving children, as well as the level of trust between them. If any of them have credit problems and their name is added to the title, then there debts might be added to it as well, making it potentially difficult to remove their names (and creditors) later. Proper estate planning prior to death could have avoided such a mess in a number of different ways. For example, a properly constructed lifetime trust could have placed the property title outside the reach of either the childrens' or the parents' creditors if it was created early enough. All of this is extremely tricky and there are numerous pitfalls, but an experienced estate planning attorney could probably successfully guide you past them, provided that the parents begin the process early enough. Please do not assume that I am your attorney because of my response here, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications regarding my answer. Otherwise, under the rules of this website, I would not be taking any further action on your case. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or see an even larger collection of responses at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon, . Answers may contain attorney advertising materials..