Bankruptcy
We can assist with Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy filings with respect to individual bankruptcies.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Estate Planning
Estate planning is a legal process by which clients seek to maximize the benefits offered in applicable areas of law (probate, wills, trusts, taxes, property, insurance, contract law etc.) while at the same time meeting your wishes for the management of your property and health care decisions during life and the management and disposition of your property upon and after death. Estate planning can provide clients with many benefits: Naming guardians to care for children; minimizing death or estate taxes; protecting assets for children, your spouse, or disabled heirs; avoiding guardianship proceedings in the event of mental incapacity; managing property and health care; minimizing probate; protecting assets from creditors; and protecting assets from division in the event of death or divorce.
Our attorneys can counsel you on the use of wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, powers of attorney for health care, living wills, buy-sell agreements, limited partnerships, and other available means to assist you in developing a customized plan that will meet your specific estate planning goals.
Estate Planning Updates & Reports
William A. Abbott
Kelly J. Stohr
William C. Williams
[BACK TO TOP]
Family Law
Child Custody
There are many different options available for establishing custody and parenting time, all of which focus on the children's best interests. Although courts often prefer to allow the involved parties to craft their own solutions, child custody disputes may become contentious. Our family law attorneys are sensitive to the needs of families under stress, and are experienced in working with other professionals to help you resolve these most difficult issues.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Child Support
We represent parents seeking to increase or decrease child support obligations. Our attorneys will explain what factors the court considers when calculating child support, how the process of paying/receiving child support works, and what other issues are necessarily involved such as out-of-pocket expenses, tax exemptions, filing status, and health insurance.
If there is a substantial and continuing change in the financial circumstances of a parent or a minor child becomes emancipated, our attorneys can help you modify the current child support order to reflect these changes.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Divorce
Our attorneys have honed their negotiating skills over the course
of hundreds of divorce cases. Divorce law can be complex and divorce is often an emotional time. We can work with you to effectively resolve disputes about property division and support and maintenance obligations.
We also have a special emphasis in the valuation and division of real estate and business interests. Our family law practitioners have the specialized education and experience required to understand the important issues and can work with CPAs and business valuation experts as needed to provide our clients with favorable solutions.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative divorce is a new and unique method of handling marital dissolutions. By foregoing pretrial hearings, discovery, and trial and instead requiring the parties to negotiate on every issue, collaborative divorce often presents a win-win solution and may involves much fewer attorney's fees. Our attorneys are skilled negotiators who can help divorcing parties through a difficult phase in their lives.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Post-Divorce Issues
Whether the issues in your divorce are settled by you and your spouse or are decided by a judge, some things can be subsequently modified. Child support, maintenance, child custody, and child visitation may all be subject to modification, but only if one of the parties can show that there has been a substantial and continuous change in circumstances. A change of circumstances may include losing a job, a move, inheriting substantial sums of money, remarriage, or the changing needs of children. When such events occur, our attorneys can help you pursue appropriate modifications.
In the event a party disobeys an order in the divorce judgment, we can help you pursue enforcement. Disobedience may come in the form of a failure to pay support, refusal to allow visitation, or failure to turn over property that was awarded. If a party disobeys an order to pay money, our family law attorneys can help you pursue wage or bank account garnishments, filing liens on real estate, or sheriff seizures and sale. Orders may also be enforced by contempt of court proceedings, which can lead to fees, the assessment of attorney fees, or even incarceration of the offending party. Whatever the situation requires, our attorneys will aggressively defend your rights.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Paternity Actions
In Wisconsin, a paternity action is the legal way to address issues of child custody, access, and support. Our attorneys have extensive experience representing clients with filing and defending paternity actions and can guide you through the process with an eye toward final judgment.
William A. Abbott
[BACK TO TOP]
Landlord Tenant Law
We represent landlords and tenants in commercial and residential landlord tenant transactions. Most commercial leases are complex and difficult to understand regardless of whether you are a landlord or tenant. We help our clients fully understand aspects of their landlord/tenant relationship by performing lease analyses and offering drafting services for both landlords and tenants.
William A. Abbott
William C. Williams
[BACK TO TOP]
Marital Property Agreements & Unmarried Partner Agreements
Upon marriage and re-marriage, many people plan for the security of their assets and the financial future of their children. Unmarried partners often face the same issues. Our experienced family law and estate planning attorneys can guide your planning by drafting pre-marital, marital property, cohabitation contracts and other agreements designed to meet your specific needs.
William A. Abbott
Nathan T. Leong
William C. Williams
[BACK TO TOP]
Probate
Oftentimes, estates must be probated upon death. The probate process involves a series of events which culminate in the final distribution of assets to heirs. Throughout the process, many legal issues can arise and our attorneys are here to assist you from start to finish.
William A. Abbott
Kelly J. Stohr
William C. Williams
[BACK TO TOP]
Real Estate Law
Our real estate attorneys combine an extensive knowledge of the current real estate market with a high level of proficiency in secured transactions and bankruptcy to provide effective counsel to our commercial and residential real estate clients. We can help you with: Drafting and negotiation of commercial leases; the sale, purchase, and development of commercial and residential property, including drafting and negotiation of offers to purchase and construction contracts; the formation of condominium associations and representation of their interests in such matters as insurance questions and governance; commercial property sale, purchase and development transactions; residential sale and purchase transactions; tax issues; construction liens (private and public projects); and litigation involving a wide range of real estate issues, such as fraudulent conveyances, partition actions, condemnation proceedings and challenges to brokerage agreements.
We offer commercial and residential real estate transaction and litigation services to owners, tenants, contractors, architects, engineers, title companies, developers, and financial institutions.
William A. Abbott
William C. Williams
[BACK TO TOP]
Tax Planning & Tax Litigation
Our attorneys have had extensive training and experience in tax ramifications surrounding personal and commercial transactions and real estate transfers. Our experience includes negotiation of tax audits, consulting with CPAs, trials to the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission, and trials to the U.S. Tax Court.
