Daniel J. Krause
Good Guy, Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist
Founder of Krause Estate Planning & Elder Law Center, Dan has helped thousands of families with estate planning and estate administration since 1999. A retired Army Major and JAG Officer, Dan is a board-certified Estate Planning Law Specialist. He is certified by The Estate Law Specialist Board, Inc.
Dan and his former law partner, Nelson Donovan, wrote the book _Estate Planning in Wisconsin: Privacy, Protection and Taking Control_, published in 2017. It is an easy-to-understand primer for non-experts, covering the basics of estate planning, including wills, trusts and powers of attorney.
Besides offering education classes for the public, Dan has lectured on estate planning law throughout the years for classes of civilian and military attorneys and accountants. He has also contributed content and drafting expertise to four major drafting library packages used by attorneys nationally.
Dan attended law school on scholarship at NYU Law, graduating in 1999. He also received an M.A. in Philosophy from NYU that year. He has been a US Army Medic, a Peace Corps Volunteer (Kenya) and an elected member of his local Board of Education.
Dan is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Wealth Counsel, Elder Counsel, and the Elder Law Section and the the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Dan is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota as well as the two federal courts in Wisconsin and multiple tribal courts in Wisconsin.
Dan lives in Oregon, Wisconsin, with his family.
- NYU School of Law
- J.D. | Law
- Honors: Dean’s Merit Scholarship
Fellow for Institute of Judicial Administration -
- NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- M.A. | Philosophy
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- University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
- B.A. (1992) | English, Political Science
- Honors: Chancellor’s Medallion; Academy of Letters & Science Distinguished Achievement Award; Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma, Sigma Tau Delta Honor Societies Student Government.
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- Attorney
- Krause Estate Planning & Elder Law Center
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- Attorney
- Krause Donovan Estate Law Partners, LLC
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- Judge Advocate
- US Army JAG Corps
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- Estate Planning in Wisconsin: Privacy, Protection and Taking Control
- Estate Planning for Military Practitioners -Vol 2, Wisconsin National Guard JAG Onsite, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
- Wisconsin National Guard
- Estate Planning for Military Practitioners, Wisconsin National Guard JAG Onsite, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
- Wisconsin National Guard
- Trusts From A to Z, NBI Continuing Education, Madison, Wisconsin
- NBI (National Business Institute)
- Taxability of trusts, Irrevocable
- Estate Planning Law Specialist
- The Estate Law Specialist Board, Inc.
- Meritorious Service Medal
- US Army
- Oregon Area School Board
- Member
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- Wisconsin State Bar # 1034752
- Member
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- American Bar Association
- Member
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- Illinois
- Supreme Court of Illinois
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- Minnesota
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- Wisconsin
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- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
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- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
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- Free Consultation
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Estate Planning
- Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
- Probate
- Probate Administration, Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Elder Law
- English
- Q. My mother-in-law (age 75) would like to pay off her daughter's mortgage ($110K). Loan vs Gift?
- A: This is a very interesting question. Because a person's home does not count against their eligibility for SSI, your mother-in-law might be able to give her daughter a home, or pay the mortgage. Though it would take a bit more looking into, the gift of mortgage money seems like a safe gift. For a person on SSI, if they receive a lot of money, they need to spend it on legitimate expenses within the same month they received it. If it is spent on a mortgage, the SSI eligibility would not be affected. A related issue is whether the home could be taken after the death of the daughter in order to repay the benefits received through Medicaid or SSI. Because there is a danger here, perhaps the mother can buy the house from the daughter and rent it back to her. The rent could be very low or nothing. The house would then be protected from estate recovery after the death of the daughter or the SSI recipient. ** Disclaimer : Because you are not my client, any answer given to questions is hypothetical, and you cannot rely on them for your specific situation. Answering this hypothetical question does not create an attorney-client relationship, unless we later agree to enter into such a relationship. I would need to know a lot more about your situation before I could answer with any degree of certainty.**
- Q. In Wisconsin is it legal to sign your real estate over to a relative prior to your death?
- A: You can sign your house over to anyone you like at any time. However, if you do this, it will affect your eligibility for Medicaid for 5 years. If you apply for Medicaid benefits (to pay for Nursing Home care, for instance) within 5 years of gifting your home (or anything else), you will incur a penalty period in which you are ineligible for benefits. The penalty period is calculated by taking the value of the gift (the home) and dividing it by $7,880.35 and that is the number of months you are ineligible. This penalty period does not begin until you are down to under $2,000 in assets, so it is pretty serious. If you are thinking about doing this, I suggest you consult with an experienced estate planning and elder law attorney who knows the Medicaid rules. ** Disclaimer : Because you are not my client, any answer given to questions is hypothetical, and you cannot rely on them for your specific situation. Answering this hypothetical question does not create an attorney-client relationship, unless we later agree to enter into such a relationship. I would need to know a lot more about your situation before I could answer with any degree of certainty.**
- Q. Is an inheritence of home sales funds, annuity or trust funds taxable?
- A: The answer to this question depends on a few things: 1-the size of the entire estate, including life insurance, IRAs, real estate, etc. If the estate was large enough to have an estate tax, then the tax will have to be paid before you get the property. 2- what year did the decedent die? This is important because the estate tax exemption amounts changed every year in the last few years. If the decedent died in 2011, no federal estate tax is applied to estates under $5mill. 2010 is different and also complicated, and 2009 the relevant number was $3mill. 3- What type of trust, and who funded it and maybe how much trust assets appreciated since their purchase. If the trust was an irrevocable trust funded by gift, there may be no estate tax, but could be capital gains tax. 4- Illinois tax law. I am a Wisconsin attorney and am not up on Illinois estate/inheritance tax law. Currently Wisconsin has no estate tax, but Illinois may be different. If the assets are in Illinois, their law will control. In general, there is no income tax on inheritance, and estate tax only kicks in once an estate is a certain size. In specifics, your particular situation would need to be looked at closer to answer in more detail. -Dan Krause- 608-268-5751
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Estate Planning Basics | (608) 268-5751