
Thomas B. Burton
Attorney, Burton Law LLC
Attorney Thomas B. Burton is an attorney licensed to practice law by both the Supreme Court of Wisconsin and the Supreme Court of Minnesota and the owner and operator of Burton Law LLC. Burton Law LLC provides estate planning, real estate, and business law services to residents all across the state of Wisconsin from our primary office location in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We offer personal service, custom advice, and predictable flat fee estate planning packages and business law services. For more information on the firm please visit our website at http://www.theburtonlawoffice.com
To schedule a secure live video conference with our firm, please visit
https://www.theburtonlawoffice.com/book-online
To schedule a Free 15 Minute Estate Planning Strategy Session with Attorney Burton please visit: https://go.theburtonlawoffice.com/start
- University of Wisconsin Law School
- J.D. (2010) | Law
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- Honors: cum laude
- Activities: Business and Tax Law Association, UW Real Estate Club, Phi Alpha Delta, Federalist Society
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- University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
- B.B.A. (2008) | Business Economics
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- Honors: magna cum laude
- Activities: Omicron Delta Epsilon Economics Honor Society, UWEC Student Senate, Financial Management Association
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- Attorney
- Burton Law LLC
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- Burton Law LLC is a boutique law firm focused on providing highly personalized service, individual attention, customized planning, and tailored advice for discerning business owners, families, and individuals in the areas of estate planning, asset protection, real estate and business law.
- Attorney
- Law Office of Thomas B. Burton
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- Provide estate planning, business law and real estate services to clients of the firm.
- Associate Attorney
- David F. Grams & Associates
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- Provide estate planning, business law, and real estate services to clients of the firm.
- Attorney
- Law Office of Thomas B. Burton
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- Provide estate planning, real estate, and business law services to clients of the firm.
- Research Law Clerk, Trusts & Estates Department
- Briggs and Morgan P.A.
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- Support partners by researching and writing legal memoranda on a variety of topics related to estate planning, charitable giving and trust administration. Draft pleadings and various estate planning documents.
- Summer Law Clerk
- Herrick & Hart S.C.
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- Provide legal research and writing support to partners and associates at the firm. Research and write legal memoranda, draft pleadings, and support assigning attorneys with projects related to civil litigation, criminal law, family law, estate planning, and business law.
- 10 Questions: Tom Burton: How a Nontechie Built a Virtual Practice
- Wisconsin Lawyer
- Interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, Online
- Wisconsin Public Radio
- Interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on practicing law during the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire interview can be accessed here https://www.wpr.org/routine-legal-work-pause-during-covid-19-pandemic
- University of Wisconsin Alumni Association Chippewa Valley Chapter
- Board Member
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- Chippewa Valley After Hours Rotary
- Member
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- Chippewa County Bar Association
- Member
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- Young Professionals of the Chippewa Valley
- Member
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- State Bar of Wisconsin  # 1072795
- Member
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- Minnesota
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- Wisconsin
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- U.S. Tax Court
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Credit Cards Accepted
I accept credit cards through Paypal and Square. I accept payments from your checking account to mine, with no fees, via Google Pay. I also accept personal checks in person or via U.S. Mail. -
Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
I offer hourly rates and flat fee options for many estate planning and business law matters. Please see my website for more details on flat fees. 2019: My current hourly rate for Medicaid planning is $300/hour. My hourly rate for all other matters is $250/hour. Please contact me via email for my most current hourly rates.
- Estate Planning
- Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
- Business Law
- Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Finance, Business Formation, Business Litigation, Franchising, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
- Real Estate Law
- Commercial Real Estate, Condominiums, Easements, Eminent Domain, Homeowners Association, Land Use & Zoning, Mortgages, Neighbor Disputes, Residential Real Estate, Water Law
- Probate
- Probate Administration, Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Elder Law
- English: Spoken, Written
- Q. My question is we are dealing with the Medicaid estate recovery.
- A: If you use the Transfer by Affidavit, used for small estates with total probate assets less than $50,000 there is a requirement to send a copy to the DHS Estate Recovery Program by Certified Mail before you can transfer any assets under the Affidavit. Generally, the Estate Recovery Program will then send you a letter with the amount owed and any claim they have upon the estate. I would discuss carefully with your attorney whether you need to use this Affidavit to transfer any assets that were not already designed to pass outside the probate process. Here is general information about how the Estate Recovery program works https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p0/p00694.pdf
- Q. Can legally transferred land be just taken back?
- A: If the land was legally transferred by deed, and your name is now on the title to the property, the previous owner cannot take it back unless you sign a deed granting the land back to them either by gift or by sale. The only other way I can think of for the previous owner to get the property back is if they sued you for fraud and were able to prove in court that you somehow fraudulently obtained the title from them. I would make sure the previous deed in which you received the land is properly recorded in the county where the land is located. I would consult with a real estate lawyer near you regarding the particular facts and circumstances of this case and the deed in question.
- Q. My sister-in laws boyfriend left her some money in his will. She passed away prior to him.
- A: You will have to examine what the Will says happens if your niece passes away before she reaches age 30. It may say that the gift "lapses" which would mean it goes away if the person dies, or it may say that then the gift gets added back to the corpus of the estate and distributed to the other heirs named in the Will. The answer may also depend on the exact order of the deaths listed above. There should be a section in the Will that address this, and if not, then you will need to rely on the intestate statutes and case law to determine. I recommend discussing with the probate attorney handling the estate, and if there is not one handling the estate, then working with a probate attorney in your area who can examine the Will in question and give you a good answer based on a thorough review of the document. Without examining the Will completely, it is hard to say for sure in this instance, because there are a lot of scenarios that could play out here, and because it was your sister-in-laws boyfriend, and not her husband, therefore the great nephew would not be considered an intestate heir of the boyfriend.