Scary Estate Planning Mistakes

Posted on Oct 7, 2025 by

As the ghosts and goblins appear and the hauntings begin, we’re reminded that some of the scarier things in life are not actually those that go bump in the night. Not having your estate plan completed or up to date may pose more frightening issues. In the spirit of Halloween, here is a tour through some of the scariest estate planning mistakes that may come back to haunt you and your loved ones.

Not Having an Estate Plan

If you pass away having never completed an estate plan, Wisconsin has a set of default rules, which are called intestate succession laws, that will control who receives your assets. Under certain circumstances, that may be your spouse or your children, but what if your children are minors or not responsible with money? What if you have stepchildren you want to inherit from you, but they are not included under these intestate succession laws? What if you want to disinherit someone? Even more terrifying than those questions is that to enforce the intestate succession laws, your loved ones will likely have to go through probate to transfer your assets. Probate is a time consuming and often expensive process that may remind your loved ones of a horror story. A well drafted estate plan can help to avoid these issues and make the transfer of your assets much smoother upon your passing.

Relying on a Will

We often hear from clients that they have a will, and they don’t need anything else. That’s an especially frightening statement to hear! While a will says who receives your assets when you pass away, and it can set up guardianship and testamentary trusts for beneficiaries, the only way to enforce a will is through probate. What a trick!

A will is an important part of every estate plan, especially when it comes to nominating a guardian and creating a trust for minor beneficiaries, but it is usually not the primary tool we want to rely on to transfer assets. A properly drafted estate plan can have other tools in it to avoid or minimize the court process, including things like a revocable trust, marital property agreement, and beneficiary designations. This is much more of a treat for your loved ones!

Forgetting to Update your Estate Plan

Failing to update your estate plan over time can turn your legacy into a haunted house of legal nightmares. Like a forgotten jack-o’-lantern left to rot on the porch, outdated wills and trusts can attract unwanted ghouls—disputes among heirs, unintended beneficiaries, and costly court battles. Life changes such as marriages, births, deaths, or new assets can creep up like ghosts in the night, rendering your old plan a cobwebbed relic that no longer protects your loved ones. Don’t let your estate become a chilling tale told around the campfire; keep your plan current to ensure your wishes don’t vanish into the shadows. Reviewing your estate plan every five to ten years is a good rule of thumb!

Neglecting Powers of Attorney

Another aspect of Wisconsin law that will give you a fright is that there are no default rules that state who can make decisions for you if you become incapacitated or simply need help. Other states have laws that automatically allow a spouse, oldest adult child, parent, etc. to make health care decisions for you or manage your finances if you become incapacitated. Wisconsin does not – Yikes! In Wisconsin, if you do not have a power of attorney for health care and a power of attorney for finances, your loved ones will have to petition the court for a guardian to be appointed for you to make these decisions. You can avoid that unnerving experience by having well-drafted powers of attorney that appoint who you want to act as your agent and make those decisions for you.

DIY Estate Planning

There are services online that can prepare a will for you for free or low cost, which may seem more appealing than meeting with an attorney to discuss your estate plan. However, the DIY services can be like wandering into a haunted house. It can be a one-size-fits-all tool with hidden traps that can haunt you later. The DIY service may not give you the estate planning tools that you truly need. Don’t fall into these hidden traps with the free and low-cost incentives. With the help of an attorney who specializes in estate planning, you can avoid conjuring up incorrect, incomplete, or invalid estate planning documents and you can find a plan that is right for you that avoids your true wishes from being buried.

So, a good ghoul to set is to either get your estate plan in place or, if you already have one, make sure it is up to date.

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Alicia C. Ratajczak

Ali primarily practices in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement, and elder law matters. She also assists clients with residential real estate transactions. Ali has a desire to help clients through difficult times, which fueled her interest in becoming an estate planning attorney.
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