About Melissa R. DeVantier

Melissa assists individuals and families with their estate and business planning needs. She also advises business owners and stakeholders on a range of topics, including LLC formation, mergers, real estate, contracts, and succession planning.

Client Alert: The SECURE Act

In December 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. The SECURE Act became effective on January 1, 2020, and makes significant changes to retirement accounts, including Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans (“Retirement Plans”). The following is a brief summary of the key changes: The beginning […]

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Get to Know Us: Attorney Ali Rodriguez

Where do you live? Appleton Where are you from? Wautoma My legal practice… While I am learning a little bit about many new areas of law, I am primarily learning estate planning and elder law. My family….  My husband, Enrique, and I have been together for almost 8 years and married for almost a year. […]

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VA Aid and Attendance Pensions

Long term care costs present a significant financial stress to many families. For certain veterans (and their surviving spouses) the VA offers a pension program that can provide additional monthly income to offset some of the cost of their care. This program is known as the VA Aid and Attendance pension. In order to be […]

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Why Your College Student Needs a Power of Attorney

It’s that time of year again – back to school. Like Christmas, it seems to creep up on us faster every year. Thanks to our “sales tax holiday” earlier this month, parents could buy clothing, computers, and other back-to-school supplies without having to pay sales tax. One back to school supply that few parents think […]

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Inheriting the Family Cottage

As an estate planning attorney, my clients often ask me what they should do with the family cottage, cabin or hunting land “up north.” In a typical situation, Mom and Dad purchased the property years ago at a bargain, and now the children and grandchildren treasure it as a place to gather as a family. […]

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Planning for Medicaid and Family Care

Entering a nursing home or assisted living facility can be one of the most confusing and stressful times that a family will ever have. In addition to changing a living situation, families are thrust into an alphabet soup of different government agencies and programs. We have discussed in prior articles the use of irrevocable trusts […]

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Family Wills- Part Two: What Goes Into My Will?

If you’ve decided to create a will after reading part one or part three of our family will series, Attorney Reg P. Wydeven, along with Prospera Credit Union, takes you through the six questions you need to consider when writing your will in the infographic below.   *Originally Posted on August 2, 2017 on Go Valley Kids* […]

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