Protecting your family, leaving a legacy.
A poorly built estate plan doesn't just cost money. It costs family relationships too.
Over 40 years, we’ve seen what poorly constructed estate plans cost people: unnecessary taxes, probate, misdirected assets, and fractured relationships between siblings. Our process is built to help you avoid all four.
Is your will doing what you think it does?
Finishing a will, trust, and other estate documents doesn't guarantee a smooth transfer. Estate problems often come from beneficiaries and titling that were never properly listed or updated.
Did a friend refer your estate attorney?
A good experience with an attorney doesn't guarantee a good estate plan. Selecting one who creates effective plans takes seeing the aftermath of their work, not just a referral.
What happens to sibling relationships?
When an estate plan is vague, siblings are left to guess, and guessing creates tension. A clear plan and an accurate profile are designed to remove that uncertainty.
Two things make an estate plan hold up.
Work with a reputable estate planner
People often choose an estate attorney through a referral from friends or family. A good experience with an attorney doesn't guarantee they build effective estate plans; that requires seeing the aftermath of their work. We've seen the aftermath of plans from a wide range of attorneys, and we use that to build our own network.
Create an estate plan early
We've built a process that includes an actively maintained estate profile for clients in our Private Client Group: an inventory of your assets, liabilities, insurance policies, how everything is titled, and beneficiary designations, along with contact information for the professionals in your life and, when you want it, a legacy letter for your children.
If a spouse passes away, having that profile already in place simplifies what our on-staff estate specialist needs to do, and gives the surviving spouse a guide instead of a blank page. A clear plan also gives your executor a straightforward way to share what was intended with your children, which is often what keeps small disagreements from becoming lasting ones.
Hear from people who've been through the process.
The Google reviews above may be from current or former clients, or individuals who are not clients of Bernicke Wealth Management (“BWM”). Reviewers have not been compensated or received any material incentives for providing a review. No material conflicts of interest have been identified within these reviews. BWM’s Eau Claire office has maintained an “Excellent” 5-star rating on Google since October 16, 2021.
Reviews Disclosure
Whether you're building your first estate plan or making sure yours still holds up, we're here for it.
If you're within five years of retirement
We work with individuals over 50 with $500,000 or more in investable assets, and estate planning is one of the coordinated areas we cover.
If you're already retired
Once you’re retired, questions about gifting, inheritance, and how your assets pass to your spouse and children come into focus.
If you have $1 million or more in investable assets
Our Private Client Group includes an actively maintained estate profile, backed by a dedicated team across four coordinated planning areas.
If you're a business owner
Business ownership adds real complexity to an estate plan, especially if you plan to pass the business to the next generation. We build a plan around your goals as an owner.
Questions people ask us about estate planning.
We don't draft legal documents ourselves. We build and maintain a network of estate attorneys based on what we've seen work well across a wide range of clients' plans, help you select one who fits your situation, then coordinate your plan around what they create.
It's a living inventory of your estate: your assets, liabilities, and insurance policies, how everything is titled, your beneficiary designations, contact information for the professionals in your life, and, if you want it, a legacy letter communicating non-financial wishes to your children. It's built once and then kept current, not created and forgotten.
Yes, that's a good place to start. Having a will and beneficiaries listed doesn't guarantee they're up to date or titled correctly, that's specifically what your estate profile is built to check and keep current.
Private Client Group clients get a full estate profile, maintained on an ongoing basis with a comprehensive review every three years. For clients outside that group, we review the beneficiary designations on accounts held with us regardless of tier, though that's not the same as a full estate review.
Yes. When it's something you want included, your estate profile includes the option of a legacy letter, a way to communicate non-financial wishes and messages to your children alongside the financial and legal details.
Beneficiaries, titling, even who should be involved, can all shift as life changes. A new grandchild, a move, a divorce in the family. That's why we treat your estate profile as something to keep current, not something you set once and forget.
Ty Bernicke, CFP®, named a 2026 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor (awarded April 7, 2026; data as of June 30, 2025). BWM did not pay for this award but paid a fee to license the logo. Award Disclosure
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