By: Logan Wood © 2020 The CARES Act is an overarching Act aimed to help those affected by COVID-19. In particular, this Act authorized the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to provide temporary guaranteed loans under a program known as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). In general, the Act allowed certain borrowers to be eligible for forgiveness of their PPP loan. This forgiveness was limited to the number of certain payments made throughout the…

By: Logan Wood © 2020 Beginning in April of 2020, U.S. citizens began to receive Economic Impact Payments (i.e. stimulus checks) from the Treasury Department due to the impact of COVID-19. In determining the amount each citizen would receive, the Treasury Department relied on the last filed tax returns to identify qualifying individuals and to calculate how much each citizen would receive.  Because the official filing date for taxes for the 2019 filing year has…

By: Thomas A. Griesbach © 2020 In the last few weeks of 2019, Congress passed the SETTING EVERY COMMUNITY UP FOR RETIREMENT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019 (the “SECURE ACT”) which, among other things, made drastic changes to the rules governing inherited retirement accounts. For many of us, our largest assets are our retirement accounts, and so the SECURE ACT greatly affects many of our estate plans. Under the pre-SECURE ACT rules, most individuals who inherited…

By: Attorney Gina C. Ziegelbauer © 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many to think about what-if scenarios and realize they can’t put off end-of-life planning. An estate plan generally includes documents (i.e. will or trust) which direct where your assets will go after you die, and appoint a personal representative (also called an executor) or a trustee to administer your estate after you die. If you have minor children, your will is important to…

As widely reported, Governor Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services extended Wisconsin’s Safer At Home Order through May 26, 2020.  Click below to read the updated Order and for additional information published by Governor Evers’ office clarifying the terms of the updated Order. Resources: Safer At Home Order Safer At Home Order – Frequently Asked Questions The post COVID-19 Update: Safer At Home Order Extended Through May 26th appeared first on Steimle Birschbach, …

By: Attorney Samuel J. Spurney The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid shift to remote working unlike anything experienced before.  While many businesses have scrambled to connect employees remotely using VPN, encrypted email, and other common data protection measures, one crucial in-home data protection practice has undoubtedly been overlooked by many – turning off Siri, Alexa, and other personal digital home assistants during work hours. While Google, Amazon, and other tech companies have attempted to…