Estate Planning

Estate Planning comes down to 3 things:

IF I DIE:

1 - Who is in control of my "stuff"?

2 - Who gets to benefit from my "stuff"?

3 - When?

Your "stuff" includes your house, vehicles, bank accounts, retirement benefits, life insurance, brokerage accounts, your physical stuff (items, collections, etc...), business interests, the cottage, etc...

You may think you don't have an estate plan, but if you haven't done any planning - the State has a plan and will make those decisions for you.

With estate planning you can:

Give specific direction as to how your assets should be distributed, when and to whom.
Choose a guardian and/or conservator for your minor children.
Choose who will handle medical and financial decisions if you become incapacitated and can no longer manage your own affairs. And, give specific direction as to how you would like your financial and medical issues handled in those situations.
Avoid the Michigan probate process (and the associated delays, lack of privacy, costs, and burden of time to manage it all)
Leave a lasting and meaningful legacy.
Protect your legacy from creditors, lawsuits, divorce, remarriage, and other potential problems that arise from your heirs.
Minimize or even eliminate estate taxes and gift taxes
Pass your values and sense of responsibility on to your heirs.
Enjoy greater peace of mind.

We accomplish these goals by working closely with you to gain an understanding of your specific situation and unique circumstances. Then, we employ several estate planning tools and techniques in combination to best accomplish your goals. We believe in creating plans that not only protect assets, but prevent family conflict, and build meaningful legacies.

The earlier you begin the planning process, the more options we will have to protect your loved ones and yourself.

Elder Law

Elder Law comes down to 3 things:

IF I'M ALIVE BUT INCAPACITATED:

1- Who is in control of me and my "stuff"?

2- Who will care for me?

3 - How?

With Elder Law Planning you can:

Choose who will manage your Financial and Legal affairs and provide detailed instructions of how you want things managed.

Choose how you want your care to be handled and who will make sure your wishes are carried out.

Choose where you want to be in a long-term care situation and how you will pay for it.

Preserve your assets for loved ones and your peace of mind.

Ensure you will qualify for Medicaid assistance

Our Medicaid paralegal Zoe accomplishes these goals by working with you to understand all of your unique circumstances, using her expertise to help you navigate the system, and working with our attorneys to put documents in place to preserve your assets and ensure your wishes are followed.

Estate Administration

Estate Administration includes Probate Administration, Trust Administration, and transfer of assets by Operation of Law.

Estate Administration is very technical, time consuming, and costly - on average 3-5% of total estate assets are lost to the probate process. Our Probate Paralegal Heidi, with over fifteen years of experience, works with our attorneys to navigate the court system, save you from mistakes that add to filing time and costs, and reduce probate expenses down to an average of .5-3% of estate assets.

In 2025, our probate department filed the most probate filings in Ingham County.