Estate Planning & Probate
We help Michigan individuals and families craft tailored plans to protect their assets, provide for loved ones, and ensure their wishes are honored. From proactive planning to guiding heirs and interested parties through the administration process, we offer compassionate and thorough guidance in all matters of legacy.
- Comprehensive Estate Plans: We design customized estate plans, such as Revocable Living Trusts to avoid probate and Last Wills and Testaments to direct the distribution of an estate.
- Specialized Trust Planning: Our experience includes drafting Supplemental Needs Trusts (Special Needs Trusts) to preserve a beneficiary's eligibility for public assistance, and Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) to exclude life insurance proceeds from taxable estates.
- Life Planning: We prepare essential advance directives, including Durable Financial Powers of Attorney and Designations of Patient Advocate (for healthcare), allowing you to designate trusted individuals to manage your affairs if you are unable or unwilling to do so.
- Probate & Trust Administration: We represent Personal Representatives and Successor Trustees in the formal process of administering an estate or trust after a death. This includes guiding them through Michigan probate court procedures, asset collection, creditor notifications, and final distributions to beneficiaries.
- Fiduciary Appointments & Litigation: We assist families in pursuing Guardianship and Conservatorship appointments for minors or incapacitated adults. When disputes arise, we provide representation in Probate and Trust Litigation matters, including will contests, trust interpretation issues, and fiduciary misconduct claims.