» Estate planning

As this blog post is published, we’re in the thick of the holiday season: shopping, decorating, attending parties, gathering with loved ones, and thinking about the year to come. Often, the holidays are also filled with reminiscences of loved ones… Read More

Most people don’t spring out of bed on their eighteenth birthday, eager to start their day with a good breakfast and a visit to the estate planning attorney. In fact, many people wait decades before making an estate plan, and some never make one at… Read More

In a nutshell, a pour-over will is a tool to make sure that everything in your estate passes according to the terms of your estate plan. In recent years, trusts have become an increasingly popular way to avoid probate and ensure that inherited assets… Read More

One of the most common questions estate planning attorneys hear is “Do I need a will, a living trust, or both?” Often, the question is asked by a new client who has been doing research on estate planning, or who has been advised by a friend or fa… Read More

If you are getting ready to attend your first estate planning meeting with an attorney, congratulations! That means that you’ve already taken the most difficult step: making the decision to make an estate plan. Now you may be concerned about what y… Read More

It’s not hard to make a valid will. In Michigan, all a will needs in order to be valid under the law is to be in writing; signed by the person making it (or by someone else at that person’s conscious direction); and signed by two witnesses to eit… Read More

For many people, the motivation for creating an estate plan is the birth of a child. Becoming a parent and becoming responsible for another life tends to focus your attention on planning for the future! The hope, of course, is that you will be around… Read More

Trusts have become increasingly popular as an estate planning tool in recent years. Trusts aren’t just for the wealthy. They are useful for anyone who does not want their assets to have to go through probate at their death. A trust is a legal relat… Read More