Category Archives: Estate Planning
Why Everyone Needs a Plan for Incapacity, Not Just a Will
When most people think about estate planning, the first thing that comes to mind is writing a will. But preparing for what happens after you die is only half the battle. Another important and too often overlooked part of an estate plan is making sure you’re protected if you become incapacitated. Illness, accidents or cognitive […]
How Michigan’s Digital Asset Law Could Affect Your Estate Plan
In today’s digital world, personal assets extend beyond paper files and family heirlooms. Your email, cloud storage accounts, social media profiles, online banking and cryptocurrency holdings are now a part of your estate. As a result, you need your estate plan to provide for digital access to these assets after your death, so that you […]
Five Issues That Can Disrupt Probate, and How to Prevent Them
Probate in Michigan is the court-supervised process for settling a deceased person’s estate. It is designed to honor the decedent’s final wishes and to protect the rights of heirs and creditors. Yet, even for relatively simple estates, unexpected obstacles can arise, creating stress, delays and unnecessary expense for grieving families. The good news is that […]
Property Interests That Don’t Have to Go Through Probate
Probate is the legal process through which a deceased person’s estate is administered and distributed under court supervision. It involves filing necessary paperwork with the probate court, notifying heirs and interested parties about the proceedings and, when necessary, resolving disputes over the estate’s distribution of assets. However, probate can be time-consuming and often involves considerable […]
Using an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust in Estate Planning
An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is an estate planning tool commonly used by individuals seeking to leverage life insurance for maximum benefit while minimizing exposure to estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes. An ILIT is a legal entity that owns your life insurance policy. Your appoint a trustee (such as a family member, friend or […]
Do You Still Need a Will if You Have a Living Trust?
A living trust is a revocable trust into which transfer ownership of designated assets during your lifetime. As the trust’s creator, you typically serve as its trustee, retaining complete control over the assets while you are alive. Upon your death, a designated successor trustee takes over management and directs distribution of the trust’s assets to […]
