How Do I Access a Decedent’s Safe Deposit Box in Michigan?
In a previous article for this site, we wrote about the importance of taking care to thoughtfully organize, store, and safeguard your estate planning documents when you have the chance. This includes coming up with a plan to keep your will, trust, powers of attorney, and burial documents safe from displacement, damage, or theft — […]
What Is a No-Contest Clause In a Will or Trust?
Will and trust contests can often cause estate administration to drag on — while pitting family members against each other. To minimize the likelihood of contests during probate, one action that you may take as part of your estate plan is to add a “no-contest clause” to your will and/or trust. Also known as a […]
Can a Trustee Be Challenged or Removed?
A trustee has many important responsibilities and duties, including managing, controlling, and distributing trust property, while keeping beneficiaries and other relevant parties informed about the administration of the trust. A trustee is a fiduciary, meaning that they are held to a very high standard for conduct. In executing his or her duties, a trustee is […]
7 Common Estate Planning Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Estate planning is one of the most powerful and important steps you can take to prepare for the future — and it’s crucial to make sure that no critical step gets overlooked, forgotten, or misplaced along the way. Unfortunately, many people end up committing one or mistakes or mishaps during the estate planning process, which […]
Can You Challenge or Remove a Personal Representative in Michigan?
When someone passes away, their assets must be collected and distributed and their estate must be guided through Michigan’s probate courts. The personal representative is the person tasked with this important responsibility, which typically includes: Marshalling the assets of the estate and determining their value Paying charges from the estate (including the decedent’s debts and […]
When to Consider Choosing a Professional Fiduciary
Setting up your estate plan isn’t always a pleasant thing to think about; however, it’s a very important step to take when you have the opportunity. Often, taking time to plan for what will happen to the people who matter most and the assets you’ve spent a lifetime acquiring will include considering who you will […]
Can You Disinherit an Adult Child In Michigan?
When you pass away, what will happen to the assets you’ve spent a lifetime acquiring? Developing an estate plan is a process that keeps you in control if you become incapacitated, and even when you’re gone. For some people, this may mean taking action to deliberately exclude or disinherit certain individuals from their wills or […]
Understanding Michigan’s Homestead Allowance, Family Allowance, and Exempt Property
Losing a loved one is always difficult and emotionally trying. The loss of a family member can take on a new dimension when the decedent was the head of the household, or one of the primary income earners in the family. In Michigan, there are a number of rights belonging to the surviving spouse and […]
What Is a Holographic Will?
Here in Michigan, a will is an important estate planning tool — one that can allow you to maintain control over the distribution of your property and provide for your loved ones when you are gone. Under Michigan’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), there are several different methods that a testator may use to […]
What Can a Probate and Estates Attorney Do for You?
When you have a foot problem, you go to the podiatrist. When you have a heart problem, you go to the cardiologist. When you want to complete your estate plan or are forced into the probate courts, you need to go to an established probate and estate planning attorney. Michigan probate attorneys focus on the […]