Estate Planning & Trusts
Michigan Estate Planning Attorneys in Grand Rapids MI
Excellent Lifetime Estate Planning Assistance Eases the Burden of Your Loved Ones
The Grand Rapids estate planning lawyers at Howard Law Group have vast experience developing estate plans for individuals and addressing the unique issues surrounding family and closely-held businesses. Our trust attorneys assist in the creation of wills, trusts, medical powers of attorney, financial powers of attorney matters, patient care directives (or living wills) and HIPPA disclosures.
There is nothing that brings out the worst in a family other than a poorly planned estate. An unclear will or trust — or worse yet, the lack of a will and trust — along with numerous trips to probate court can easily cause your once caring family and friends to become bitter enemies due to misunderstandings. The Attorneys at Howard Law Group considers each client’s life circumstances when planning and developing an estate plan. We assist clients in minimizing income taxes, capital gain taxes, estate taxes, and gift taxes and our team has drafted living trusts and irrevocable trusts to benefit our clients.
Our complete estate services offer you assistance with the following:
- Asset Planning
- Guardianship
- Trust Litigation
- Will contests and litigation
- Estate litigation
- Estate Planning
- Charitable Giving
- Contested Probate
- Business succession
- Property Transfers
Give Yourself Peace of Mind
Our estate planning services will give you and your loved ones tremendous peace of mind. By planning for future events such as death or incapacity, you can help eliminate worry for yourself now and for your loved ones later. We can help you direct the transfer your assets according to your wishes, avoid the probate court process, will contests and keep taxes and other expenses to a minimum.
Estate Planning is for Everyone
An estate plan is for every person, it may, in fact, be more important for persons with modest assets because being spot on is crucial.
Young two parent families need estate planning. They have two very important consideration that they need to address:
- Who will care for their children if tragedy strikes both parents?
- If one spouse dies, and the young family does not have a will, the children may inherit part of the estate—this is almost never desired. A will can assure that the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate.
Single Parent families need estate planning. The single parent has two unique issues to address:
- Who will care for their child if they are no longer able? This can be especially challenging if the biological parent is not an appropriate caregiver.
- Who will manage your assets so that they benefit your child(ren)?
Divorcing Parent families need estate planning. A “bridge estate plan”[tm] can be crucial while divorcing. After the decision to divorce, but before it actually occurs is one of the most important times to do estate planning. You need a good short term “bridge estate plan”[tm] that will cover your concerns until you find your new normal. Specific issues may include:
- Assuring that your soon to be ex-spouse won’t inherit if you pass away during the pendency of the divorce. Michigan law disinherits your former spouse only after you are divorced and not while the divorce is pending.
- Assuring that your voice is heard regarding child custody issues.
Newly Divorced and Remarrying Persons need estate planning. If you are recently divorced, you will want estate planning that protects your children, especially if you are re-marrying. You do not necessarily want your new spouse to wind up potentially disinheriting your children that predate your new relationship. A good estate plan will explore your desires and cover the options so that sound estate planning can be prepared.