Almost every estate plan can benefit from a living trust. There’s a lot to love about living trusts: they can keep your assets out of probate, allowing them to pass seamlessly to your heirs; they allow you to control and use the assets during your life, and even to place conditions on their use and […]
In some Michigan divorces, one spouse serves the other with divorce papers, and the spouse who is served is blindsided. In most divorces, though, the couple knows their marriage is in deep trouble. If you know you and your spouse are headed for divorce, should you file for divorce first, or let them file? The […]
It’s both a great honor and a serious responsibility to be named as the executor of a loved one’s estate. Most of the time, someone who is considering naming you as their executor will ask you in advance if you would be willing to serve. It’s also possible that you could be named as executor […]
More than ever before, adult children may live several states away from their parents. But just as ever, parents tend to name their adult children as executors of their estates. The result is that many people are faced with the task of administering an estate in a state where they don’t live, and whose laws […]
If you’re getting divorced in Michigan, you know that part of the process is the division of marital property. What you may not know is exactly what “marital property” means. Not all property that belongs to you and your spouse is marital, and before a judge can divide it up, he or she will need […]
A living trust is an efficient way for most people to maintain control of their assets during their lifetime and pass those assets directly to loved ones after their death. Living trusts are “revocable,” which is to say that you can revoke them at any time until you die or become legally incapacitated. You can […]
Divorce, it’s said, ends a marriage, but not a family. When you divorce with kids, you are never completely disconnected from your ex. In order to see your kids on a regular basis, it’s necessary that you live within a reasonable distance of each other. Usually, at the time of your divorce, this isn’t a […]
Even when it’s expected, few events are more distressing than the death of a spouse. When the death comes without warning, you may feel paralyzed by shock as well as by grief. At the same time, you need to make arrangements and notify others and, a little bit down the road, tend to financial matters […]
It’s not the first thing you think of in the moments after impact. But after the dust has settled, the police report has been made, the car’s been towed and you’ve received medical treatment, the thought occurs to you: how am I going to pay for all of this? If you’ve been involved in a […]
The death of a beloved family member is never easy, especially if it’s a parent or spouse. The pain of such a loss is compounded when that person dies without a will or estate plan. The legal term for dying without a will is dying intestate. After the immediate grief of the loss, and the […]
