Eminent Domain and Condemnation in Michigan

Owning property in the State of Michigan entitles residents to a number of privileges. However, certain governmental actions can legally affect your rights as a property owner. One such action often taken by both local and state government is condemn…
Categories: Blog, Uncategorized
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Creating a living trust, and what it means for you

Creating a trust can be important for people who are putting together their estate plan. Trusts can help you avoid the probate process, while also securing your assets and property for your beneficiaries. But what are some of the things you need to k…
Categories: Trusts
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Are you someone's long lost life insurance beneficiary?

We often remind people to make sure their estate plans are up-to-date. While a major life event will usually prompt a review of will and trust documents, what people sometimes forget is to check the designated beneficiaries of life insurance policies…
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Up next: Fiduciary Smackdown and Monster Trust Rally!

Tabloids continue to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the January 2015 incident that led to Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death six months later. There are conspiracy theories that link her death with her mother’s — Whitney Ho…
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What are power of attorney and the health care directive?

Power of attorney and the health care directive are two aspects of your will and estate plan that dictate who will make financial decisions on your behalf, and how you should be medically treated in case you are incapacitated (respectively). As you c…
Categories: Estate Planning
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Your will is not written in stone - for the most part

We are finishing up our discussion of the various ways a testator can change his or her will. There are codicils and separate writings, for example, that can amend or supplement an existing will. And, over the past couple of decades, technology has m…
Categories: Estate Planning
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In probate, fully executed does not mean written in stone p2

We cannot overstate the importance of having a sound estate plan. Remember, if you do not have a will, the state has one for you, and the state’s plan may be exactly what you do not want to happen to your property. The only way to make sure you…
Categories: Wills
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In probate, fully executed does not mean written in stone

If we all lived in a Dickens novel, a funeral would be followed by a somber meeting of the deceased’s family members. A distinguished lawyer would be behind an enormous desk in a book-lined room, and the heirs — or likely heirs — wo…
Categories: Wills
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An estate plan is more than the sum of its parts, whatever they are

We talk about estate plans all the time, but it occurs to us that we have not really reviewed the individual components of an estate plan. This is definitely an a la carte menu: Personal circumstances dictate what any one person needs at any given ti…
Categories: Estate Planning
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Ho Ho Holy cow, is your estate plan ready for 2016?

If you are done with your holiday shopping and wondering what to do with your time, you may want to pull out your estate plan to make sure everything in it and everything affecting it are up to date. Before your credit card bills come in, take a few…
Categories: Estate Tax
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