You know that divorce will affect your finances. You may be losing your spouse’s income, or have to pay child support or spousal support. Your living expenses might well consume a larger percentage of your household income. One question you may have forgotten to ask yourself, though, is “how will my divorce affect my credit?” […]
Often, when we ask clients what their goals for estate planning are, we hear, “I want to avoid probate.” Much of the time, this is a very reasonable goal. Probate, while simpler than it may have been in years past, is still a process that can take many months, or even longer. During that time […]
When you think of estate planning, you probably think of making plans for disposing of your property, and possibly of appointing a guardian for your children. Most people do tend to think of estate planning as something they do to make life easier for their family after they die. While that is certainly true, you […]
Every year, around 70,000 Michiganders are injured in auto accidents in the state. Some accidents are due to drunk driving, some to excessive speed or poor road conditions, and an increasing number to distracted driving. But whatever the cause of the accident that injured you, you are almost certainly entitled to recover from either your […]
There are many reasons aging parents don’t talk to adult children about their inheritance. They may not want to their children by talking about their own mortality. They may fear that, if their adult children know an inheritance is coming, they will be less motivated to work hard themselves. And, of course, talking about money […]
If you’re like most people, it was a challenge for you simply to make it to the office of an estate planning attorney to make an estate plan. When you walked out the door, you were relieved, because you’d finally taken care of this obligation to your loved ones. The estate plan went in a […]
If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance you and your spouse created an estate plan to provide for your child’s well-being in the event something happens to either or both of you. Now you’re getting divorced, or newly divorced. How does that estate plan need to change? If reading the paragraph above made you […]
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 […]
