Law Office of Trevor H. Grant

05/04/2022

Bolster your financial security by building an emergency savings account, pay off high-interest debt, funding retirement accounts, and building your own estate plan by emailing us to schedule an appointment today!

04/27/2022

Before you consult an attorney regarding your estate plan its best to get yourself organized! Here's some estate planning steps you don’t need an attorney for:

(1) List bank accounts, investment accounts, and retirement accounts.

(2) List your possessions: jewelry, clothes, boats, cars, RVs, etc.

(3) List your account logins and passwords.

(4) Write your wishes and leave letters to loved ones.

(5) Organize tax documents.

But for those times when you are ready for an attorney, email us to schedule an appointment!

04/20/2022

Our fifth and final part of this mini-series is to look and Conservatorships. A Conservatorship is similar to a guardianship but is limited only to financial and property interests.

In a Conservatorship another party is permitted to participate in your financial obligations and preserve your assets. This could include preventing foreclosure of your real property, eviction, repossession, termination of insurance, termination of utilities, etc. Similarly, this allows your Conservator to deposit checks or payments made out to you and participate in management of your banking or investment accounts.

This can be a useful component when planning for the unexpected. If you or anyone you know is interested in establishing a customized estate plan then email us to schedule an appointment today!

04/13/2022

This brings us to the fourth part of our five-part introductory mini-series. Today we will briefly go over Guardianships.

A Guardianship is a legal relationship where a party is appointed by the court to manage the personal and property interests of another party, known as a Ward. The appointed Guardian can be an individual person. However, there are also businesses providing Guardianship services when needed.

Regardless of whether the Guardian is a personal or business relationship, the Guardian agrees to be held responsible for the care and management of the Ward. To this end, the court will perform inspections to keep informed of the well-being of the Ward.

A Guardianship is not warranted in all instances, but it can be useful when planning with minor children. If you or anyone you know is interested in establishing a customized estate plan then email us to schedule an appointment today!

04/06/2022

Welcome to the third-installment of our 5-part introductory mini-series! In this post we will be covering Advanced Directives.

With Advanced Directives you appoint a representative to act on your behalf as outlined within the establishing document. These Advanced Directives are oftentimes referred to as Powers of Attorney. These Powers of Attorney can be “upgraded” into something called Durable Powers of Attorney.

These Durable Powers have the added advantage of permitting your appointed person to make decisions, or execute your established wishes, in the event you are incapacitated, whereas standard Powers of Attorney do not. Some States refer to these Durable Powers as “Living Wills.”

Powers of Attorney usually concern two areas: finances and healthcare. Each option usually comes with its own additional documents and releases. Although something like a Trust might not be right for everyone, it is a good idea for everyone to have Advanced Directives in place with a trusted loved one in case the unexpected happens.

If you or anyone you know is interested in establishing a personal plan with Advanced Directives then email us to schedule an appointment today!

03/30/2022

Welcome to our 5-part introductory series!

First up is the Will. A Will is a legal document informing the court how to disperse your assets after death. If you leave behind a Will then your estate is said to be testate. Assets placed into Wills must be brought before the court. The act of bringing a Will before the court is known as opening a probate estate. Thus, all assets in a Will are known as probate assets.

In a simple sense, a Will is letter to the Judge telling them how you wish to leave asset. If the Will is both legally valid and unambiguous then the assets will be administered as specified. However, if the Will, or portions of the Will, are either invalid or ambiguous then those portions will be subject to default rules.

If you or anyone you know is interested in avoiding these one-size-fits-all rules then email us to schedule an appointment today!

03/30/2022

The second portion of our mini-series covers Trusts!

A Trust is a vehicle by which a person can relinquish their property rights to the Trust yet still retain a measure of control over that property. Unlike a Will, a Trust is considered a non-probate device, meaning that it will not need to be filed in court to administer the estate. There are many different specific types of Trusts and they can be tailored to each individual’s goals.

However, they all fall within two categories. They are either Living Trusts, which are made during the creator’s lifetime, or Testamentary Trusts, which are created in a Will after the creator’s death. Living Trusts are further broken down into Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts. Revocable Trusts can be freely modified after their creation by the creator but Irrevocable Trusts cannot be modified.

Typically, there are three main groupings or types of persons involved in a Trust. First, the person establishing the Trust is known as the Testator or Settlor. Second, this person names another person or entity, called a Trustee, to manage the Trust. Third, the Settlor also names recipients Trust, called Beneficiaries.

The same person might be solely in two of these groups, but a person cannot solely be in all three because they have not truly relinquished any property rights.

Trusts can be an important part of an estate plan but can quickly become complex. If you or anyone you know is interested in establishing a customized Trust then email us to schedule an appointment today!

03/16/2022

We are planning something a little different over the next few weeks. Over the next five weeks we will be posting a 5-part mini-series on documents commonly used in estate planning.

We will briefly explore the Will, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Advanced Directives, Guardianship, and Conservatorship. The idea is to introduce some concepts familiar to estate planning and to help provide some clarification on terms that the experts might take for granted. Stay tuned!

If you or anyone you know is interested in establishing a customized estate plan then email us to schedule an appointment today!

03/09/2022

Just received a large inheritance? According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, an estimated 70% of people who suddenly receive a large amount of money go through it all in just a few years.

Consider placing your inheritance in a money market or bank savings account for six months to a year. Your money will safely accrue some interest while you assemble a team of professionals. This team should typically include a fee-only planner, a tax professional and an attorney.

When you're ready, email us to schedule an appointment!

03/02/2022

An estate plan is an opportunity to address your concerns and safeguard your family against unintended consequences. An estate plan isn’t just for the elderly, it’s for husbands, wives, parents, adult children, and college students, just to name a few.

Our Stages of Estate Planning:

(1) Initial phone conference to discuss what type of estate planning client needs and signing of fee agreement, and intake forms sent;

(2) Client fills out intake questionnaire and emails or faxes return;

(3) Client and attorney meet in-person or by phone conference to discuss the questionnaire and any questions that might arise;

(4) Attorney drafts the documents and emails them to Client for review;

(5) Client and attorney meet to sign and execute the documents.

We believe this allows us to provide custom estate plans for our clients that maintains our standards of high-quality results.

Plan your strategy today! Email us to schedule a review of your estate plan!

02/23/2022

There are many free estate planning options available. Examples include well-planned beneficiary transfers, holographic wills, pre-made will templates, or simply not creating an estate plan and letting the courts allocate your belongings. The Michigan legislature went so far as to place a legally valid fill-in-the-blank Will inside its Estate and Protected Individual Code for the benefit of all Michigan residents!

In some instances, these are perfectly feasible options. However, all of these free options are missing the same thing; good advice! Furthermore, a word or phrase that is clear-cut to you may seem confusing to others and create unforeseen problems in your estate administration.

This leaves the courts with applying already established law to try and guess at your intentions. In certain instances, this may be the exact opposite of what you actually wanted!

Email us today to schedule a review of your estate plan!

Listen to what this attorney has to say on the subject:
Are Do-It-Yourself Trusts and Wills Any Good? An Estate Attorney Shares The Truth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArnSVsSIbeU

Jonathan Barlow from Clear Counsel Law Group shares a true story of DIY estate planning gone wrong!Everybody has seen really cheap estate planning forms that...