Estate Planning

For a number of years, estate taxes haven’t been a major planning issue for many people. Since 2012, the amount you can protect against the estate tax (known as “exemption”) has been rising and in the last six years alone, it’s gone up significantly. In 2024, the exemption is $13.61 million per person. But, the […]

The list of Top Area Estate Planning Firms by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business, which ranks firms based on the number of estate planning clients in West Michigan in 2022, stands as the most thorough and reliable resource. This ranking is derived from responses to surveys conducted by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business, with “West Michigan” defined

Owning a home comes with a lot of challenges. One of them is incorporating it into your estate plan. It used to be a fairly straightforward process. If you created a revocable living trust, you’d transfer your house to that trust and you were done. Today, there’s a lot more to think about when doing

On November 7, 2023, Michigan adopted a new financial power of attorney law. It joined 29 other states in passing what’s called a uniform law. In other words, Michigan now has a financial power of attorney (sometimes called a “POA”) that’s consistent with 29 other states in the country. In this new law, Michigan has

Estate planning is in part about having peace of mind that “you’re all set.” In other words, you’ve put together a plan that will play out the way you intended upon your disability or death.If you’ve done an estate plan, you should still ask whether “you’re all set” every once and a while. Getting a

A profits interest isn’t a new concept. But, it’s becoming increasingly more important for business owners. A profits interest is an interest in an LLC (that’s taxed as a partnership) and provides someone with a share of the company’ s profits going forward. Said another way, it’s an interest in the future profits of the

Losing a spouse can be devastating. It creates a void in many aspects of life. In situations like these, it’s also important to review your estate plan and determine what should be done. If your spouse has passed, these are the most common estate planning issues to consider: Talk with your family. Hopefully families or

The high school class of 2023 has officially graduated, and parents are getting ready to send their children off into the real world—whether that be to work, college, or a different adventure. Many young adults will be moving out of their parent’s homes for the first time, as they attempt to navigate adulthood. Parents want to

Family ownership succession can happen between a number of different people or groups. Parents may transfer ownership to one or more of their children. Siblings may transfer ownership to each other or the next generation (i.e. nieces and nephews). Grandparents may even skip a generation and transfer ownership to a grandchild if their children aren’t

Married couples have oftentimes had two separate trusts. In other words, one spouse would have a trust and the other spouse would too. This planning was typically done to minimize or avoid the estate tax at their passing. Over the last decade though, the estate tax laws have changed so much that having two separate