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Recently, after a friendly game of pick-up basketball at a local gym, a friend came up to me with a serious look on his face. I thought it might have had something to do with the fact that I may have taken a shot too many during the game we had just played and lost. […]

There are several important decisions that need to be made when you meet with your attorney to develop an estate plan. Many of these decisions require a good amount of thought, and discussion between you and your spouse. In fact, sometimes the seriousness of these decisions prevents people from getting a plan done at all.

This is one of the first questions I hear from people exploring whether or not to file bankruptcy. It is obviously a very important question. The short and simple answer is that you can keep your house if you continue to make the mortgage payments. In reality, this plays out in two ways: You continue

A great-uncle of mine passed away recently at the age of 81. A few days after his death, his family learned that his bank account was modest and that the beneficiary on his investment account was his deceased wife. With no money being passed directly to the family (without involvement of the court or access

Did he die intestate or testate? Only a legal professional would word a question this way, but it’s an important one. If a person passes away without a will then he has died “intestate.” If a person has a will at death then he has died “testate.” If you have a will, then you picked

Some might argue that when it comes to property, “If you don’t use it, then you lose it.” That’s not true, but at the same time, you should never ignore someone who uses your property openly and without permission. Michigan courts have long held that an owner of real property may lose title to some

I’ve been working with some clients who are very interested in the recent Supreme Court decision on laws involving single-sex marriage. As most people know by now, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional in requiring all federal agencies to follow a definition of marriage as between a

Beware of offers to sell you services you don’t need, or documents to which you are already entitled! Numerous clients along the lakeshore recently have reported being approached by companies offering to sell copies of certain documents, especially deeds related to recent real estate transactions. Companies offer to provide these documents at a cost of

A durable power of attorney gives the person you select the power to act in your place. But what if your agent shows the document to your financial planner and is turned away? If you are competent, you can sort out the problem yourself. But what if you’re not? A general durable power of attorney

When your business is doing well, it’s easy to just work “in” the business and not “on” it. In other words, the day-to-day customer and client demands dictate your day and you don’t take the steps to focus on important ways to position your company for the future. One of these actions is strategic planning. Which