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For years, I have bemoaned the fact that my clients were unable under Michigan law to be confident that their wishes with respect to their own funeral and burial arrangements would be honored. The fact is, Michigan gave total control over funeral and burial arrangements to the next of kin. Hard as it is to […]

The time is upon us where some may never relate to the feelings associated with digging through an old box of photographs. That box of photos has become files on Facebook and Instagram. Those who don’t post every photo on social media may store those photos on web-based backup systems. The old hand-written letters we

In “the old days”, which in terms of estate tax law, wasn’t that long ago, the estate tax rate was 55% and the exemption $600,000. In those days, we advised cilents to adopt AB Trusts in order to keep at least $600,000 out of the taxable estate of the surviving spouse. Fast forward to 2016.

As pretty much the entire world knows by now, Prince Rogers Nelson (better known simply as “Prince”) died on April 21, 2016. Lauded for his brilliant talent as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Prince will be remembered and written about for a long time. Today, however, I write about Prince for a different reason: according

The time is upon us where some may never relate to the feelings associated with digging through an old box of photographs. That box of photos has become files on Facebook and Instagram. Those who don’t post every photo on social media may store those photos on web-based backup systems. The old hand-written letters we

Many states give property tax breaks to those who are residents of the state, and deny those breaks to people who are not residents. Individuals and married couples filing joint tax returns can usually have only one principal residence. The tax breaks are big enough that some people cheat, claiming residency in more than one

This is one out of a multitude of questions that a family looking to apply for Medicaid (the type that pays for nursing home care, in-home care, or assisted living care) has when I first meet with them. Sorting through the various rules and implications of Medicaid eligibility is a big chore that starts with

Mlive.com recently posted an article on March 16th ranking Michigan’s 30 most-populated counties by life expectancy (which data was collected from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington), and to my delight, Ottawa County was ranked #1. Specifically, the average life expectancy of men in Ottawa County is 79.8 years

Many seniors wonder how to best protect their home. This risk comes up because their health declines and they need medical care in an assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility. At this stage, they could be pursuing Medicaid benefits to help pay for their care. Fortunately, the Medicaid rules allow them to keep their

Ladybird deeds have gained popularity as a way for an owner to maintain property in his or her name but pass it along to a beneficiary at their death. This method avoids probate, is an alternative to transferring property to a trust during the owner’s lifetime, and is useful for someone who needs to apply