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It is often said that your purchase of real estate is one of the biggest investments you will ever make. This is true whether the property is your home, rental property, or your business location. Despite this truism, many people take a “head in the sand” approach to protecting their investment when finances are tight. […]

We never want to face the day where we can’t handle our own finances. But, planning can be done to make that process as smooth as possible for your loved ones. For example, a General Durable Power of Attorney names someone (referred to as “Agent”) to handle your financial affairs. Consider these tips for creating,

Business owners are faced with putting out fires each and every day. Since their time and resources are limited, they have to prioritize which ones are worth dealing with right then and there and which ones they should develop a plan or structure to put them out in the future. Legal “fires” for business owners

For the third year in a row, the state has added an exception to the uncapping rule. The usual rule is that when title to real property changes hands, the “taxable value” is uncapped, increasing to match the “assessed value”, sometimes greatly increasing property taxes for a property. Between such transfers, the TV can only

Most people, whether or not they have done estate planning, are aware of how beneficiary designations work. After all, beneficiary designations can be used on bank accounts, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and many other types of financial and investment assets to automatically transfer those assets on death. However, I have found that very few

Families that help a loved one apply for Medicaid benefits aren’t usually aware of the existence of a manual containing Medicaid eligibility rules. The Bridge’s Eligibility Manual contains pages and pages of policy that impact a person filing for Medicaid. When talking about Medicaid benefits for older persons, an October 1, 2015 update impacts persons

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which was signed into law on November 2, 2015, has a provision in Subtitle C, Section 831, which is designed to “close unintended loopholes”. One of those “loopholes” is called “File and Suspend”. This technique currently allows the spouse of a person who has reached Full Retirement Age (FRA),

The next article in this Medicaid Series will highlight the main rules for nursing home Medicaid and the MI Choice Waiver program. A person interested in filing for Medicaid benefits must pass two tests. The first is the income test and the second is the asset test. The income test for someone interested in MI

Sometimes one who wants to buy real property cannot get financing from a bank or mortgage company. And the seller figures it can finance the deal for the buyer in order to get a sale and earn some interest too. In Michigan seller financing often is by a land contract but could instead be by

We love our lakes. A few of us are fortunate enough to own a lakefront cottage. And millions rely on state, county, and local parks. But many of us who can’t afford our own lakefront cottage but live near the water treasure a nearby “road-end”. These roads that were laid out all the way to