Our friends at DP Legal Solutions discuss how trusts are a staple of sophisticated estate planning, but when you mix them with retirement accounts, things can get complicated. We often review trusts that were intended to protect heirs but inadvertently created a tax nightmare. A trust lawyer can help ensure your documents are properly structured  … Read more

Most parents and grandparents who think about leaving money to younger family members imagine that money being used wisely. College tuition. A down payment on a home. Financial stability during early adulthood. What they don’t always consider is what happens if that inheritance arrives as a lump sum when a beneficiary is 18, 21, or  … Read more

For decades, student loans were viewed as the “untouchable” debt in bankruptcy. Most debtors, and many attorneys, assumed that student loans could never be discharged absent truly extraordinary circumstances. While student loans are still treated differently from ordinary unsecured debt, the landscape has changed significantly in recent years as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney can  … Read more

People often assume estate taxes are something everyone has to worry about. The reality in Michigan is a bit more reassuring, at least at the state level. Michigan repealed its state estate tax back in 1993, and there is no state inheritance tax either. Beneficiaries who receive assets from a Michigan estate generally don’t owe  … Read more

Estate planning requires decisions. Many of them. Your attorney will guide you through the process, but the choices themselves belong to you. Understanding how to approach these decisions helps produce documents that genuinely serve your family’s needs. Our friends at LifePlan Legal AZ discuss how thoughtful decision-making forms the backbone of every effective estate plan.  … Read more

For many Stellantis employees, the annual profit-sharing check is vital, but this year, that check is not coming. Stellantis confirmed that its UAW-represented employees will not receive profit-sharing payments for 2025. The company’s North American operations failed to meet the minimum profit thresholds required under the 2023 UAW collective bargaining agreement, meaning no payout will  … Read more

Not every disputed will involves fraud or forgery. Sometimes the concern is more subtle. A family member believes their loved one was pressured, manipulated, or worn down until they changed their will to benefit someone else. That is the core of an undue influence claim. Michigan law defines undue influence as pressure that overcomes the  … Read more