In Estate Planning Gone Wrong Part 1, I discussed the mistake of people trying to do their estate plan on their own without the aid of a Michigan estate planning lawyer.  In Estate Planning Gone Wrong Part 2 I discussed the second major issue we see at our Oakland county estate planning law firm, that being people not updating their estate plans.  In Estate Planning Gone Wrong Part 3, I discussed how failure to update and review your estate plan can cause problems.

The fourth area of of Estate Planning Gone Wrong involves the use of Quicken Willmaker 2009 to prepare a trust.  Florida estate planning lawyer, David M. Goldman, has a wonderful post on just all the problems of using Quicken Willmaker 2009 software to prepare your estate plan.

Continue reading “Estate Planning Gone Wrong | Part 4″ »

In White Lake, Oakland County, an elderly man was found frozen to death.  According to the Detroit News report, the man had early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and had wandered away from a relative’s home.

According to police, “It’s appears nothing more than an unfortunate accidental death, he was found unresponsive several hundred yards from the home. He didn’t have a coat on him and the temperature was around 19 degrees … it wouldn’t take long under those circumstances.”

There was a similar case last year of a Southfield woman with Alzheimer’s Disease who had wandered out of her nursing home and died in the snow wearing nothing more than a hospital gown.

We need to take better care of our Michigan seniors, especially those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Oakland County Elder Law Lawyer

There has been much debate in the estate planning community as to what President-Elect Obama planned to do with the Federal Estate Tax, otherwise known as the death tax.  As a Michigan estate planning lawyer, I help our clients plan for the Federal Estate Tax.

The current tax exempts estates smaller than $3.5 million.  In 2010, there is an unlimited exemption.  However, as it currently stands, come 2011, anything over $1 million that is passed to non-spouses will be taxed at 55%.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, President-Elect Obama plans to lock in the current $3.5 million exemption and tax anything over that amount at 45%.  For example, if you have an estate (including business interests, house, life insurance, etc) totaling $4.5 million, you will be paying $450,000 in taxes under his plan if you do not do any estate planning to minimize the tax hit.

Continue reading “Obama Plans to Keep the Estate Tax” »

Typically upon reach the age of 70 1/2 you would  have to begin taking out your minimum required distributions out of your retirement accounts.  By retirement accounts I mean IRAs, 401(ks), and 403(b) accounts, all deferred taxation qualified accounts.

However, with the recently passed Worker, Retiree and Employer act of 2008, there is a one-year moratorium on the penalties so that retirees and older Americans will not be forced to take their withdrawals from these savings plans that have incurred dramatic losses with the state of the economy.

Continue reading “Penalties Waived for Mandatory Withdrawals in 2009″ »

As a Michigan estate planning lawyer, knowing the different types of propery is vital.  There are two legal types of property in Michigan.  There is personal property and then there is real property.  You may be asking yourself what is the difference, isn’t all property “real”?

Real property is generally described as buildings, land, houses, commercial buildings, etc.  Think of it as property that is immovable.  Real property also includes the surface (trees, rocks, grass, ground, and underground of property.  This type of property can be thought of as permanenet.  Also note, this type of property includes what is underground as well, such as oil, water, gold, clay.

Personal propery is described as everything else.  For example, your pots and pans, car, household items, patents, retirement accounts, etc.

These types of property are important as it relates to estate planning because estate planning plans for your property and uses specific legal definations as it relates to naming your property.  Another important aspect of these types of property relates to how you title your proeprty.  For example your house, which is real proeprty, would be use a deed to show title of ownership of the property, but your pots and pans would not have any type of deed or title evidencing property.

Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Oakland County Estate Planning Lawyer

Michigan was an early adopter of laws allowing for the creation of pet trusts that provide for your beloved pets in your estate planning documents.  Recently Freep.com ran an article on how estate planning can protect pets.  You can read the article here.

Our Michigan estate planning law firm has extensive experience in this specialized area of law.  My partner, Michael Witzke was profield in a past Detroit Free Press article on pet trusts, esepcially for horse owners.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer

Michigan was an early adopter of laws allowing for the creation of pet trusts that provide for your beloved pets in your estate planning documents.  Recently Freep.com ran an article on how estate planning can protect pets.  You can read the article here.

Our Michigan estate planning law firm has extensive experience in this specialized area of law.  My partner, Michael Witzke was profield in a past Detroit Free Press article on pet trusts, esepcially for horse owners.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer

A completed inventory is one of the requirements for closing a probate in Michigan.  As Michigan estate planning and probate lawyers, we assist our clients through the process.  A common question from clients as we go through the Michigan probate system, whether in Macomb, Oakland or Wayne, is “what goes on the inventory?”

The answer is anything that needs to be probated or in other words any property that does not list someone else as a beneficiary of the asset or lists the estate as a beneficiary and is not titled into a trust.  It comes down to title and beneficiary designations.

Continue reading “What Goes On a Michigan Probate Inventory?” »