Elder abuse is a crime against our seniors that can take on many forms.  Elder abuse can be physical, emotional, or financial.  According to reports in Michigan, it is a crime that is on the rise, for example in Jan and Feb of 2009, there were 27 felony warrants involving elder abuse in Genessee County.

According to the abclocal.go.com story which you can read here (Elder Abuse A Growing Problem), if you want more information regarding elder abuse you can go to www.elderlawofmi.org or contact the Vulnerable Adult help line at (800) 996-6228 or the legal helpline for Michigan seniors at (800) 347-5297.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Michigan Elder Law Attorney

As a Michigan estate planning attorney, I participate in various discussion groups with other estate planning lawyers.  Another lawyer had potential client come in for an initial meeting.  The potential client brought in their old “estate plan”.  What the potential client had done was create some do it yourself wills, similar to the Suze Orman kits, Legalzoom, or Quicken Willmaker.

The last will and testament left everything to the spouse, then to the two children equally.  He also had a deed, the deed named both spouses and only one of the children.  Asked why he did that, the gentleman replied he was trying to avoid probate.  The lawyer then had to explain that he was in fact disinheriting the other child, since the house would go directly to the child, not both.

A last will and testament is your ticket to Michigan probate, only assets that are probated follow the terms of your will.  While yes, naming the one child on the deed avoids probate, it totally destroys the intent of the estate plan.

This is just another reason to be wary of thinking that because you downloaded a will off the internet that you have a quality Michigan estate plan for your family and loved ones.

-Christopher J. Berry
Bloomfield Hills Wills and Trust Lawyer

Last night I presented to a small group of parents with special needs children at a Canton, MI middle school.  In addition to my presentation with a colleague, there was a representative of ARC of Wayne County.  We advised the parents on the legal and financial ramifications of planning for children with special needs.  My portion dealt with the estate planning issues parents with special needs children must consider.

We covered the different types of special needs trusts and how Michigan special needs trusts work.  For example, through proper planning we can

1. Protect eligibility for governmental benefits
2. Provide a higher quality of life
3. Provide a framework for care and management of assets
4. Allow parents to express their desires for care and development of their special needs child
5. Protection from creditors and predators
6. Extend the life of the asset

Also we covered common mistakes parents make when planning for their special needs child, including:

1. Disinheriting their special needs child
2. Relying on other children to care for their special needs child
3. Failing to provide privacy for their child with special needs
4. Choosing the wrong Trustee for their Michigan special needs trust
5. Choosing the wrong professionals to advise them

For a copy of the presentation notes, send me an email in the contact form and I’d be happy to provide it to you.

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

Being a Michigan Estate planning attorney, I keep meaning to actually sit down and go through all the do-it-yourself estate planning software and kits out there,  including Legalzoom, Suze Orman Trust Kits, and Quicken Willmaker. I have seen the finished product and have seen the havoc these document preparation tools wreck on people’s estates, but never sat down to go through their process myself.

South Florida Estate Planning Lawyer David Shulman is in the process of using legalzoom right now, and he is blogging about it.  Follow his adventures at his wonderful blog South Florida Estate Planning Law Blog.

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

National Healthcare Decisions Day is right around the corner.  It is a day to take the opportunity to talk to your loved ones about their health care decisions and advanced directives.  Do they have a Michigan Patient Advocated Designation?  Do they have a HIPAA Authorization for their Patient Advocate?

Please visit the National Health Care Decisions Day website.

Here is a snippet from the press release:

As a Michigan estate planning lawyer, I often look to see what other estate planning lawyers across the nation are talking about.  Well, I popped over to the South Florida Estate Planning Blog published by David A. Shulman, and he had linked to an article at the Motley Fool.  David’s South Florida Estate Planning blog is a great read and you should check it out if you haven’t.

The Motely Fool article David linked to was about the three “Must Do’s” for your estate.  Before listing the three “must do’s” the article listed some of the reasons people generally want to avoid probate.  To quote the article, and this applies to Michigan probate as well, “When the state takes over, your family sits in limbo as your estate lingers in probate — possibly for years. Your assets are divvied up according to a stranger’s prescribed recipe, and your Aunt Ida, the animal shelter, and anyone else you wished to leave your money to may never see one red cent.”

To avoid an unhappy estate ending, the article recomends

1. Find an attorney who is well versed in estate planning.  Not your divorce or criminal attorney, but a Michigan estate planning lawyer (if you’re in Michigan)
2. Stay up to date on tax changes.  I would change this to read “have annual reviews with your Michigan estate planning lawyer.”  There is more than just taxes that you need to worry about.
3. Make sure that the right people know where to find your estate planning documents.

Three important keys for your estate plan.  Thank you Motley Fool, and thank you David Shulman, South Florida Estate Planning Lawyer.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Metro Detroit Estate Planning Lawyer

The WSJ has an interesting piece on how Obama’s budget plan quietly resurrects it self in 2010.

As we’ve discussed before, the Federal Estate Tax exemption level this year is $3.5 million.  Under the current law, that exemption will be unlimited next year.  Meaning there is no Federal Estate Tax.  So, Bill Gates and his wife could pass next year leaving their billions to whoever they wanted, estate tax free.  Then, come 2011, the estate tax is coming back in at $1 million.

Well, we’ve blogged about before regarding the direction the Federal Estate Taxes are headed. The current thought is that there will be an estate tax freeze, freezing the current exemption of $3.5 million for next year and beyond.  This really isn’t news, as Obama has been talking about this since he was campaigning.

The WSJ article, which you can read here, says that this is Obama’s underhanded way to sneak an added tax responsibility on unsuspecting Americans.  My thought is that this has been anything but a secret.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Michigan Wills, Trusts, and Probate Lawyer