As Michigan Wills and Trusts attorneys, we've reviewed many estate plans during our 25+ years of practicing estate and business planning. Many people think they are "all-set" because they had an estate plan done years ago. They have their revocable living trust, their last will and testament, their disability documents including powers of attorney for financial decisions and medical power of attorney for health care decisions.
Unfortunately, we've seen to many cases where, in reality, they were not all set and if something had happened they would have been better suited to rely on Michigan laws of intestacy than what their estate plan said. Luckily, because of our reviews we've been able to remedy the situation.
So what's the main problem? Typically one of two things.
First, clients may have funded their revocable living trust properly at the time of the creation of their estate plan documents. But over the years as they have changed accounts, bought life insurance, purchased the new house, they didn't consider the effect on their estate plan and they failed to fund the trust properly. This is the main reason we offer annual reviews to our clients to ensure their trusts are funded properly.
The second major issue is caused by changes in family situation that should be reflected in the estate planning documents. Depending on how the documents are written and the change in family situation, this can lead to the disinheritance of beneficiaries the grantors thought they were including in the estate plan. For example, unexpected deaths, births or divorces can all play a major role in the dispositive terms of anyone's estate plan.
What is the solution to ensure that your estate plan is up to date? An annual review with your Michigan estate planning attorney. We have a system in place at our Bloomfield Hills Law office to ensure that our clients have the opportunity to come in for an estate plan review and make any changes necessary to their estate plan so that their estate planning documents are as good tomorrow as they were the day they were drafted.
Christopher J. Berry, Esq., A Oakland County Trusts and Wills Attorney, is a Partner with The Law Offices of Witzke Berry PLLC, which practices in the areas of Estate Planning, Trusts and Estates, and Michigan Probate Litigation.
