A carefully constructed estate plan can help protect your financial assets from estate tax and better provide for your children and beneficiaries. Whether this is your first attempt at estate planning, or life events have required you to re-evaluate your estate plan, we are here to help.

A typical estate plan includes a will, power of attorney/advance directive, guardianship decisions for minor children, and conservatorship – the process by which you select someone to make your financial decisions in the event that you become incapacitated. To appoint many of these positions, you must first file a petition with the probate court. The skilled attorneys at Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates have extensive experience in helping clients with estate planning, administration, and probate. Let us help you create a plan for your family’s future.

Why should I make an estate plan?

An estate plan not only better protects your assets from the estate tax, but it also allows you to distribute your property and assets in the way you wish. Without an estate plan, state law determines the distribution of your property. This can affect both who receives your assets, and how much they receive. To ensure the right people benefit from your estate and the right people make decisions on behalf of your estate, an estate plan is essential. Click here for more information.

Should I update my estate plan?

After any major life event – marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a child reaching 18 – you should consider updating your estate plan to ensure your money is not wasted and to ensure that your wishes are fulfilled. Click here to find out more.

Do I need a trust?

A trust is a method of distributing assets outside of a will. A trust can allow you to make distributions while living, after death, or after the beneficiary has met some condition, i.e. reached age 21. A trust also allows you to protect assets from being taxed as both income and inheritance. For more information, click here.

Let us help you:

• Create an estate plan
• Make a will or trust
• Make Power of Attorney or Advance Directives
• Create life gifts and asset transfers
• Determine Guardianship for minor children
• Grant Conservatorship
• Challenge or defend a will or trust in the probate process
• Administer your estate
• Create a trust to support a family member with Special Needs
• Create a Pet Trust

Avoiding Probate

Probate is the process by which courts oversee the distribution of an estate to the proper beneficiaries and pay off any debts owed by the deceased party. In some cases, the probate process can take as long as seven to twelve months. In Michigan, several methods allow you to avoid probate, including living trusts, joint ownership, payable-on-death designations for bank accounts, and more. Contact us to find out how you can avoid probate, create a will, and protect your estate.

Contact the Milford, Michigan office of Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates to schedule a free consultation to discuss your estate planning options. Call 248-676-1000.

Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates have many satisfied clients throughout the five counties of Southeastern Michigan – Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, Genesee and Livingston. The Michigan Family Law Attorneys of Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates have one simple objective: to handle our clients’ legal worries so they can concentrate on life and family. Contact Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates today to learn more about our experience and success at 248-676-1000. We are conveniently located in Milford, Michigan. We help clients throughout Milford; Highland; Hartland; White Lake; Commerce; Waterford; West Bloomfield; Walled Lake; South Lyon; New Hudson; Wixom; Linden; Holly; Fenton; Grand Blanc; Flint and many more local communities.