Attorney Mike Shovan

Estate Planning Attorney in the Bay City Area

Attorney Mike Shovan provides estate-planning services to individuals and families in the Bay City area. Although the practice is primarily focused on bankruptcy and debt relief, it also prepares several documents that can help families plan for incapacity, transfer property, and leave clearer instructions for loved ones.

The estate-planning services identified by the practice include revocable living trusts, special-needs trusts, living wills, Lady Bird deeds, durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives. Payment plans may be available for estate-planning work.

Preparing for an Unexpected Illness or Emergency

An estate plan can provide authority for trusted people to act when someone becomes seriously ill, suffers an injury, or can no longer make decisions independently. Without appropriate documents, relatives may be uncertain about who can manage financial matters or participate in medical decisions.

A durable power of attorney allows a client to select someone to handle authorized financial and property matters. A medical power of attorney identifies the person who can make healthcare decisions if the client cannot communicate or decide independently.

Living wills and advance healthcare directives can document a person’s preferences regarding medical care. Together, these documents can give family members clearer guidance during a difficult situation and reduce uncertainty about the client’s wishes.

Using Trusts to Provide Continuing Instructions

Mike Shovan prepares revocable living trusts for clients who want property managed and transferred according to trust instructions. A living trust may provide continuing management if the person who created it becomes incapacitated and can also direct how remaining trust property should be handled after death.

The practice also prepares special-needs trusts. These trusts may be considered when a parent, grandparent, or other person wants to provide for a beneficiary with a disability without simply leaving that person an unrestricted inheritance.

A special-needs trust can place property under the management of a trustee and establish instructions for its use. The appropriate structure depends on whose assets will fund the trust, the beneficiary’s circumstances, and any public benefits the beneficiary receives.

Planning for a Home and Other Property

Real estate is often one of a family’s most valuable assets. Attorney Mike Shovan prepares Lady Bird deeds, also known as enhanced life-estate deeds, as part of the practice’s estate-planning services.

A Lady Bird deed can allow a property owner to retain control of Michigan real estate during life while naming the person or trust that will receive the property after the owner’s death. This type of deed may allow the property to transfer without becoming part of an ordinary probate estate.

Whether a Lady Bird deed fits a particular plan depends on the owner’s goals, the property involved, and how the rest of the estate is arranged. The deed should be coordinated with any trust, beneficiary designations, and other planning documents rather than treated as a stand-alone solution.

Creating a Plan for the People Left Behind

Families often postpone estate planning because they are concerned about cost or unsure where to begin. Planning can nevertheless make an important difference when relatives must respond to an emergency or settle affairs after a death.

The documents prepared by the practice can help clients decide who will manage financial matters, who will participate in healthcare decisions, how a home should pass, and how property should be held for a beneficiary with special needs.

Because the available information about the practice’s estate work is limited, families seeking probate administration, contested-estate representation, elder-law planning, or Medicaid advice should confirm directly whether those services are offered.

Practice Areas

• Revocable living trusts

• Special-needs trusts

• Living wills

• Lady Bird deeds

• Durable powers of attorney

• Medical powers of attorney

• Advance healthcare directives