Bassett Murray Law Group

Elder Law, Estate Planning & Disability Planning Attorneys in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Planning for the future can become much more complicated when aging, disability, or serious illness enters the picture. A spouse may need nursing home care. An adult child with disabilities may require lifelong financial support. A family may suddenly need to make medical decisions for a parent who can no longer speak for themselves. In these situations, legal planning often extends well beyond preparing a will or trust.

Bassett Murray Law Group helps individuals and families address those challenges through elder law, estate planning, disability planning, probate, and trust administration. The firm's approach recognizes that legal decisions, healthcare needs, financial planning, and long-term care are often closely connected, and planning is most effective when those issues are considered together.

How Can You Prepare for Long-Term Care Before a Crisis?

Many families do not begin thinking about long-term care until a loved one is hospitalized or can no longer live independently. At that point, important legal and financial decisions often need to be made quickly.

Bassett Murray helps clients plan for future care needs while there is still time to consider available options. The firm advises clients on Medicaid planning, long-term care planning, veterans' benefits, Medicare, Social Security, and related issues that may affect how future care is provided and financed. For families already facing an immediate need, the firm also assists with Medicaid applications and navigating the legal issues surrounding nursing home care.

When a Loved One Needs More Than Legal Advice

Families caring for aging parents or relatives with disabilities often find themselves making decisions about housing, healthcare providers, community services, and daily support in addition to legal planning.

One of Bassett Murray's distinctive services is care management. The firm helps families identify appropriate resources, coordinate care, evaluate living arrangements, advocate during healthcare transitions, and connect with community services. By combining legal planning with care coordination, the practice helps families address practical concerns that frequently arise alongside legal issues.

Planning for a Child or Adult with Disabilities

Providing long-term financial security for a loved one with disabilities often requires careful planning. Families frequently want to leave an inheritance while preserving eligibility for important public benefit programs.

Bassett Murray assists with disability planning that may include special needs trusts, planning for government benefits, and strategies designed to support individuals with disabilities throughout different stages of life. The firm's resources also address planning for young adults transitioning into adulthood and families preparing for future caregiving responsibilities.

What If No Family Member Can Serve as Trustee or Personal Representative?

Estate plans often assume that a trusted relative or friend will be available to serve as trustee, personal representative, guardian, conservator, or financial agent. In reality, some individuals do not have someone who is willing or able to take on those responsibilities.

Bassett Murray offers professional fiduciary services for clients who need an independent person to manage financial affairs, administer a trust or estate, or serve in another fiduciary capacity. This provides an alternative for individuals whose circumstances make naming a family member difficult or impractical.

Do You Need a Guardianship?

When someone loses the ability to make personal or financial decisions, families sometimes assume that guardianship is the only available option. In many situations, however, less restrictive alternatives may already exist or can be put in place before court involvement becomes necessary.

Bassett Murray helps families evaluate guardianships and conservatorships while also considering alternatives that may preserve as much independence as possible. The firm's educational resources encourage families to explore the least restrictive approach that still provides appropriate protection.

What Happens After a Loved One Dies?

Serving as a personal representative or trustee often involves responsibilities that families have never encountered before. Probate procedures, trust administration, creditor claims, tax matters, and asset distribution can all become part of the process.

Bassett Murray assists clients with probate and trust administration, helping fiduciaries understand their legal responsibilities and guiding families through the administration process. When disagreements arise, the firm also represents clients in probate and trust disputes involving estates, fiduciaries, and related matters.

Estate Planning for Individuals and Families

While many clients first contact the firm because of aging or disability concerns, Bassett Murray also prepares comprehensive estate plans for individuals and families who want to make important decisions before a crisis develops.

Depending on each client's circumstances, planning may include wills, trusts, durable financial powers of attorney, patient advocate designations, and other documents designed to protect loved ones, clarify decision-making authority, and provide for the orderly transfer of assets.

The firm also assists LGBTQIA+ individuals and families with estate planning that reflects their personal relationships, healthcare wishes, and long-term planning goals.

An Ann Arbor Practice Serving Families Through Every Stage of Planning

Throughout its website, Bassett Murray presents estate planning as one part of a broader continuum of care. Families may begin by creating an estate plan, later need guidance with long-term care or disability planning, and eventually require assistance with probate or trust administration. Rather than treating those matters as separate legal issues, the firm brings them together in a coordinated approach that reflects the realities many families face as circumstances change over time.

Bassett Murray Law Group serves clients from its Ann Arbor office and also meets with clients at its Petoskey office by appointment, assisting individuals and families throughout Michigan with elder law, estate planning, disability planning, probate, trust administration, and related legal matters.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Trust Administration

• Probate Administration

• Probate Litigation

• Elder Law

• Medicaid Planning

• Long-Term Care Planning

• Disability Planning

• Special Needs Trusts

• Guardianships

• Conservatorships

• Professional Fiduciary Services

• Care Management

• Veterans Benefits

• Medicare & Social Security Planning

• LGBTQIA+ Estate Planning