Coles Law, Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning

Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts Attorneys in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Estate planning is not only about deciding who receives property after death. It can also determine who has authority to manage finances if an accident leaves someone temporarily unable to act, who can step in when an aging parent develops dementia, and whether a family will have to seek court involvement because those decisions were never made in advance.

Coles Law Firm provides estate planning and probate services from its main office in Grand Rapids. Attorney Jennifer Coles has practiced in the Grand Rapids area for more than 20 years. The firm's work includes wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, guardianships, elder law and probate estates.

For families, these services address different stages of the same planning process: making decisions while someone is able to make them, establishing authority if incapacity occurs, and dealing with the estate after someone dies.

Who Will Handle Your Finances if You Cannot?

A durable power of attorney can become one of the most important parts of an estate plan while someone is still alive.

Coles Law Firm addresses both temporary and permanent incapacity in its power-of-attorney work. Someone might be unable to manage financial affairs temporarily because of an accident or illness. An older adult experiencing dementia or 

Alzheimer's disease may face a longer-term loss of the ability to handle those responsibilities independently.

Bills, property and other financial matters do not stop because someone becomes incapacitated.

A durable power of attorney allows an individual to designate another person to act on his or her behalf. Making that choice beforehand gives the individual an opportunity to decide who should have that responsibility rather than leaving the family to address the problem after capacity has been lost.

Choosing an Agent Is More Than Filling in a Name

Selecting the person who will act under a power of attorney deserves careful consideration.

Coles Law Firm emphasizes trust and integrity when choosing an agent. The person given financial authority may eventually be responsible for important aspects of someone else's affairs, so the choice involves considerably more than selecting the nearest relative.

The firm also addresses the value of naming successor agents. The first person selected may die, become incapacitated, move away or simply be unable to serve when needed.

Another issue is whether to appoint multiple people to act together.

Naming two children as co-agents may initially seem like a fair solution, but requiring people to act jointly can create practical difficulties if they disagree or if one of them becomes unavailable. 

Families can consider those possibilities while creating the documents rather than discovering the problem during an emergency.

When There Is No Power of Attorney

The consequences of not planning for incapacity can be significant.

If someone loses the ability to manage personal or financial affairs without establishing appropriate authority beforehand, relatives may have to turn to the courts.

Coles Law Firm handles guardianships in addition to preparing powers of attorney.

That distinction illustrates an important reason for advance planning. While someone still has capacity, that person can participate directly in choosing whom to trust and establishing the necessary authority. Once the individual can no longer make those decisions, a court proceeding may become necessary to determine who can legally step in.

For an adult child dealing with a parent's declining cognitive abilities, the difference can be considerable. What might once have been addressed through advance planning can become a formal legal proceeding after the parent's condition has deteriorated.

Deciding Whether a Will or Trust Fits the Family

Coles Law Firm prepares both wills and revocable living trusts.

A will provides instructions for what should happen to property after death and can form an important part of an estate plan. The firm also prepares codicils when changes to an existing will are appropriate.

Revocable living trusts provide another planning option.

Choosing between estate-planning approaches should begin with the individual's actual circumstances rather than an assumption that every family needs the same documents. Property, family relationships and planning objectives can differ substantially from one household to another.

A younger family putting its first estate plan in place may have different concerns from a retired homeowner reviewing documents created decades earlier.

The purpose is not simply to accumulate legal documents. It is to create a plan that reflects what the individual wants to happen and who should be responsible for carrying those wishes out.

Estate Documents Can Become Outdated

Having an estate plan does not necessarily mean the planning is finished permanently.

Families change. Assets change. The people someone originally selected to handle important responsibilities may no longer be appropriate or available years later.

Coles Law Firm assists with wills and codicils as well as broader estate planning, allowing existing arrangements to be reconsidered when circumstances change.

A review can be particularly important when someone has not looked at estate documents for many years. The relevant question is not simply whether a will or other document exists, but whether it still reflects the person's current wishes and family situation.

An old estate plan can create a false sense that everything has already been addressed when the decisions contained in it may have been made under very different circumstances.

The Risks of Estate Documents That Were Never Properly Completed

Online forms and do-it-yourself documents can make estate planning appear to be primarily a matter of filling in blanks.

Coles has discussed encountering estate documents that were incomplete or had not been properly witnessed or notarized.

That can create a particularly unfortunate situation because the problem may not become apparent until the document is actually needed.

Someone may believe for years that estate planning has been completed. After incapacity or death, the family can discover that an important document was not properly executed or does not accomplish what was expected

.

Estate planning therefore involves more than deciding what words should appear on a page. The documents also need to be completed appropriately so that the plan can function when the family eventually has to rely upon it.

When an Aging Parent Needs More Help

Coles Law Firm's practice also includes elder law and guardianships.

As parents age, adult children may gradually take on more responsibility. Initially, that might mean helping with transportation, appointments or paperwork. Eventually, a parent's ability to make or carry out important decisions can become a more serious concern.

Estate and incapacity planning can establish authority before that point is reached.

When advance arrangements are no longer sufficient or were never made, guardianship may become part of the legal response.

These situations can be difficult because the legal issue involves someone who may have lived independently for decades. Families may need to balance the individual's circumstances with the practical need for another person to provide assistance or make decisions.

When Someone Dies and the Family Faces Probate

Coles Law Firm also handles probate estates.

After someone dies, a relative may suddenly become responsible for dealing with property and the legal process required to settle the estate.

That role can be unfamiliar even when the family generally knows what the deceased person wanted.

Probate can involve a series of responsibilities rather than a single court appearance. For someone handling an estate for the first time, understanding what needs to be done—and in what order—can itself become a challenge.

The firm assists families with probate administration and has worked with clients who wanted legal guidance while handling portions of the process themselves.

That can be useful for families who need assistance navigating probate without necessarily turning every administrative task over to an attorney.

Planning Before a Family Has to React

One of the recurring themes in Coles Law Firm's estate practice is the difference between making decisions in advance and having a family react after something has already happened.

A healthy adult can decide who should manage finances during incapacity. Someone creating a will or trust can determine what should happen to property. An older person can review existing arrangements while still able to make those choices independently.

Without advance planning, the options may become narrower.

A family dealing with incapacity may need a guardianship proceeding. Relatives may discover that an old document no longer reflects the person's circumstances. A document prepared without legal assistance may turn out not to have been properly completed. After death, someone may have to navigate probate without knowing where to begin.

Estate planning cannot eliminate every problem a family may encounter, but it provides an opportunity to make important decisions before an illness, incapacity or death turns those decisions into immediate problems.

Estate Planning and Probate in Grand Rapids

Coles Law Firm serves clients from its main office on Lake Eastbrook Boulevard SE in Grand Rapids. Jennifer Coles has practiced in the Grand Rapids area for more than two decades, and the firm's estate practice encompasses planning during life as well as probate after death.

Its work with wills and revocable living trusts helps clients determine what should happen to their property. Durable powers of attorney address who should have financial authority if incapacity occurs. Guardianship work addresses situations in which court involvement becomes necessary, while probate services help families after a death.

For families, these are not isolated legal subjects. They are different answers to a common set of questions: Who should make decisions when someone cannot? What should happen to property after death? And who will be responsible for dealing with the legal work when the time comes?

Addressing those questions while there is time to make deliberate choices can leave a family better prepared when those choices eventually matter.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Codicils

• Revocable Living Trusts

• Durable Powers of Attorney

• Elder Law

• Guardianships

• Probate

• Probate Estate Administration

• Medicaid and Medicare Planning