Davis, Burket, Savage & Listman

Estate Planning, Trusts & Probate Attorneys in Mount Clemens, Michigan

Estate planning can involve straightforward decisions about who receives property, but some families and business owners face additional concerns. A closely held company may need a succession plan. A trust may need to be administered after a death. An individual may want someone authorized to handle financial or healthcare matters during incapacity, while another family may need Probate Court involvement through a guardianship.

Davis Burket Savage Listman provides estate planning, probate, estate and trust administration, wealth-transfer and related tax services from its Mount Clemens office. Its estate work includes wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare representative designations, guardianships, business succession planning, charitable gift planning, and estate and gift taxation.

The firm is a general practice whose other work includes business and corporate law, tax, real estate, litigation, municipal law, and other matters. Attorney Leigh H. Savage concentrates in areas that include estate and succession planning and estate and trust administration, along with business and real estate matters.

Building an Estate Plan Around Your Family and Property

Davis Burket Savage Listman works with individuals and families to develop estate plans based on their particular circumstances and objectives.

The firm's services include wills and living trusts as well as planning for the administration and transfer of property. The appropriate structure can depend on what someone owns, whom they want to benefit, and how they want property handled after death.

The firm's estate work serves families with different levels of wealth and complexity. Some clients may primarily need fundamental planning documents, while others have closely held businesses, significant property, charitable objectives, or tax considerations that need to be incorporated into the plan.

Rather than treating every estate alike, the planning process can account for the particular people, property, and objectives involved.

Preparing for Incapacity During Life

An estate plan can also establish who should have authority if someone becomes unable to manage important matters personally.

Davis Burket Savage Listman prepares powers of attorney, healthcare representative designations, and living wills. These arrangements address decisions that may need to be made during a client's lifetime rather than simply determining what happens after death.

Financial and healthcare responsibilities can require different forms of authority. Planning ahead allows individuals to choose whom they want handling those matters while they are still able to make that decision themselves.

The firm also handles guardianships. Court involvement may become necessary in circumstances where someone requires another person to have legal authority over important affairs and existing arrangements do not adequately address the situation.

Administering an Estate After a Death

Davis Burket Savage Listman's trusts and estates practice extends beyond advance planning to estate administration and probate.

After someone dies, the person responsible for the estate may need to address the legal process for administering property and carrying out the estate plan. Probate may be necessary depending on how assets are owned and the arrangements that were established before death.

Estate administration can become more complicated when the deceased person owned a business, significant real estate, or other assets requiring additional attention.

The firm's combination of estate, business, real estate, and tax experience can be relevant when those issues intersect during administration.

Taking Over Responsibility for a Trust

Trust planning does not end when a living trust is signed.

After the person who created a trust dies, someone may need to assume responsibility for administering trust property and carrying out the instructions established in the trust.

Leigh Savage's practice includes estate and trust administration in addition to estate planning. This provides continuity between establishing a trust during life and addressing the responsibilities that arise when the trust later needs to be administered.

For families, trust administration may be an alternative to probate for property appropriately held through the trust. It can also involve continued management when the estate plan calls for property to remain in trust rather than being distributed immediately.

Planning for a Closely Held Business

Business owners can face estate-planning questions that do not arise when an estate consists primarily of personal and financial assets.

Davis Burket Savage Listman handles business succession planning as part of its trusts and estates practice. Leigh Savage's work also includes business planning and formation, mergers and acquisitions, contract matters, and estate and succession planning.

For an owner, succession planning provides an opportunity to consider what should happen to the business interest in the future and how that transition fits with the rest of the estate.

Savage's professional background includes previous work as a Certified Public Accountant with a major public accounting firm and as Chief Financial Officer of a privately held auto supplier. His current practice brings together business, estate, succession, and tax-related concerns that can arise for closely held business owners.

Estate, Gift & Income Tax Considerations

Tax issues can become part of estate planning and wealth transfer, particularly when a family has significant assets or business interests.

Davis Burket Savage Listman's estate practice includes income, estate, and gift taxation. The firm also has a separate tax-law practice.

Tax considerations may affect decisions about how and when property is transferred and how a broader estate plan is structured. The firm's work in this area can be coordinated with wills, trusts, estate administration, and business succession planning rather than addressing each issue independently.

For some families, minimizing gift and estate taxes is specifically identified as an estate-planning objective.

Incorporating Charitable Giving Into a Plan

Charitable objectives can also be incorporated into estate and wealth-transfer planning.

Davis Burket Savage Listman handles charitable gift planning for clients who want charitable organizations or causes included among their planning objectives.

This can be considered alongside transfers to family members and other beneficiaries as part of the overall estate plan. The firm's work with nonprofit organizations provides additional experience with the organizations that may be involved on the charitable side of these arrangements.

Estate Planning Within a Broader Legal Practice

Davis Burket Savage Listman is a general-practice firm serving individuals, businesses, and municipalities. Its broader services include business and corporate law, tax law, real estate, litigation, employment, municipal, and other matters.

Within that practice, Leigh H. Savage concentrates on business planning and formation, real estate entities, mergers and acquisitions, contract drafting and review, estate and succession planning, estate and trust administration, real estate transactions, and nonprofit organizations.

Savage is a founding member of the firm and earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. His previous accounting and corporate financial experience complements a legal practice involving estates, businesses, succession, and taxation.

Serving Mount Clemens and Clients Across Michigan

Davis Burket Savage Listman is located in the Towne Square Building at 10 S. Main Street, Suite 401 in Mount Clemens. The firm represents clients in Macomb, Wayne, and Oakland counties and elsewhere throughout Michigan.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Living Wills

• Living Trusts

• Powers of Attorney

• Healthcare Representative Designations

• Probate

• Estate Administration

• Trust Administration

• Guardianships

• Business Succession Planning

• Wealth-Transfer Planning

• Charitable Gift Planning

• Income, Estate and Gift Taxation