Giordano Law

Estate Planning Attorneys in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Giordano Law, PLC is a Grand Rapids firm whose family-law and estate-planning practices intersect at some of the moments when a family's legal arrangements are most likely to change. Attorney Michele M. Giordano works with clients on divorce and other family matters as well as wills and planning for financial and healthcare decisions.

That combination is particularly relevant when an estate plan no longer reflects a person's life. A divorce may change whom someone wants receiving property or handling important decisions. The birth of a child can create new responsibilities and inheritance concerns. A death in the family can leave someone previously named in a will or other document no longer available to serve.

Giordano Law helps clients create estate plans and revisit existing documents after significant changes. Its estate-planning work includes wills, financial powers of attorney and patient advocate designations.

When Divorce Changes More Than Your Marital Status

Divorce can reshape a person's finances and family relationships at the same time. Property may be divided, retirement assets addressed, debts allocated and decisions made about children. An estate plan created during the marriage may no longer reflect what someone wants after that process is complete.

Giordano Law specifically identifies divorce as a reason to review an estate plan. A client may need to reconsider who is named in existing documents and whether the people previously selected for important responsibilities are still appropriate choices.

Because Giordano's practice includes both family law and estate planning, the firm works with clients on legal issues arising during the breakdown of a marriage as well as planning concerns that can follow major changes in family circumstances.

When a Child Changes the Estate Plan

Having a child is another event that can make an older estate plan incomplete or outdated. Giordano Law identifies the birth of a child as a reason to create or revisit estate-planning documents.

A will allows a parent to establish how property should be handled after death rather than leaving those questions entirely to default legal rules. Planning becomes particularly important when the client's responsibilities and intended beneficiaries have changed since earlier documents were prepared.

The firm's estate-planning services also address adult children. Family circumstances continue to evolve after children reach adulthood, and clients may still need to reconsider how an existing plan fits their current relationships and wishes.

Deciding Who Will Handle Financial Matters

Estate planning is not limited to instructions that take effect after death. A financial power of attorney addresses who can act on someone's behalf when financial matters need to be handled during life.

That authority can become important when illness, injury or another circumstance prevents someone from managing matters personally. Choosing an agent in advance gives the client the opportunity to decide whom they trust with that responsibility.

Giordano Law prepares powers of attorney as part of its estate-planning services. These documents complement a will by addressing a different problem: not who receives property after death, but who has authority to act while the client is still living.

Who Should Make Healthcare Decisions If You Cannot?

A medical emergency can leave family members facing important decisions at a time when the patient cannot communicate personal wishes. Giordano Law prepares patient advocate designations to address this possibility.

A patient advocate designation allows a client to select someone to make healthcare decisions under the circumstances provided by the document and Michigan law. This gives the individual an opportunity to choose the person entrusted with that role before a medical crisis occurs.

For families, advance planning can also provide clarity about who has been selected to make those decisions rather than forcing relatives to confront the issue for the first time during an already difficult situation.

An Estate Plan Should Reflect the Family You Have Now

Giordano Law encourages clients to revisit estate planning after major life events rather than assuming documents prepared years earlier will always remain appropriate. In addition to divorce and the birth of a child, the firm identifies a death and other important changes as reasons to reconsider a plan.

Over time, the people originally chosen for particular responsibilities may no longer be the people a client would select today. Family relationships can change, beneficiaries can change and the client's own priorities can be different.

Reviewing an existing plan provides an opportunity to compare those older decisions with the client's present circumstances and determine whether the documents still express what the client wants.

A Family-Law Practice With Estate-Planning Services

Giordano Law differs from firms devoted exclusively to trusts, probate or estate administration. Family law is a substantial part of Michele Giordano's practice, including divorce, child custody, adoption, mediation and collaborative divorce.

That background creates a natural connection with the firm's estate-planning work because changes within a family can affect planning decisions. Marriage, divorce, children and deaths are not simply legal events; they can change whom someone wants to protect, benefit or trust with important responsibilities.

The firm's estate-planning services provide a way to address those decisions through wills, powers of attorney and patient advocate designations as a client's circumstances evolve.

Serving Families from Downtown Grand Rapids

Giordano Law, PLC is located at 820 Monroe Avenue NW, Suite 165, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Michele M. Giordano founded the firm in 2015 and has practiced law in Michigan since 2006.

The firm's combination of family law and estate planning is particularly relevant for people whose planning needs are changing along with their families. Rather than treating an estate plan as something that necessarily remains unchanged for life, Giordano Law's materials emphasize reviewing planning decisions when significant events make an older plan worth reconsidering.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Patient Advocate Designations

• Family Law

• Divorce

• Collaborative Divorce

• Child Custody

• Adoption

• Mediation