Hooper Hathaway

Estate Planning, Business Succession & Probate Litigation Attorneys in Ann Arbor, Michigan

An estate plan can become complicated when a family’s property includes more than a home and conventional financial accounts. A business, investment property, intellectual property, or ownership interest in a growing company may raise questions that cannot be answered by looking at personal assets alone.

Hooper Hathaway Price Beuche & Wallace assists clients with estate planning, estate settlement, trust administration, gift and estate-tax matters, business succession, charitable planning, and probate litigation. As a full-service Ann Arbor firm with substantial business and litigation practices, it may be particularly useful for families whose estate concerns overlap with commercial assets or a contested legal matter.

I Own a Business

For many entrepreneurs, the business is both a source of income and one of the family’s most valuable assets.

That can make estate planning especially difficult. An owner may need to decide who will control the company after a death or incapacity, whether family members should inherit ownership, how active and inactive children should be treated, and what will happen if no relative is prepared to take over.

Hooper Hathaway’s estate and business practices can address these issues together. The firm’s experience includes estate planning, business succession, corporate governance, entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, and advice for established businesses and start-ups.

This combination may help an owner coordinate personal wishes with operating agreements, ownership arrangements, and the practical needs of the company. It can also reduce the risk that an estate document and a business agreement point toward conflicting outcomes.

My Estate Includes Complicated Assets

A family’s wealth may be spread across company interests, real estate, investments, intellectual property, and other assets that cannot simply be divided into equal shares.

Some property may need to remain under unified control. Some assets may be difficult to value or sell. A business interest may carry voting rights and management responsibilities in addition to financial value.

Hooper Hathaway’s broader commercial practice gives its estate-planning work access to attorneys familiar with business transactions, corporate structures, real estate, and intellectual property. That may be helpful when a plan must address not just who receives an asset, but how ownership and control will function after a transfer.

The firm’s estate-related experience includes planning for clients with estates of varying sizes and coordinating personal, family, and business goals.

We Are Concerned About Estate or Gift Taxes

Families transferring substantial property may need to consider how federal transfer-tax rules affect their plans.

Hooper Hathaway lists gift and estate taxes as a distinct practice area. Its estate experience includes planning intended to minimize estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

These issues may arise when someone plans to make significant lifetime gifts, transfer business ownership, leave assets to more than one generation, or create a charitable gift as part of a larger plan.

Tax planning should be coordinated with the client’s family objectives rather than treated as the only goal. A strategy that reduces taxes may still be unsuitable if it places property in the wrong hands, creates management problems, or conflicts with the owner’s intentions for a business.

I Want to Support a Charity

Some people want their estate plans to benefit an organization, institution, or community cause that has been important in their lives.

The firm’s estate practice includes charitable-gift planning. This may involve considering how a charitable transfer fits alongside gifts to family members, business-succession goals, and estate or gift-tax concerns.

For clients with both charitable and family objectives, the central question is often not simply how much to give. They may also need to decide when the gift should occur, which property should be used, and how the charitable plan will affect other beneficiaries.

Hooper Hathaway’s estate, tax, and business experience allows these connected issues to be considered within the same legal practice.

Someone Died and I Must Settle the Estate

Being responsible for an estate may involve much more than distributing money to beneficiaries.

The person handling the estate may need to identify and value property, address debts and tax obligations, manage real estate, determine what should happen to a business interest, and resolve questions about the deceased person’s instructions.

Hooper Hathaway provides estate-settlement and trust-administration services. Its business, real-estate, and tax capabilities may be useful when an estate contains assets requiring specialized legal attention.

The firm can also assist when the deceased person’s affairs overlap with a company that must continue operating while the estate is being resolved.

I Am the Trustee Now

A trustee may suddenly become responsible for property that must be managed for other people over a period of years.

That role can involve interpreting trust instructions, maintaining records, making distributions, coordinating with financial or tax professionals, and responding to questions from beneficiaries. The responsibilities can become more difficult when the trust contains real estate, intellectual property, or a closely owned business.

Hooper Hathaway assists with trust administration and estate settlement. Its ability to draw upon attorneys in several commercial practice areas may be valuable when trust property presents business or transactional issues in addition to ordinary administration tasks.

Our Family Is Fighting Over an Estate or Trust

Disagreements can arise over the meaning of an estate-planning document, the management of property, the conduct of a fiduciary, or the distribution of an estate or trust.

These disputes may involve both personal conflict and complicated legal or financial questions. When a business interest is involved, the disagreement can also affect employees, co-owners, and ongoing operations.

Hooper Hathaway expressly handles probate litigation. Its probate-litigation attorneys are part of a larger litigation department with experience in complex civil and business disputes.

That combination may be important when a contested estate involves company ownership, contracts, fiduciary obligations, real estate, or other issues extending beyond routine probate procedure.

Estate and Business Experience in One Ann Arbor Firm

Hooper Hathaway traces its Ann Arbor roots to a predecessor practice established in 1895. Today, it operates as a full-service firm representing individuals, start-ups, established companies, and other organizations.

For estate-planning clients, the firm’s clearest strength is its ability to address matters that intersect with business law, taxation, administration, and litigation. It may be a particularly relevant choice for a business owner planning a succession, a trustee managing complex property, or a family facing a contested probate matter.

The firm is located on South Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Gift and Estate Tax Planning

• Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Planning

• Trust Administration

• Estate Settlement

• Probate Litigation

• Trust and Estate Litigation

• Business Succession Planning

• Charitable Gift Planning