John R. Foley

Estate Planning & Probate Litigation Attorneys in Dearborn, Michigan

Estate planning becomes more complicated when a family does not fit a simple template. A second marriage may bring children from earlier relationships into the picture. A business owner may need to consider what happens to a company when ownership changes. An estate plan written many years ago may name people who are no longer appropriate to serve as trustees or decision-makers. And after a death, disagreements over a will, trust, inheritance, or fiduciary's conduct can turn an estate matter into litigation.

John R. Foley, P.C. addresses both the planning and contested sides of these situations through its Family & Estate practice. Attorney John R. Foley has practiced since 1981 and founded the firm in 1994. He works with senior associate Jesse R. Stec on estate planning, probate and trust disputes, guardianships, conservatorships, fiduciary matters, and related family concerns.

With offices in Dearborn and Plymouth, the firm combines estate planning with decades of litigation experience when disagreements require resolution through the probate courts.

Estate Planning When Family Relationships Are More Complicated

For some families, deciding who should inherit property is relatively straightforward. For others, competing responsibilities can make those decisions much more difficult.

John R. Foley, P.C. specifically addresses estate planning for blended families and families with children from previous marriages. A person who remarries, for example, may want to provide financial security for a surviving spouse while also making certain that children from an earlier relationship ultimately receive the inheritance intended for them.

Those objectives require more consideration than simply deciding who should be listed in a will. The timing and structure of distributions, beneficiary designations, ownership of property, and use of trusts can all affect whether an estate plan accomplishes what the client intended.

The firm's estate-planning work includes wills, revocable living trusts, and pour-over wills. It also helps clients coordinate beneficiary designations with the rest of their plans rather than treating individual documents and accounts as unrelated pieces.

Planning for Incapacity as Well as Inheritance

An effective plan also needs to consider what happens if someone is alive but unable to handle financial or healthcare decisions independently.

The firm prepares financial powers of attorney, patient advocate designations, and HIPAA authorizations as part of its estate-planning work. These documents allow clients to make advance decisions about who should have authority to act or receive necessary medical information if incapacity occurs.

John R. Foley, P.C. also uses Lady Bird deeds as an available planning tool for Michigan real estate when appropriate.

Together, these documents can address different parts of a client's situation: management of finances during incapacity, healthcare decision-making, access to medical information, disposition of real property, and eventual distribution of an estate.

When an Older Estate Plan No Longer Fits

Creating an estate plan does not necessarily mean the decisions made at that time will remain appropriate indefinitely.

John R. Foley, P.C. reviews existing estate plans and prepares amendments and restatements when changes are needed. That can matter when an estate plan was prepared years or even decades earlier and a family's circumstances have changed substantially.

Children who were minors when a trust was created may now be established adults. A marriage, divorce, or remarriage may have changed family relationships. Property and financial circumstances can change. The person originally selected to serve as trustee or make financial or healthcare decisions may have died, become unavailable, or simply no longer be the client's preferred choice.

Reviewing an older plan gives clients an opportunity to determine whether the people, property, and instructions identified in existing documents still correspond with their current lives.

Estate Planning Across Generations

The firm's practice also includes multi-generational estate planning. Rather than considering an individual's documents in isolation, this type of planning can involve how property and responsibilities move among different generations of a family.

For families with children and grandchildren, that can raise questions about when beneficiaries should receive property, how assets should be managed, and whether existing arrangements continue to make sense as younger generations become adults.

These questions can become especially significant when substantial family assets, trusts, closely held businesses, or complicated family relationships are involved. The firm's combination of estate planning and probate experience allows it to address the planning decisions made during life while remaining familiar with the disputes that can arise when those decisions eventually have to be carried out.

Succession Planning for Closely Held Businesses

A closely held business can create another layer of estate-planning decisions. The owner is not simply deciding what happens to personal property; there may also be questions about ownership, management, and the future operation of the company.

John R. Foley, P.C. has a separate business practice that intersects with its estate work through business succession planning. The firm addresses succession issues involving closely held businesses, including buy-sell agreements, entity structure, and management transitions.

For a family business, these questions may affect several groups of people at once. Some children may be involved in the company while others are not. Ownership and day-to-day management may need to pass to different people. An owner's incapacity or death may also create problems if no transition arrangements have been established.

Addressing succession in advance allows those business considerations to be evaluated alongside the owner's broader estate plan.

When an Inheritance Becomes a Family Dispute

John R. Foley, P.C. differs from firms whose probate practices are limited primarily to routine estate administration. Probate and trust litigation is a significant part of the firm's Family & Estate practice.

The firm represents clients in will contests and other contested probate proceedings, including disputes involving allegations of incapacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution.

These disputes can arise when family members have fundamentally different views about whether a document reflects the deceased person's actual intentions. A beneficiary may question a late change to a will or trust. Relatives may disagree about whether someone had sufficient capacity when documents were signed. Questions may arise about the influence another person exercised over an older or vulnerable family member.

When those disagreements cannot be resolved informally, the probate court may ultimately be required to determine the parties' rights.

Trust Disputes and Fiduciary Accountings

Conflict can also develop over the way an estate or trust is being managed rather than over the validity of the underlying documents.

Trustees and other fiduciaries have responsibilities associated with the property placed under their control. Beneficiaries may want information about assets, transactions, expenses, or distributions, and disagreements can develop over whether a fiduciary has properly carried out those responsibilities.

John R. Foley, P.C. handles trust disputes and fiduciary accounting matters and represents both beneficiaries and fiduciaries.

That experience gives the firm a role on either side of these conflicts. A beneficiary may need assistance investigating or challenging the administration of property, while a trustee or other fiduciary may need representation when defending an accounting or responding to allegations concerning the performance of fiduciary duties.

Guardianship and Conservatorship Disputes

Some probate conflicts begin while a family member is still alive.

When an individual can no longer adequately handle personal or financial decisions, relatives may disagree about whether a guardian or conservator is necessary, who should be appointed, or how that person's affairs should be managed.

The firm's probate practice includes guardianship and conservatorship matters, including contested proceedings. These cases can combine difficult legal questions with deeply personal family disagreements because the decisions concern the care, finances, and independence of a living person.

John R. Foley's background in both probate and complex civil litigation is particularly relevant to this side of the practice, where an estate-related matter may require courtroom advocacy rather than document preparation alone.

A Long-Established Dearborn Estate and Litigation Practice

John R. Foley has practiced law for more than four decades, with his work concentrating on family law, probate and estate matters, and complex civil litigation. He founded John R. Foley, P.C. in 1994.

Senior associate Jesse R. Stec's practice includes estate planning, probate litigation, fiduciary disputes, guardianships, conservatorships, and multi-generational planning.

That combination allows the Family & Estate practice to work with clients at very different points in the process—from preparing or updating an estate plan to representing a family member, beneficiary, or fiduciary after a serious disagreement has developed.

From Dearborn and Plymouth to Families Across Metro Detroit

John R. Foley, P.C. maintains offices in Dearborn and Plymouth, providing two locations for its Family & Estate practice.

From those offices, the firm represents clients throughout metropolitan Detroit and elsewhere in Michigan. Its probate experience includes matters in the probate courts of Wayne and Oakland Counties as well as surrounding counties.

For Dearborn-area families, the firm's West Outer Drive office provides a local base for estate planning, probate and trust litigation, fiduciary matters, and guardianship and conservatorship proceedings.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Revocable Living Trusts

• Pour-Over Wills

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Patient Advocate Designations

• HIPAA Authorizations

• Lady Bird Deeds

• Beneficiary Designation Planning

• Blended Family Estate Planning

• Multi-Generational Estate Planning

• Estate Plan Reviews & Updates

• Business Succession Planning

• Probate Litigation

• Will Contests

• Trust Litigation

• Fiduciary Disputes

• Fiduciary Accountings

• Guardianships

• Conservatorships