Keilen Law, Attorneys & Counselors

Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Litigation Attorneys in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Keilen Law assists Michigan individuals, families and business owners with estate planning, probate administration and disputes involving wills, trusts, guardianships and fiduciaries. Its estate-related services include wills, trusts, incapacity planning, property succession, asset-protection planning, business succession and representation in contested probate matters.

The firm also has established business, real-estate and civil-litigation practices. Those services can be relevant when a family’s estate includes a closely held company, commercial property, jointly owned real estate or another asset that cannot be addressed through a simple distribution of money.

Estate matters can change considerably over time. A family may begin by preparing a will and choosing someone to make decisions during incapacity. Years later, the same plan may need to be updated after divorce, the birth of a child, the purchase of property or changes within a family business. After a death, the focus shifts to carrying out the plan and resolving any disagreements that arise.

Your Family Needs a Plan for Property and Incapacity

An estate plan can establish who should receive property, who should be responsible for administering the estate and who may act if the client becomes unable to manage independently. Keilen Law prepares wills, trusts and related estate-planning documents for individuals and families.

A will can provide instructions for probate property and nominate a personal representative. A trust can establish how assets should be managed and distributed, including property intended for children or other beneficiaries who should not receive everything outright.

Incapacity planning is another part of the firm’s estate work. Someone may need to select a trusted person to make financial decisions if illness or injury prevents them from acting. This can be especially important when the individual owns real estate, manages investments or is responsible for a business.

Estate planning can also address the welfare of minor children, older relatives and loved ones with special needs. The appropriate documents and arrangements depend on the people involved, the property available and the type of assistance the family expects the beneficiary to need.

Divorce or Another Major Change Has Made the Existing Plan Outdated

An estate plan reflects the client’s circumstances at the time it is created. It may no longer produce the intended result after a marriage, divorce, death in the family, acquisition of property or significant change in finances.

Keilen Law specifically includes updating an estate plan following divorce among its services. A former spouse or another person connected to the earlier relationship may still appear in estate documents or property arrangements. Beneficiary designations and ownership records may also need review.

Other changes can be equally important. The person originally selected to manage finances may have died, moved away or become unable to serve. Children may now be adults, and the protections created when they were young may no longer fit the family’s goals.

Business and real-estate changes can also affect the plan. A newly formed company, sale of an ownership interest or purchase of additional property may require coordination with the client’s will, trust and succession arrangements.

A Family Business Must Pass to the Next Generation

For a business owner, estate planning may determine whether the company can continue through incapacity, retirement or death. The business may support the owner’s household, provide employment for relatives and represent a substantial part of the family’s wealth.

Keilen Law works with closely held businesses and provides business-formation, transaction and succession services. Its estate-planning work includes preparing for the transfer of a family business to the next generation.

Succession planning may need to identify who will manage the company and who will own it. Those may not be the same people. One child may participate in daily operations while other beneficiaries have no role in the business but still expect to share in the estate.

The firm also assists with entity selection, voting rights, distributions, new members, ownership deadlocks, future sales and dissolution. These business arrangements can affect what happens to an owner’s interest and should be considered alongside the personal estate plan.

A Loved One Has Died and the Estate Must Be Administered

After a death, someone must identify the property involved, determine how it is owned and carry out the deceased person’s legally effective instructions. Keilen Law handles probate administration involving wills, trusts and estates.

The personal representative may be responsible for court filings, estate property, debts and communications with heirs or beneficiaries. The work can become more complicated when the estate includes multiple properties, business interests or assets located in different jurisdictions.

Trust administration may present separate responsibilities. A trustee must follow the trust’s terms, manage its property and act for the beneficiaries. Questions may arise about when distributions should be made, whether an asset should be sold or what records beneficiaries are entitled to receive.

Families may also need to coordinate probate with property that passes outside the estate. Ownership records, beneficiary designations and trust documents can determine whether a particular asset is controlled by the personal representative, a trustee, a surviving joint owner or another beneficiary.

The Will or Trust May Not Reflect the Person’s Free and Informed Decision

Keilen Law represents clients in disputes involving wills and trusts. A family member may question whether the person who signed the document had the mental capacity to understand it or acted under pressure from someone else.

A contest may arise after a significant or unexpected change to an established estate plan. One beneficiary may receive substantially more than anticipated, or a person who had previously been included may discover that they were removed.

The firm identifies duress and concerns about the person’s mental condition as potential grounds for contesting an estate document. Evaluating such a claim can require examining the document, the circumstances surrounding its execution and evidence of the person’s condition at the time.

Not every unexpected inheritance decision establishes a valid contest. Litigation can reduce the value of the estate and deepen family conflict, so the potential costs and available evidence must be considered before pursuing a case.

A Trustee or Executor Is Accused of Mishandling Property

Trustees and executors are fiduciaries responsible for managing property for an estate or its beneficiaries. Disputes may arise when beneficiaries believe that a fiduciary has made unwise decisions, failed to follow the governing documents or used the position improperly.

Keilen Law handles claims involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. Concerns may involve investments, distributions, estate expenses, inadequate records or the sale of important property.

Fees can also cause conflict. Beneficiaries may question whether the compensation charged by a trustee, executor or professional assisting with administration is appropriate in relation to the work performed and the value of the estate.

A fiduciary accused of misconduct may need to explain decisions and provide supporting records. In other cases, a beneficiary may seek court intervention to protect property or require the fiduciary to comply with legal duties. The firm evaluates whether a petition or civil action is appropriate and represents clients in court when litigation proceeds.

Jointly Owned Property Creates an Estate Dispute

Property ownership can determine whether an asset becomes part of a trust or probate estate. Problems may arise when someone attempts to transfer jointly owned property into a trust without the consent or participation of the other owner.

Keilen Law identifies jointly owned property as a recurring source of estate and trust litigation. The dispute may concern whether a transfer was effective, what interest the deceased person owned or whether another owner’s rights were affected.

Real estate can be particularly difficult because family members may attach both financial and emotional importance to it. One person may want to retain the family home or vacation property while another wants it sold. Expenses, occupancy and maintenance can become points of disagreement while ownership remains unresolved.

The firm’s real-estate practice includes title review, purchase and sale documents, land contracts, leases, property boundaries, foreclosures, zoning and other ownership disputes. That experience can be relevant when real property becomes part of an estate or trust conflict.

A Business or Real-Estate Dispute Threatens the Family’s Assets

The value of an estate may depend heavily on a business, investment property or pending transaction. A dispute involving those assets can affect the owner during life and the eventual inheritance available to the family.

Keilen Law represents businesses in commercial transactions and litigation. Its work includes contracts, entity formation, corporate governance, construction matters, employment issues and conflicts involving owners or business partners.

Real-estate services include reviewing purchase and sale documents, preparing paperwork for transactions without a real-estate agent, drafting land contracts and leases, handling property-tax appeals and addressing boundary, zoning and landlord-tenant disputes.

When an owner dies during an unresolved dispute or transaction, the personal representative or trustee may inherit the responsibility for managing it. Resolving the underlying business or property issue may be necessary before the estate can value, sell or distribute the asset.

A Death Caused by Negligence Creates Both a Claim and an Estate Matter

Keilen Law handles wrongful-death claims arising from alleged negligence or wrongdoing. These cases may involve vehicle collisions, medical negligence, unsafe property or other conduct that resulted in a person’s death.

A wrongful-death claim can overlap with probate administration because an authorized estate representative may be responsible for pursuing the action. The process may involve medical, funeral and burial expenses as well as losses claimed by eligible surviving relatives.

Potential beneficiaries can include a spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings and people named in the deceased person’s will, depending on the circumstances and Michigan law. Any recovery must be handled through the applicable wrongful-death and probate procedures.

For a family, the legal work may therefore involve more than proving how the death occurred. Someone may also need to open an estate, obtain authority to act and address the proper distribution of any recovery.

Serving Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Clients Across Michigan

Keilen Law maintains offices in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Its Kalamazoo office is located on East Michigan Avenue in downtown Kalamazoo, while its Grand Rapids office is on Cascade West Parkway. Both locations offer the same range of services.

The firm works with individuals, families, closely held businesses and other clients throughout West Michigan. Its estate-planning and probate practice also handles matters across Michigan.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills and Trusts

• Incapacity Planning

• Asset-Protection Planning

• Business and Property Succession

• Probate and Estate Administration

• Estate and Trust Litigation

• Will and Trust Contests

• Guardianship Disputes

• Fiduciary-Duty Claims

• Business and Corporate Law

• Business Formation and Transactions

• Real-Estate Law

• Civil and Commercial Litigation

• Wrongful Death