Kelley & Evanchek, Attorneys and Counselors at Law

Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Attorneys in Canton, Michigan

Estate planning gives individuals and families an opportunity to make important decisions before a death or incapacity forces others to make them. Those decisions may involve who inherits property, who can handle financial matters during an illness, who can make healthcare decisions, and whether a trust makes sense for the family's circumstances.

Kelley & Evanchek, Attorneys and Counselors at Law assists clients with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, probate, and estate administration from its Canton office. Attorneys Bryon K. Kelley and John Evanchek founded the firm after attending law school together, and both include estate planning among their areas of practice. Evanchek also focuses on probate matters.

Estate and probate work is part of a broader practice that includes family law, bankruptcy, criminal defense, property and business matters, and other legal services.

Building an Estate Plan Around the Family

Kelley & Evanchek begins the estate planning process by discussing the client's objectives, finances, family circumstances, and concerns rather than treating a will as a stand-alone form.

The firm's planning services include wills and trusts for the eventual distribution of property as well as powers of attorney and healthcare directives addressing decisions that may need to be made during the client's lifetime.

This can be important for people with dependents, property they want to leave to particular beneficiaries, or specific wishes concerning financial and healthcare matters. The appropriate documents depend on what the individual needs the plan to accomplish.

The firm also encourages clients to revisit existing plans after significant changes such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or major financial changes. An estate plan created years earlier may no longer reflect the people, property, or priorities in someone's life today.

Do You Need a Living Trust or Is a Will Enough?

Not every estate requires the same planning tools, and Kelley & Evanchek takes a relatively balanced approach to the question of whether someone needs a revocable living trust.

A revocable trust can hold assets such as real estate, bank accounts, and investments while allowing the person who created it to retain control during life. The trust can be changed or revoked and can provide for the later transfer of trust property without that property passing through probate.

Avoiding probate can provide greater privacy because probate proceedings become part of the public court record. A trust can also provide a mechanism for managing trust property if the person who created it becomes incapacitated.

But the firm does not suggest that everyone needs a trust. Its own guidance notes that creating and maintaining one can involve additional cost and complexity and that a person with a relatively modest estate may determine that a will is sufficient.

The decision therefore depends on the person's assets and objectives rather than simply assuming that a trust is always preferable.

Making Plans for Financial and Healthcare Decisions

Estate planning also provides an opportunity to decide who can act if illness, injury, or incapacity makes it difficult or impossible to handle important matters personally.

Kelley & Evanchek prepares powers of attorney and healthcare directives as part of its estate planning services. These documents can establish authority for trusted people to address financial or medical matters when assistance is needed.

Without advance planning, a family may face uncertainty about who has authority to act when an unexpected medical problem occurs. Putting those decisions in place while the individual is capable of making them can provide clearer direction about who should assume responsibility.

For that reason, the firm's estate planning process considers lifetime decision-making alongside wills, trusts, and the eventual distribution of property.

When Someone Dies Without a Will

A family does not avoid estate administration simply because the deceased person never prepared a will.

Kelley & Evanchek advises families regarding Michigan intestacy—the rules that determine inheritance when someone dies without a valid will. Instead of the deceased person choosing through a will who receives probate property, Michigan law determines which relatives are entitled to inherit.

The result may not necessarily be the distribution the person would have selected.

This is one reason estate planning can matter even for someone who does not consider their estate particularly large or complicated. Preparing a will allows the individual to make decisions while those choices are still theirs to make rather than relying entirely on Michigan's default inheritance rules after death.

When You Become Responsible for Someone Else's Estate

Being appointed personal representative can turn a family member into the person responsible for completing a series of legal and financial tasks after a death.

Kelley & Evanchek assists personal representatives with Michigan probate and estate administration. The firm's probate materials describe responsibilities that can include identifying and inventorying estate assets, dealing with debts and taxes, addressing creditors, satisfying court requirements, and eventually distributing the remaining property to heirs or beneficiaries.

Probate may involve real estate, personal property, and financial accounts that did not have another effective method of transferring at death.

For someone serving as personal representative for the first time, these responsibilities may be unfamiliar. The role is not simply a matter of following the will and handing property to the people named in it. The estate must be properly administered before the process can be completed.

When an Estate Leads to a Family Dispute

Some probate matters become contested rather than proceeding as routine estate administration.

Kelley & Evanchek represents clients in probate disputes and specifically discusses challenges involving the validity of wills. Issues can include allegations of undue influence, questions about whether the person making the will had sufficient capacity, or claims involving fraud.

Disputes can also concern the conduct of the personal representative. Beneficiaries or other interested parties may question whether the person responsible for administering an estate has properly handled its property or fulfilled the obligations associated with the role.

These conflicts can change the nature of probate considerably. Instead of simply completing the administrative steps required to settle an estate, the parties may need to resolve competing claims before administration can move forward.

Planning to Keep Appropriate Assets Out of Probate

Kelley & Evanchek also advises clients about methods through which particular assets may pass outside probate.

Revocable living trusts are one option discussed by the firm. Its probate materials also identify payable-on-death and transfer-on-death arrangements as methods that can allow certain assets to transfer directly to designated beneficiaries.

Whether probate is required therefore depends partly on how an asset is owned and whether another legally effective transfer arrangement applies.

This distinction can be useful both when creating an estate plan and when administering one after death. A family may discover that some property belongs to the probate estate while other assets transfer separately because of a trust or beneficiary arrangement.

Considering those differences in advance can help an individual create a plan that reflects not only who should receive property, but how that property is intended to reach them.

A Canton Firm With a Broad Legal Practice

Bryon K. Kelley and John Evanchek met while attending Eastern Michigan University and later attended Michigan State University College of Law, graduating in 2002. Kelley was admitted to the Michigan bar in 2002 and Evanchek in 2003.

Both attorneys handle estate planning matters, while Evanchek also identifies probate among his principal practice areas.

Kelley & Evanchek is not limited to trusts and estates. The firm's broader work includes family law, bankruptcy, criminal defense, personal injury, and property and business matters. Its estate practice nevertheless provides clients with assistance on both sides of the planning process—from preparing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives to administering or resolving disputes involving an estate after death.

Communities Served

Kelley & Evanchek is located at 43695 Michigan Avenue in Canton, Michigan and provides estate planning, probate, and related legal services from its Canton office.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Revocable Living Trusts

• Powers of Attorney

• Healthcare Directives

• Probate

• Estate Administration

• Probate Litigation

• Will Contests