Kreis Enderle

Estate Planning, Elder Law and Probate Attorneys Serving Portage and Kalamazoo

Kreis Enderle assists individuals and families with estate planning, elder law, probate and trust administration, and disputes involving wills, trusts and fiduciaries. Its Kalamazoo-area office is located in Portage, and the firm also has offices in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids.

Estate planning can address both what happens after a death and who may act when illness or injury prevents someone from managing personal affairs. Kreis Enderle prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives. The firm also advises families on wealth transfers, asset protection, estate-tax considerations and succession planning.

These issues arise at many stages of life. Parents may need to name guardians for minor children. Someone approaching retirement may be concerned about future long-term-care expenses. A family may want to provide for a beneficiary with a disability, while a business owner may need to coordinate an estate plan with the future ownership of the company.

Kreis Enderle’s work continues after a plan is signed. Its services include probate and trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships, and litigation involving wills, trusts and fiduciaries.

When Illness or an Accident Leaves Someone Unable to Decide

A serious illness, accident or worsening cognitive condition can leave a family uncertain about who has authority to make decisions. A spouse or adult child may need to speak with healthcare providers, manage bills, access accounts or address living arrangements while the affected person is unable to act independently.

Financial and medical powers of attorney allow a person to choose who will handle those responsibilities. Advance healthcare directives can also provide guidance about treatment and end-of-life decisions. Preparing these documents in advance can give the selected decision-maker clearly defined authority when a crisis occurs.

Without effective planning, relatives may have to consider guardianship or conservatorship proceedings. A guardian generally makes decisions involving an individual’s care and personal welfare, while a conservator is responsible for assets and financial matters. Kreis Enderle assists with these proceedings when court-supervised authority becomes necessary.

The firm prepares powers of attorney for clients in Kalamazoo, Kent and Calhoun counties and surrounding areas. Its broader elder-law practice also addresses advance directives, care arrangements and other legal concerns that can accompany incapacity.

Your Child Turns 18 — and You Can No Longer Automatically Step In

A child’s eighteenth birthday changes the parents’ legal authority, even when that child still lives at home, attends high school or depends on the family financially. Parents may discover that they cannot automatically receive medical information, communicate with healthcare providers or manage an adult child’s financial affairs.

A basic plan for a young adult may include a healthcare power of attorney, a financial power of attorney and authorization to release protected medical information. These documents can allow a trusted parent or another chosen person to help during an emergency without taking control away from the young adult while everything is going well.

The same concern can arise when a child leaves for college, begins working away from home or travels without the family. The documents are not reserved for people with substantial property. Their immediate purpose may simply be to identify who can help if the young adult is hospitalized or temporarily unable to communicate.

Planning for a Child or Adult With Special Needs

Leaving an inheritance directly to a person with a disability can create concerns when that person receives, or may later need, means-tested government benefits. Families may also be thinking beyond eligibility rules. They may want to provide continuing support while choosing someone capable of managing the property responsibly.

Kreis Enderle works with special-needs trusts as part of its estate-planning and elder-law services. A properly structured trust can hold property for a beneficiary rather than transferring the inheritance outright. The planning can address who will manage the trust, how its resources may be used and how it fits with the family’s broader estate plan.

This can be especially important for parents who have spent years coordinating a child’s housing, transportation, healthcare or other daily needs. Their estate plan may need to address who will oversee the inherited resources and how the child’s support can continue after the parents are no longer available.

Special-needs planning may also require coordination with guardianship or conservatorship issues. The appropriate arrangement depends on the beneficiary’s abilities, existing benefits, family support and the assets that may eventually be available.

When a Parent or Spouse Needs Long-Term Care

A move to assisted living or a nursing home can create immediate legal and financial questions. The family may be trying to understand how care will be paid for, whether Medicaid may be available, what will happen to the home and how the needs of a spouse who remains in the community will be addressed.

Kreis Enderle provides long-term-care and Medicaid planning, including preplanning, assistance with applications and guidance during a care crisis. The firm also handles planning related to Veterans benefits. This work can involve reviewing a person’s assets, existing estate-planning documents, anticipated care needs and the rules governing benefit eligibility.

Elder-law planning can include durable powers of attorney, care contracts, special-needs trusts and Lady Bird deeds. A Lady Bird deed can allow an owner to retain control of Michigan real estate during life while arranging for the property to pass to a named beneficiary at death without probate.

Long-term-care planning is highly dependent on timing and individual circumstances. A family planning years ahead may have different options from one arranging an immediate nursing-home admission. Legal guidance can help relatives understand the applicable rules before changing ownership of property or making significant financial decisions.

An Old Estate Plan May No Longer Match the Family

A will or trust reflects the family, property and personal relationships that existed when it was prepared. Those circumstances may change considerably over time. Children grow up, marriages begin or end, property is purchased or sold, and the people originally selected to serve as fiduciaries may no longer be appropriate.

A beneficiary’s circumstances can also change. A family member may develop a disability, struggle with addiction, experience financial problems or die before the person who created the plan. An older distribution plan may no longer provide the protection or flexibility the family now needs.

Moving to another state, starting or selling a business, acquiring significant property and changes in tax circumstances can also justify another review. Kreis Enderle helps clients update wills, trusts, powers of attorney and related arrangements when an existing plan no longer reflects current goals.

Periodic review can also identify inconsistencies between estate-planning documents and beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies and other assets. Coordinating those arrangements is important because some property passes according to its title or beneficiary designation rather than through a will.

You Signed a Trust — But Was the Property Transferred to It?

Creating a living trust is only one part of trust-based estate planning. Property intended to be governed by the trust generally must be properly transferred to it or coordinated with it. Otherwise, the trust may not control that property in the way the family expects.

This issue often appears after someone opens a new bank or investment account, refinances a home or purchases additional real estate. The trust may have been carefully drafted, but later-acquired assets may still be titled in the owner’s individual name. Beneficiary designations may also conflict with the overall plan.

Reviewing ownership and beneficiary designations can help determine whether the plan has been implemented as intended. Properly funded trusts may allow covered assets to pass without probate, but property left outside the trust may require a different process.

Business and real-estate considerations can be important here as well. Kreis Enderle’s estate-planning services include succession and wealth-transfer planning, allowing ownership interests and other substantial assets to be considered within the larger plan.

After a Death, the Estate or Trust Still Has to Be Administered

A death can leave relatives responsible for property, debts, taxes, court filings and distributions while they are also handling the personal effects of the loss. The process depends on how the deceased person owned property and whether assets pass through probate, a trust, beneficiary designations or a combination of methods.

Kreis Enderle assists with probate and trust administration. An appointed personal representative or trustee may need help understanding the governing documents, identifying and valuing property, addressing valid obligations and distributing the remaining assets to beneficiaries.

Even a well-prepared estate plan requires someone to carry it out. Questions may arise about the meaning of a provision, the treatment of a particular asset or the information beneficiaries should receive. Legal guidance can help the fiduciary follow the required process and understand the responsibilities associated with the role.

When Relatives Challenge a Will, Trust or Fiduciary

Disagreements sometimes develop over whether an estate plan reflects the deceased person’s intentions or whether a fiduciary has handled property appropriately. A relative may raise concerns about undue influence, the validity of a will or trust, or the possible misappropriation of assets.

Kreis Enderle handles litigation involving wills, trusts and fiduciaries. These disputes may involve beneficiaries, trustees, personal representatives or other interested parties. Some concern the validity or interpretation of estate-planning documents, while others focus on how a fiduciary has managed or distributed property.

Estate disputes can combine legal, financial and deeply personal issues. Addressing the governing documents, ownership records and fiduciary actions can help clarify the parties’ rights and the steps available for resolving the disagreement.

Serving Families Across West and Southwest Michigan

Kreis Enderle’s Kalamazoo-area office is located in Portage. The firm also maintains offices in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids, allowing it to assist families across western and Southwest Michigan.

Its elder-law services extend to families in Kalamazoo, Portage, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek. The Battle Creek office also serves communities throughout Calhoun, Eaton, Branch and Barry counties, while powers-of-attorney work extends across Kalamazoo, Kent and Calhoun counties and surrounding areas.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney

• Elder Law and Long-Term-Care Planning

• Medicaid and Veterans Benefits Planning

• Special-Needs Planning

• Guardianships and Conservatorships

• Probate and Trust Administration

• Will, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation

• Succession, Wealth-Transfer and Asset-Protection Planning