Law Office of Holly A. Jackson

Estate Planning & Probate Attorney in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Law Office of Holly A. Jackson helps Grand Rapids-area families plan for death or incapacity and assists them with the legal responsibilities that arise after someone dies. Attorney Holly Jackson's estate practice includes wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, probate and trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships.

Her approach also reflects an important distinction in estate planning: not every family needs the same documents. A trust can solve particular problems, but it is not automatically necessary for everyone. For some clients, a will and carefully coordinated incapacity documents may provide the appropriate foundation.

Jackson's broader work in real estate and business formation can also be relevant when a family's property includes more than financial accounts. Homes, other real estate and ownership interests can all affect the planning and administration questions a family eventually has to address.

When Parents Need to Decide Who Would Raise Their Children

For parents of minor children, one of the most important parts of a will has nothing to do with dividing property. Parents can use the document to identify whom they would want appointed as guardian if they die while their children are still minors.

A will also allows the client to nominate a personal representative to handle the estate. That person may eventually be responsible for gathering property, addressing debts and carrying out the instructions contained in the will.

Trust planning can address a different concern: how property left for children should be managed. Rather than leaving an inheritance outright to someone too young to manage it, parents can establish instructions for holding and administering the property.

Jackson also works with trusts for beneficiaries with special needs, where the way an inheritance is structured can be particularly important.

Do You Actually Need a Trust?

Living trusts are frequently promoted as though every estate plan should include one. Jackson's materials take a more individualized approach.

A trust can provide important benefits depending on the client's assets, beneficiaries and objectives. It can establish ongoing management of property, provide for children or other beneficiaries and allow assets properly held in the trust to avoid probate.

But the firm also recognizes that a trust is not necessarily the right answer for every client. Some people may be adequately served by a will and other planning documents.

The more useful question is therefore not simply whether trusts are beneficial, but whether a trust solves a problem that actually exists in the client's situation. Jackson works with clients to determine which planning documents fit their circumstances rather than assuming everyone needs the same estate-plan structure.

Who Will Handle Your Finances If You Cannot?

Estate planning also prepares for circumstances in which someone is alive but cannot manage financial affairs independently.

Jackson prepares financial powers of attorney that allow clients to select another person to act on their behalf. Depending on the authority granted, that person may eventually need to deal with accounts, property or other financial matters when the client cannot do so personally.

Choosing that individual deserves careful consideration. The role can involve substantial responsibility at a time when the client may be unable to supervise what is happening.

Establishing authority before a crisis can also reduce uncertainty for the family. Instead of relatives first having to determine who can legally act, the client's planning documents can identify the person chosen for the responsibility.

Making Medical Wishes Known Before a Crisis

A serious illness or accident can leave relatives confronting healthcare decisions that they never expected to make. Jackson prepares advance healthcare directives so clients can address those issues while they are still able to express their own preferences.

Her estate-planning materials discuss choosing a patient advocate as well as documenting wishes involving pain management and life-sustaining treatment. The issues can include resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, tube feeding and organ donation.

These decisions are deeply personal, and different clients may reach very different conclusions. Advance planning allows the individual to make those preferences known and identify the person trusted to participate in healthcare decisions when necessary.

For family members, having that guidance can be particularly important when they are otherwise left trying to determine what a parent or spouse would have wanted during a medical crisis.

When an Aging or Incapacitated Relative Needs Someone to Step In

Sometimes advance planning is not sufficient to address a person's loss of capacity. Jackson represents clients in guardianship and conservatorship matters involving incapacitated adults and also handles guardianships involving minors.

A guardianship can become necessary when someone cannot adequately make personal decisions independently. A conservatorship addresses responsibility for financial affairs and property.

The firm's guardianship work includes permanent, limited and temporary arrangements. Jackson also considers whether less restrictive alternatives may address the person's needs, including powers of attorney, patient advocate designations and supported decision-making.

That distinction matters for families concerned about an aging parent or another vulnerable relative. The question is not necessarily just whether a guardianship can be obtained, but whether court-supervised authority is actually needed and what degree of intervention is appropriate.

Mom Died — Does Everything Have to Go Through Probate?

One of the first questions after a death may be whether the deceased person's property actually belongs in a probate estate.

Not everything necessarily does.

Jackson's probate materials distinguish assets requiring probate from property that can transfer through other arrangements. Assets held in a trust, accounts or property with survivorship rights, and assets controlled by valid beneficiary designations may pass outside probate.

That can include certain life insurance proceeds and retirement accounts as well as other beneficiary-designated property.

The distinction is important because the family first needs to understand how each asset transfers. A house owned solely by the deceased person may present a different legal issue from a jointly owned account or an account with a named beneficiary. Determining what actually belongs in the probate estate helps define the work that follows.

When Someone Dies Without a Will

The absence of a will does not mean there is no estate to administer. It means the deceased person's probate property is distributed according to Michigan law rather than according to instructions contained in a will.

Jackson assists families with probate administration when someone dies with or without a will.

For relatives, an intestate estate can be especially confusing if they assumed property would simply pass informally within the family. A personal representative may still need authority to gather and protect assets, address obligations and ultimately distribute property to the appropriate heirs.

The probate process provides the legal framework for completing those responsibilities.

When You Become Responsible for Settling the Estate

Serving as personal representative involves more than distributing inheritances.

Jackson assists personal representatives with identifying and securing estate property, notifying heirs and beneficiaries, addressing debts and taxes, making appropriate distributions and completing the accounting necessary to conclude the administration.

Those responsibilities can become quite practical. Someone may need to deal with a deceased parent's home, locate financial accounts, determine which bills should be paid and communicate with relatives who want to know when property will be distributed.

The personal representative also has legal obligations while performing that work. Jackson's probate practice helps the person appointed to administer the estate understand and complete those responsibilities rather than trying to navigate the process alone.

A Trust Does Not Administer Itself

Avoiding probate does not necessarily mean avoiding administration after death. When assets are held in a trust, the successor trustee still has work to do.

Jackson advises successor trustees responsible for administering trusts. The trustee must follow the terms of the document and properly handle the property placed under the trustee's control.

For someone named as successor trustee years earlier, the actual responsibilities may arrive at the same time they are dealing with the death of a parent, spouse or other relative. Questions can arise about property, beneficiaries, distributions and the steps necessary to complete the trust administration.

Legal guidance can help the trustee distinguish personal family expectations from the duties imposed by the trust and applicable law.

Estate Planning for Police Officers & Firefighters

Jackson's practice has a distinctive connection to first responders. She identifies extensive experience assisting police officers and firefighters with estate planning and recognizes that their occupations can create particular planning and privacy concerns.

First responders still face many of the same fundamental estate-planning decisions as other families: providing for children, choosing people to act during incapacity and establishing how property should transfer after death. Their work, however, can make planning for unexpected injury or death feel less theoretical.

Jackson's involvement with the Grand Rapids law-enforcement community extends beyond her legal practice. She serves as chair of the Grand Rapids Police Foundation Board.

A Grand Rapids Practice Connecting Families, Property & Planning

Holly Jackson has served clients in Grand Rapids and throughout Michigan since 2008. Her office is located at 1600 E Beltline Avenue NE, Suite 114, in Grand Rapids.

Jackson holds an undergraduate degree in accounting and previously taught estate planning as an adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Her practice combines estate planning and probate with real estate and business formation.

That combination can be useful because an estate is ultimately made up of the property a person actually owns. For some families that may primarily mean a home and financial accounts. Others may own additional real estate or have interests in a business. Estate planning establishes what should happen to that property, while probate and trust administration address the legal work necessary to carry out the plan later.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Powers of Attorney

• Advance Healthcare Directives

• Patient Advocate Designations

• Planning for Minor Children

• Special Needs Trusts

• First Responder Estate Planning

• Probate

• Estate Administration

• Trust Administration

• Guardianships

• Conservatorships

• Real Estate

• Business Formation