Law Office of Jennifer Lawrence

Estate Planning & Guardianship Attorney in Ann Arbor, Michigan

A family’s legal needs can change quickly. The birth of a child may raise questions about who would care for that child if a parent died. An illness or disability may leave someone unable to manage finances or make healthcare decisions. In other circumstances, a relative may need legal authority to care for a child or help a vulnerable adult make important personal decisions.

The Law Office of Jennifer Lawrence, PLLC assists Ann Arbor-area families with estate planning and guardianship matters. The practice helps clients prepare wills, trusts, medical and financial powers of attorney, and plans addressing death or disability. It also represents families seeking guardianships for minor children and adults who cannot make informed decisions independently.

Because Jennifer Lawrence’s broader practice is centered on family law, the office may be especially relevant when estate planning or guardianship concerns are connected to changing family relationships.

I Need a Will or Trust

Many people postpone estate planning because they believe it is only necessary for families with significant wealth. In reality, even a relatively modest estate can create difficult questions when no clear plan is in place.

Who should receive your property? Who should be responsible for carrying out your instructions? Who should care for your children? Would your family know what you wanted if you could no longer explain it?

Jennifer Lawrence assists clients with wills and trusts designed around their individual family circumstances. These documents can provide direction about property, beneficiaries, and future responsibilities while reducing the uncertainty loved ones may otherwise face after a death.

The firm’s website emphasizes that estate planning should be personalized rather than reduced to a document someone writes without legal guidance.

Who Will Make Decisions If I Become Incapacitated?

Estate planning is not limited to deciding what happens after death. It can also establish who will act for you if an illness, injury, or disability prevents you from managing your own affairs.

A financial power of attorney allows a chosen person to handle authorized financial and legal matters. A medical power of attorney identifies someone who can participate in healthcare decisions when you cannot make or communicate those decisions yourself.

Preparing these documents in advance gives families clearer direction during an emergency. Without them, relatives may face uncertainty about who has authority to act and may need to seek assistance from the probate court.

The Law Office of Jennifer Lawrence helps clients include medical and financial decision-making arrangements within a broader plan for death or disability.

What Would Happen to My Children?

For parents, estate planning is often less about property than about protecting their children.

A plan can address who parents would want to care for minor children if neither parent were available. It can also provide instructions for managing property left to a child who is not yet old enough to handle an inheritance independently.

Jennifer Lawrence’s combination of family-law and estate-planning experience may be particularly useful when decisions about children, guardians, and family relationships are central to the plan.

These choices can be difficult to discuss, but making them in advance is usually easier than leaving relatives to determine what should happen during a crisis.

A Child Needs Someone Else to Care for Them

Sometimes a child’s parent is alive but temporarily or permanently unable to provide care.

Michigan law recognizes limited and full minor guardianships. A limited guardianship may be established with a custodial parent’s consent when another adult—often a relative—needs authority to care for the child. This may arise when a parent must leave the area for work, is experiencing health or substance-use problems, or cannot provide care for another reason.

A full guardianship may be needed when no custodial parent is available because of death, incarceration, removal, or other circumstances.

The Law Office of Jennifer Lawrence assists families with guardianship matters involving minor children. Legal guidance can help families understand which type of guardianship may fit the circumstances and what responsibilities the proposed guardian would assume.

My Relative Can No Longer Make Safe Decisions

A serious illness, disability, mental-health condition, or other impairment may leave an adult unable to understand or communicate informed decisions.

In these circumstances, a family member or another concerned person may consider seeking an adult guardianship. A guardian may receive legal authority to make certain personal decisions for an individual who lacks sufficient decision-making capacity.

Guardianship can significantly affect an adult’s independence, so it should be considered carefully. Jennifer Lawrence helps families evaluate whether guardianship is appropriate based on the person’s condition and the particular decisions that need to be made.

Our Family Has Changed

A divorce, remarriage, new relationship, birth, death, or change in parenting responsibilities may make an older estate plan inconsistent with a person’s current life.

Beneficiary choices, decision-making appointments, guardianship preferences, and instructions for property may all need to be reconsidered after a major family transition.

Because Jennifer Lawrence practices primarily in family law, she brings experience with the personal and legal issues that often accompany these changes. Her office is also expressly LGBTQ-friendly and open to representing all families.

For clients whose estate-planning concerns are closely connected to divorce, parenting, domestic relationships, or other family changes, that background may provide useful context during the planning process.

Serving Families in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County

Jennifer Lawrence was born and raised in Ann Arbor and has experience working within the local court system. Her practice emphasizes helping clients understand legal procedures and identify practical ways to address difficult family situations.

The Law Office of Jennifer Lawrence, PLLC is located on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor and serves families dealing with estate-planning, incapacity, and guardianship concerns in Washtenaw County and surrounding communities.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Medical Powers of Attorney

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Death and Disability Planning

• Planning for Minor Children

• Minor Guardianships

• Adult Guardianships