Lewis, Reed, & Allen

Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Administration Attorneys in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Lewis Reed & Allen assists Southwest Michigan families with planning for incapacity, transferring property after death, administering estates and trusts, and addressing guardianship or conservatorship concerns. The firm’s estate-related services include wills, revocable living trusts, healthcare directives, powers of attorney, tax planning, probate, trust administration, fiduciary law and contested wills.

An estate plan can address several different stages of a family’s life. Parents may want to decide who should receive their property and who should manage an inheritance for their children. An older adult may need to authorize someone to handle financial or medical matters. After a death, the person named as personal representative may need help identifying assets, paying bills, working with the probate court and distributing the remaining property.

Who Will Step In During an Illness or Incapacity?

A serious accident, illness or cognitive decline can leave someone unable to manage personal affairs. Bills may still need to be paid, accounts monitored and property maintained. Medical decisions may also need to be made while the individual cannot communicate or provide informed consent.

Financial and medical powers of attorney allow a person to select trusted decision-makers before that situation arises. A financial agent may be authorized to manage practical matters involving accounts, expenses and property. A healthcare representative can be given authority to communicate with medical professionals and make decisions under the terms of the document.

Healthcare directives provide another way to record a person’s wishes regarding medical care. These documents can give family members and healthcare providers clearer guidance when difficult decisions must be made.

Choosing the right people is an important part of the planning process. The person who understands someone’s healthcare preferences may not be the same person best prepared to handle complicated financial matters. An estate plan can assign those responsibilities separately when that arrangement fits the family’s circumstances.

Deciding How Children and Other Beneficiaries Will Inherit

A will provides instructions for distributing property administered through an estate. It can identify intended beneficiaries and name the person who will be responsible for carrying out the directions after death.

Some families may also consider a revocable living trust. Instead of directing every asset to an individual immediately, a trust can establish how property will be held, managed and eventually distributed. This may be useful when an inheritance involves minor children, beneficiaries who should not receive a large amount of property at once, or assets that require continuing oversight.

The trustee selected to manage the arrangement may be responsible for protecting the property, maintaining records and making distributions according to the trust’s instructions. Parents therefore need to consider not only who should benefit from the trust but also who is prepared to manage it.

Estate planning may also involve decisions about friends, charitable organizations or other beneficiaries outside the immediate family. The documents should reflect the people and purposes that matter to the person creating the plan rather than relying on assumptions about how property will pass.

A Parent Has Died and Someone Must Settle the Estate

Being named as an executor or personal representative can bring a long list of responsibilities at a difficult time. The person handling the estate may need to find financial accounts, secure the home, identify debts, locate beneficiaries and determine which property is subject to probate.

Probate administration can require filing documents with the court, preparing an inventory, notifying creditors and beneficiaries, and managing estate property while the proceeding remains open. Outstanding debts and taxes generally must be addressed before the remaining assets can be distributed under the will.

Detailed recordkeeping is also part of the personal representative’s role. Beneficiaries may want information about expenses, property sales and anticipated distributions. Accurate records can help explain how estate funds were used and what remains available for distribution.

Lewis Reed & Allen assists with estate settlement and probate administration. This work may include guiding the personal representative through the required filings and helping address the practical responsibilities involved in closing a deceased person’s affairs.

When a Trustee Must Carry Out the Plan

A trust may continue to require attention after the person who created it dies. The successor trustee then assumes responsibility for administering the property according to the trust document.

Depending on the assets involved, the trustee may need to identify and value property, review accounts, pay expenses, communicate with beneficiaries and coordinate tax matters. The trustee may also need to decide how particular assets should be maintained or prepared for distribution.

Trust administration can become more complicated when the trust contains real estate, business interests or assets that cannot readily be divided. A family home may need to be sold, one beneficiary may want to keep a particular asset, or a closely held business interest may require valuation before distributions can be completed.

The trustee is acting as a fiduciary rather than simply dividing property informally among relatives. Guidance can help the trustee understand the responsibilities attached to the role and follow the instructions established in the trust.

An Aging or Vulnerable Adult Needs Someone to Help

Families do not always have effective powers of attorney or other advance arrangements in place when a loved one becomes unable to make decisions. A parent experiencing cognitive decline may no longer be able to manage money, arrange appropriate care or protect personal interests.

In those circumstances, a probate court may become involved through guardianship or conservatorship proceedings. A guardian generally addresses personal and care-related decisions, while a conservator manages finances and property. Lewis Reed & Allen’s estate-related practice includes both guardianship and conservatorship matters.

Difficulties can arise when the two roles are held by different people. A guardian may believe that additional care is necessary, while a conservator may be concerned about whether the person’s resources can support the proposed expense. Disagreement can leave family members struggling to balance current care with the need to preserve funds for future needs.

The firm handles fiduciary matters involving vulnerable individuals and disputes over the management of their affairs. Guardianship and conservatorship work can involve both obtaining the necessary court authority and addressing questions that arise after appointments have been made.

An Estate Includes a Business, Real Estate or Digital Property

Not every estate consists primarily of a house and ordinary financial accounts. A family may need to plan for ownership in a company, commercial or residential real estate, digital assets, or property that presents significant tax considerations.

Business interests can raise questions about control, value and continuity. An owner may need to decide whether an interest should pass to family members, be sold or be managed through another arrangement. Those decisions may affect relatives who work in the company as well as beneficiaries who have no role in its operations.

Real estate can also require coordination between estate planning and property law. Ownership documents, mortgages and the form in which title is held can affect how property is handled after death. During probate or trust administration, the fiduciary may have to maintain, transfer or sell the property before the estate can be completed.

Lewis Reed & Allen combines its estate practice with business, real-estate and tax services. That broader experience may be useful when a family’s planning or administration needs extend beyond preparing basic documents or distributing readily divisible assets.

When Family Members Challenge a Will or Fiduciary’s Decisions

Questions sometimes arise about whether a will expresses the deceased person’s intentions or whether an executor, trustee, guardian or conservator is performing the role properly. Lewis Reed & Allen includes contested wills and fiduciary law among its estate-related services.

A disagreement may concern the validity or interpretation of a document, the management of property, an accounting, or decisions made by the person administering the estate or trust. Beneficiaries may question why an asset has not been distributed, while the fiduciary may believe that debts, taxes or other responsibilities must be resolved first.

Because the firm also handles civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution, estate-related disagreements may be approached through negotiation, mediation or court proceedings as the circumstances require.

Serving Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan 

The firm is located in downtown Kalamazoo and serves clients in Kalamazoo and surrounding Southwest Michigan communities. Its broader practice includes business, tax, real-estate, family and litigation matters, which may be relevant when an estate includes a business interest, valuable property, tax questions or a dispute among interested parties.

Practice Areas

• Estate planning

• Wills

• Revocable living trusts

• Financial powers of attorney

• Medical powers of attorney

• Healthcare directives

• Tax planning

• Probate administration

• Estate settlement

• Trust administration

• Fiduciary law

• Guardianships

• Conservatorships

• Contested wills

• Planning for business interests

• Planning for real estate and digital assets