Mansour Legal, Attorneys at Law

Estate Planning and Probate Help for Michigan Families

Mansour Legal assists individuals and families with estate planning, probate, and trust matters. The firm has its main office in Troy and offers appointments at additional locations in Clinton Township and Farmington Hills.

Estate planning can address concerns that arise at every stage of adult life. Parents may need to decide who should care for their children if neither parent is available. Homeowners may want to determine how real estate will pass to the next generation. Older adults may need documents authorizing trusted family members to manage financial or medical decisions during an illness. 

Mansour Legal prepares wills, revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney, and patient advocate designations for these situations.

The firm also represents families after a death. Its probate and trust work includes estate administration, trust administration disputes, will contests, undue-influence claims, and allegations that a fiduciary failed to fulfill required duties.

Wills and Guardianship Decisions

A last will and testament allows a person to provide written instructions for property that will pass through probate. It can name a personal representative to administer the estate and identify the people or organizations that should receive the remaining assets.

For parents of minor children, a will can also nominate a guardian. This gives parents an opportunity to document whom they would trust to care for their children rather than leaving the issue entirely unresolved. The decision can be particularly important for parents who have young children, blended families, or relatives with different ideas about who should assume that responsibility.

A will is only one part of an estate plan. Property ownership, beneficiary designations, family circumstances, and the possibility of incapacity may affect which documents are appropriate.

Revocable Living Trusts and Trust Funding

Mansour Legal prepares revocable living trusts and assists with trust funding. A trust can provide continuing instructions for managing assets during the creator’s lifetime and distributing them after death.

Families may consider a trust when they own real estate, have several financial accounts, want assets managed for younger beneficiaries, or need more detailed distribution instructions than a will alone can provide. A trust may also help maintain continuity if the person who created it becomes unable to manage financial matters.

Creating the document is not the final step. Assets intended to be governed by the trust may need to be transferred into it or coordinated with it. Mansour Legal’s services include trust funding, which addresses that connection between the written plan and the assets it is supposed to control.

Planning for Financial and Medical Incapacity

An estate plan can provide direction during life as well as after death. Mansour Legal prepares durable financial powers of attorney and patient advocate designations.

A durable financial power of attorney authorizes a selected person to handle specified financial responsibilities. Depending on the document, that may become important when illness, injury, or declining health prevents someone from paying bills, managing accounts, addressing property matters, or completing other financial tasks independently.

A patient advocate designation allows a person to select someone to make healthcare decisions when the person cannot communicate or make those decisions. Families facing a medical emergency can otherwise be left uncertain about who has authority to speak with healthcare providers or carry out the patient’s wishes.

Advance planning may also reduce the likelihood that relatives will need to seek a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship. These documents allow individuals to make their own choices about who should act for them before a crisis occurs.

Probate and Estate Administration

Mansour Legal handles formal and informal probate administration. Probate may be necessary when a person dies with assets titled solely in that individual’s name and no other method controls their transfer.

The personal representative may need to locate and value property, address creditor claims, manage estate funds, handle real estate, complete court filings, and distribute assets to the proper beneficiaries. Even an uncontested estate can involve deadlines and responsibilities that are unfamiliar to a family dealing with a recent death.

Some estates require greater court involvement because of disputes, unusual assets, unclear instructions, or disagreements among interested parties. The appropriate probate process depends on the estate’s circumstances rather than on a single approach used for every family.

Trust and Inheritance Disputes

Disagreements sometimes develop over the validity of an estate-planning document or the conduct of the person managing an estate or trust. Mansour Legal handles will contests, undue-influence claims, trust administration disputes, and breach-of-fiduciary-duty matters.

A will contest may arise when a family member questions whether a document reflects the deceased person’s intentions. An undue-influence claim may involve allegations that someone used a position of trust or pressure to affect an estate-planning decision.

Disputes may also concern a trustee, personal representative, or another fiduciary. Beneficiaries may question delays, distributions, financial records, property management, or whether the fiduciary followed the controlling documents. Conversely, a fiduciary may need assistance responding to objections while carrying out administrative responsibilities.

These conflicts often combine financial concerns with longstanding family tensions. Addressing the governing documents, the fiduciary’s actions, and the applicable probate or trust procedures can help clarify the issues that must be resolved.

Legal Help Beyond Estates and Trusts

Mansour Legal is a general-practice law firm rather than an estate-planning-only practice. Its other services include divorce and family law, criminal defense, automobile accident claims, and business matters.

That broader practice may be relevant when an estate-planning concern overlaps with a significant change in a family’s circumstances. Marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a serious accident, or changes in a family-owned business can create reasons to prepare or revisit an estate plan. Existing documents and beneficiary arrangements may no longer reflect the individual’s current relationships, property, or priorities.

Serving Families Across Southeast Michigan

Mansour Legal’s main office is in Troy. The firm also schedules appointments at offices in Clinton Township and Farmington Hills.

For estate planning, the firm serves clients in Troy, Sterling Heights, Warren, Bloomfield Hills, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Macomb County, Oakland County, and communities throughout Southeast Michigan. Its probate representation includes matters in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties.

Practice Areas

• Wills

• Revocable living trusts

• Trust funding

• Durable financial powers of attorney

• Patient advocate designations

• Formal and informal probate administration

• Trust administration disputes

• Will contests

• Undue-influence claims

• Breach-of-fiduciary-duty matters

• Divorce and family law

• Criminal defense

• Automobile accident claims

• Business matters