Miller Johnson

Estate Planning, Elder Law & Probate Attorneys in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Miller Johnson's Private Client practice works with families at very different stages of life, from young parents creating their first estate plan to older adults confronting long-term-care costs and families administering or disputing an estate after a death. The firm's Grand Rapids attorneys are part of a broader full-service practice with additional offices in Detroit, Kalamazoo, Chicago and Cincinnati.

Its estate work extends beyond wills and trusts. Miller Johnson advises on disability and special-needs planning, Medicaid and elder law, guardianships and conservatorships, probate, disputes involving wills and trusts, taxation and succession of family vacation property.

The range is particularly useful when a family's circumstances are complicated by a business, a beneficiary with disabilities, an aging parent who needs nursing-home care or property such as a longtime Michigan cottage that several children may eventually inherit together.

When Young Parents Need Their First Estate Plan

Estate planning can begin long before someone considers themselves wealthy or close to retirement. Miller Johnson works with young couples and families as well as older and more established clients.

For parents, planning can address who should care for minor children and how property should be managed for them if both parents die. Wills and trusts can establish those arrangements rather than leaving important decisions unanswered.

An estate plan also needs to work with assets that transfer in different ways. Life insurance, retirement accounts and other property with beneficiary designations need to be coordinated with the overall plan so that the way assets actually transfer matches the family's intentions.

As finances and family circumstances become more complicated, the plan can evolve rather than remaining frozen at the point when the original documents were signed.

When a Child With Disabilities Will Receive an Inheritance

An inheritance intended to help a family member with disabilities can create unintended problems if it is structured without considering government-benefit rules.

Miller Johnson's Disability and Special Needs Planning practice includes special-needs trusts designed to provide resources for a beneficiary while preserving eligibility for programs such as Medicaid or Social Security benefits when applicable.

The firm's work continues after a trust is created. Trustees may need advice about which distributions can be made without jeopardizing benefits on which the beneficiary depends.

Miller Johnson also works with people with disabilities who receive assets directly, including insurance proceeds or legal settlements. In those situations, the family may need to determine how newly received money interacts with existing benefits and longer-term care needs.

For parents, the central concern is often straightforward: How can we leave something for our child without unintentionally taking away other support the child needs?

Planning for Incapacity Before a Court Has to Become Involved

Powers of attorney and living trusts can provide authority for someone else to handle matters when illness, injury or declining capacity makes independent decision-making difficult.

Miller Johnson considers those planning tools as potential alternatives to guardianship or conservatorship. When appropriate arrangements are established while someone still has capacity, a family may be able to manage a later period of incapacity without first seeking court-supervised authority.

That planning can be especially important as parents age. Adult children may assume they will simply be able to step in if Mom or Dad needs help, only to discover that family relationships alone do not necessarily provide the legal authority required to manage another adult's affairs.

Addressing the possibility beforehand gives the individual an opportunity to select trusted decision-makers personally.

When Mom or Dad Can No Longer Manage Things Alone

Advance planning cannot resolve every incapacity situation. Miller Johnson also represents families in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings involving seniors and other incapacitated adults.

A guardian generally has responsibility for personal decisions, while a conservator handles financial matters. The firm represents concerned family members as well as individuals and fiduciaries involved in these proceedings.

Its work also includes guardianship matters involving minors and developmentally disabled adults.

These cases can become particularly difficult when relatives disagree about whether someone needs protection, who should be appointed or how much authority another person should have. The legal issue is therefore not merely obtaining control over someone's affairs, but determining what intervention is appropriate for the circumstances.

When Nursing-Home Costs Threaten a Family's Finances

The possibility of long-term care can fundamentally change an older person's financial planning. Miller Johnson has a dedicated Elder Law–Medicaid Planning practice for families facing these concerns.

The firm's work includes situations in which someone is already living in or preparing to enter a nursing home. Attorneys analyze the individual's financial circumstances and advise about Medicaid eligibility, applications, permissible spend-down strategies and the treatment or transfer of assets.

The problem can be especially pressing for married couples when one spouse needs institutional care and the other remains at home. Miller Johnson advises on strategies involving the assets available to the community spouse rather than treating the couple's situation as though both spouses have identical needs.

Its elder-law practice also extends beyond the initial Medicaid application. The firm handles Medicaid appeals, reviews nursing-home contracts, addresses resident-rights issues and represents clients in nursing-home eviction matters.

For a family watching the cost of care rapidly consume a parent's resources, these are immediate financial and legal problems rather than abstract estate-planning concerns.

When the Family's Wealth Includes a Business

Estate planning becomes more complicated when a significant portion of a family's wealth is tied to a closely held company.

Miller Johnson works with entrepreneurs and established business owners on estate planning and succession concerns. The questions can involve not only who should eventually benefit from the owner's interest, but how ownership and control of the business should transition.

A child who is actively involved in the company may be in a very different position from siblings who pursued other careers. The owner may also need to coordinate business succession with the rest of the estate so that decisions about the company fit into the family's larger financial plan.

Miller Johnson's broader business practice gives the firm additional resources when estate planning intersects with corporate ownership and succession.

Three Children Inherit the Family Cottage — Now Who Pays for the Roof?

A Michigan vacation home can be one of a family's most valued assets and one of its most difficult properties to pass to the next generation.

Miller Johnson has a dedicated Vacation Home Planning practice addressing the practical problems that arise when cottages and other recreational properties are intended to remain in a family.

Suppose three adult children inherit the cottage. One family uses it every summer weekend. Another lives several states away and visits once a year. The third wants a new roof and remodeled kitchen but has considerably more money available than the other two. Who pays the taxes and maintenance? Who decides when improvements are necessary? How is use divided?

Miller Johnson advises on ownership structures, including cottage LLCs, as well as arrangements involving expenses, maintenance, improvements and use of the property. The firm also addresses property-tax considerations and short-term rentals.

Planning can also consider what happens when one family member eventually wants out. Addressing those questions while the original owners are still able to explain what they want can reduce the number of decisions the next generation has to make from scratch.

When You Become Responsible for Settling an Estate

Miller Johnson's Private Client practice includes probate administration for estates of varying sizes.

After a death, a personal representative may need to gather property, address financial and legal obligations, complete required probate procedures and ultimately transfer assets to beneficiaries or heirs.

For a son, daughter or surviving spouse, being placed in charge of an estate can mean dealing with unfamiliar legal responsibilities while also handling the practical consequences of a death. Financial accounts, real estate and other assets may need attention while relatives wait for information about what happens next.

Miller Johnson advises fiduciaries through that administration process rather than limiting its estate practice to planning documents prepared during life.

When Family Members Believe the Estate Plan Is Wrong

Sometimes the problem after a death is not how to administer the estate but whether the documents being administered should be accepted at all.

Miller Johnson has a dedicated Wills and Trusts Disputes practice. Its attorneys handle contested wills and trusts as well as disputes involving powers of attorney and estates in which someone died without a valid estate plan.

Challenges can involve allegations that someone exerted undue influence over the person making the plan or that the individual lacked sufficient mental capacity when a document was signed.

Those questions can become particularly important when an older person's estate plan changes unexpectedly late in life. A relative who had previously been included may discover that the distribution has changed substantially, creating questions about what happened and whether the new documents accurately reflected the person's independent wishes.

When Someone Is Accused of Taking or Misusing Assets

Estate and trust disputes can also focus on what happened to property while someone else had authority over it.

Miller Johnson's dispute practice includes matters involving alleged conversion of assets, fraud and fiduciary conduct. Questions can arise about the actions of people entrusted with another person's finances or with administering an estate or trust.

These disputes may require examination of transactions and the authority provided by wills, trusts or powers of attorney rather than simply determining who was named as a beneficiary.

The firm represents clients in contested probate and trust matters in addition to its work helping fiduciaries administer estates properly from the beginning.

Tax & Charitable Planning for More Complex Estates

Some families need planning that goes beyond determining who receives property and who will serve as fiduciary.

Miller Johnson advises on personal taxation and estate and gift tax issues as part of its Private Client services. Its estate-planning practice also includes charitable planning for clients who want philanthropy incorporated into the transfer of their wealth.

These considerations can become more important as the value and complexity of an estate increase. Business ownership, investments, real estate and significant lifetime gifts can create planning questions that are very different from those facing a young family preparing its first will.

The firm's full-service structure allows its Private Client attorneys to work alongside lawyers in other disciplines when estate planning intersects with business, taxation or other legal matters.

A Grand Rapids Practice With a Broader Regional Presence

Miller Johnson's Grand Rapids office is located at 45 Ottawa Avenue SW, Suite 1100, placing the firm's Private Client attorneys in the center of the West Michigan community they serve.

Grand Rapids is one part of a larger Miller Johnson presence. The firm also maintains offices in Detroit and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Although Miller Johnson is a full-service law firm, its Private Client group has a particularly broad range of estate-related capabilities. Families can seek assistance with an initial estate plan, special-needs planning, Medicaid and elder-law concerns, guardianships and conservatorships, probate, disputes over wills and trusts, or the unusually Michigan problem of figuring out how several generations can continue sharing the family cottage.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Disability & Special Needs Planning

• Elder Law–Medicaid Planning

• Guardianships & Conservatorships

• Personal Taxation

• Probate

• Vacation Home Planning

• Wills & Trusts Disputes