Myers & Myers

Estate Planning & Business Succession Attorneys in Howell, Michigan

For many families, estate planning involves more than deciding who should receive money after a death. A family may own a home, rental property or other real estate. A parent may need to designate someone to handle financial or healthcare decisions during incapacity. A beneficiary may have special needs. A business owner may need to consider what happens to a company if the person who built it is suddenly no longer able to run it.

Myers & Myers, PLLC provides estate planning services from its Howell office, with attorney Kristyn R. Mattern playing a central role in the firm's estate-planning work. The firm's substantial business and real-estate practices also give it experience with assets that can require additional attention when incorporated into an estate plan.

For business owners in particular, personal estate planning and planning for the future of the company can be closely connected.

A Family Home Is Part of the Estate Plan Too

Real estate is often among a family's most valuable assets, and Myers & Myers identifies it as a frequent concern in estate planning.

Someone may own a longtime family home, vacation property, rental real estate or property jointly with another person. An estate plan should take into account how those assets are owned and what is intended to happen to them in the future.

Myers & Myers has an extensive real-estate practice in addition to its estate-planning work. That overlap can be particularly relevant when significant real property forms part of an individual's estate.

A will or trust does not exist independently of the way property is actually owned. Effective planning requires understanding the client's assets and considering how those assets fit into the overall plan.

For families, addressing those questions beforehand can reduce the possibility that relatives discover only after a death that ownership of an important piece of property does not work the way they assumed.

Signing a Trust Is Only Part of the Job

Creating a trust does not necessarily mean the planning process is finished.

Myers & Myers specifically addresses trust funding as part of estate planning. Funding involves making sure the appropriate assets are actually connected to the trust rather than simply preparing and signing the trust document.

That distinction can be easy to overlook.

A client can leave an attorney's office with a carefully prepared trust and reasonably believe everything has been completed. But the practical effectiveness of the plan can depend on what happens with the client's property afterward.

This is especially important when the estate contains substantial assets or real estate. The legal documents and ownership of the property need to work together.

By making trust funding part of the planning conversation, families can address not only what their documents say but also whether the assets have been arranged consistently with the plan.

Who Can Act if You Cannot Make Decisions Yourself?

Estate planning also addresses what can happen during life.

Myers & Myers prepares financial and medical powers of attorney, allowing clients to designate people to act for them if assistance becomes necessary.

A serious illness, accident or other incapacity can leave relatives trying to manage urgent problems. Bills may still need to be paid. Financial matters may require attention. Healthcare decisions may need to be made while the patient cannot communicate.

Those situations can be easier to manage when the individual has already determined who should have authority to act.

Making those decisions in advance also gives the client control over the choice. Instead of leaving relatives to determine what should happen after a crisis has begun, the client can identify trusted people while able to make and communicate those decisions personally.

Providing for a Beneficiary With Special Needs

An inheritance requires additional consideration when the intended beneficiary has special needs.

Myers & Myers prepares Special Needs Trusts as part of its estate-planning practice.

For parents, this can become an especially important long-term concern. They may currently provide housing, financial assistance or other support for a son or daughter and need to consider how resources can be available after the parents are gone.

Similar concerns can arise for grandparents and other relatives who want to include a person with special needs in their estate plans.

A Special Needs Trust provides a structure for planning around the beneficiary's particular circumstances rather than simply leaving that individual an inheritance in the same manner as every other beneficiary.

What Happens to a Family Business When an Owner Dies?

Business ownership creates estate-planning questions that many families do not face.

If someone owns an interest in an LLC or shares in a corporation, that ownership interest does not simply disappear at death. Families and surviving owners may need to determine what happens to it and who will have rights involving the company.

Myers & Myers has particular experience at this intersection of business and estate planning. The firm's estate-planning practice grew in part from business clients seeking assistance with their personal estate plans and the future of their companies.

The firm handles business succession planning, an area in which attorney Kelly A. Myers is specifically involved.

For a closely held or family business, succession planning can address a fundamental question: what is supposed to happen to the company when an owner is no longer there?

Without adequate planning, a death can create uncertainty at precisely the moment the business and the owner's family are already dealing with a major disruption.

Incapacity Can Be a Business-Succession Problem Too

Death is not the only event a business owner should consider.

A serious accident or illness can prevent an owner from participating in the company even though that person is still alive. For a business heavily dependent on one owner, incapacity can create immediate practical questions about decision-making and continuity.

That makes business succession part of a broader planning process rather than simply a plan for transferring ownership at death.

Myers & Myers advises businesses on organizational and ownership matters as well as succession planning. The firm's work includes operating agreements, shareholder agreements, bylaws and buy-sell agreements.

Those documents can have significant consequences for closely held businesses because the rights of owners are affected not only by their personal estate plans but also by the agreements governing the business itself.

For a business owner, reviewing personal estate planning alongside the company's governing documents can help identify whether the two are working toward the same result.

Buy-Sell and Ownership Agreements Can Matter to the Family

When several people own a business together, each owner's family may have interests that differ from those of the surviving owners.

The owner's family may view the business interest as a valuable part of an inheritance. The remaining owners may be concerned about maintaining control and continuing operations. Existing agreements can affect what happens when an owner dies or leaves the company.

Myers & Myers works with buy-sell agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements and corporate bylaws, giving the firm a useful perspective when business ownership forms part of an estate.

This can be particularly important for a family that has accumulated much of its wealth inside a privately owned company.

Planning for that business interest means looking beyond the individual's will or trust and considering the legal structure that governs the company as well.

When the Plan Has to Be Carried Out

Estate planning determines what should happen. After someone dies, another person may become responsible for making those plans a reality.

Myers & Myers also handles estate administration.

For a surviving family member, administering an estate can mean shifting quickly from grieving relative to the person responsible for dealing with the deceased person's affairs. Assets must be identified and handled, and the estate ultimately needs to be settled.

The process can become more involved when the estate contains significant real estate or a privately held business interest.

A family may need to deal not only with traditional personal and financial assets but also with questions about ownership and the future of property or a company.

The firm's experience in estate planning, real estate and business law can be particularly relevant when those issues overlap during administration.

Estate Planning That Reflects the Assets a Family Actually Owns

Myers & Myers maintains a Howell office on North Michigan Avenue and serves clients in Livingston County.

Attorney Kristyn R. Mattern handles estate-planning matters, while the firm's broader legal practice provides additional experience with real estate and closely held businesses. Kelly A. Myers's work with business clients includes succession planning.

That combination is particularly useful for individuals whose estates do not consist solely of bank and investment accounts.

A homeowner may need to consider how real property fits into a trust. Parents may need to provide differently for a beneficiary with special needs. An individual may need to designate people to handle financial and medical decisions during incapacity. A business owner may need an estate plan that works together with operating agreements, shareholder agreements or a buy-sell arrangement.

Addressing those issues together can create a plan that reflects not just who the beneficiaries are, but the property, businesses and responsibilities that make each family's situation different.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Trust Funding

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Medical Powers of Attorney

• Special Needs Trusts

• Estate Administration

• Business Succession Planning

• Buy-Sell Agreements

• Operating Agreements

• Shareholder Agreements

• Corporate Bylaws

• Estate Planning Involving Real Estate