Rickard & Associates

Estate Planning Attorneys in St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Estate planning is not something most families complete once and never revisit. A marriage, the birth of a child, a second marriage, retirement, declining health, or the purchase of a business can all create reasons to review existing documents and make sure they still reflect current wishes. Rickard & Associates helps individuals and families develop estate plans that can adapt as life changes while also providing guidance during probate and trust administration after a loved one's death.

The firm's estate planning practice includes wills, trusts, powers of attorney, guardianship planning, business succession planning, probate, trust administration, and estate litigation.

Estate Planning That Grows with Your Family

An estate plan should reflect more than a person's current assets. It should also account for changing family relationships and future responsibilities.

Rickard & Associates prepares wills and trusts and emphasizes that estate planning can be appropriate even for people who do not consider themselves wealthy. The firm advises that adults may need at least basic planning to determine who should receive their property and who should have authority to make financial or healthcare decisions if they become incapacitated.

Regular reviews can help ensure that an estate plan continues to match a family's goals rather than relying on documents prepared many years earlier.

A Trust Still Needs Attention After It Is Signed

Creating a trust does not necessarily complete the planning process. Rickard & Associates emphasizes the importance of properly funding a trust and reviewing whether assets have actually been coordinated with it. The firm provides clients with instructions for funding their trusts and cautions that an improperly funded trust may not accomplish its intended purpose.

Existing trusts may also need to be reviewed as circumstances change. The firm encourages clients to consider whether a trust is revocable or irrevocable, whether it has been properly funded, whether updates are necessary, and whether related documents such as powers of attorney remain in place.

Planning for Incapacity

Estate planning also provides instructions for situations that occur during a person's lifetime. An unexpected illness or accident may leave someone unable to manage finances or communicate medical decisions.

Rickard & Associates prepares financial powers of attorney and medical powers of attorney that allow clients to choose trusted individuals to act on their behalf if necessary. Establishing these documents before they are needed can provide families with clear legal authority during periods of incapacity.

The firm also prepares personal property memorandums and deeds that can be coordinated with an overall estate plan when appropriate.

Planning for Children, Blended Families, and Family Businesses

Families often have concerns that extend beyond simply dividing property equally among beneficiaries.

Parents may wish to nominate guardians for minor children and decide when a child should receive an inheritance rather than leaving substantial assets at age eighteen. Blended families may need to balance providing for a surviving spouse while preserving an inheritance for children from an earlier relationship. Business owners may also want to establish a succession plan so ownership can transition according to their wishes instead of creating uncertainty for family members or business partners.

Rickard & Associates helps clients address these issues as part of a coordinated estate plan.

Probate and Trust Administration

Following a death, personal representatives and successor trustees often assume responsibilities they have never handled before. They may need to locate assets, pay valid debts, communicate with beneficiaries, maintain records, and distribute property according to the terms of a will or trust.

Rickard & Associates assists fiduciaries throughout probate and trust administration, helping them understand their legal responsibilities while working toward the orderly settlement of an estate.

Estate Litigation

Not every estate is administered without disagreement. Questions may arise about how estate planning documents should be interpreted, whether a fiduciary is fulfilling required responsibilities, or how property should be distributed.

Rickard & Associates represents clients in estate litigation involving disputes that arise during probate or trust administration. Legal guidance may help families resolve issues while protecting the intentions expressed in the estate plan.

Estate Planning Experience at Rickard & Associates

Ronald Rickard has more than 45 years of legal experience and focuses part of his practice on estate and business planning. The firm states that he has handled planning and administration involving hundreds of trusts and foundations, ranging from smaller estates to matters involving assets valued in the tens of millions of dollars.

Lori-Ann Rickard also assists individuals and families with estate-planning matters and has been certified in Probate and Estate Planning. Together with the firm's probate, administration, and litigation services, that experience gives Rickard & Associates an estate practice within a broader St. Clair Shores firm that also handles healthcare, corporate, real estate, and other legal matters.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Medical Powers of Attorney

• Trust Funding

• Personal Property Memorandums

• Deeds

• Guardianships

• Business Succession Planning

• Probate

• Estate Administration

• Trust Administration

• Estate Litigation