Stewart and Bruss, Estate Planning Attorneys

Estate Planning, Probate, and Elder Law Attorneys in Clinton Township

Stewart and Bruss helps individuals and families prepare estate plans, administer estates and trusts, and resolve disagreements involving inheritances. Located in Clinton Township, the firm concentrates much of its work on the legal and practical questions that arise when someone becomes incapacitated or dies.

Its services include wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, patient advocate designations, probate administration, trust administration, probate litigation, elder law, and real estate matters. These areas frequently overlap. A family home may need to be transferred through an estate, an adult child may be responsible for managing a parent’s finances, or beneficiaries may disagree about whether an executor or trustee is carrying out the deceased person’s instructions.

The attorneys at Stewart and Bruss collectively have more than 80 years of experience serving clients in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

Making Decisions Before a Family Crisis

An estate plan gives individuals an opportunity to make important decisions while they are able to consider their options and communicate their wishes. Without written instructions, relatives may be left to determine who should manage property, receive assets, care for minor children, or make medical decisions.

Stewart and Bruss prepares estate plans for clients of different ages, income levels, and family circumstances. Planning is not limited to people with large estates. A person’s estate may include a home, bank accounts, investments, life insurance, vehicles, jewelry, artwork, and other personal property.

An estate plan can identify who should receive those assets and who should be responsible for carrying out the plan. Parents can also nominate a guardian for minor children rather than leaving that question unresolved. For families with young children, blended relationships, or relatives who may disagree about caregiving responsibilities, documenting that choice can be particularly important.

Planning can also address funeral arrangements, potential tax questions, and the transfer of property. The appropriate documents depend on the individual’s assets, family relationships, and goals.

Wills and Revocable Living Trusts

A will provides instructions for property that will pass through probate. It can name beneficiaries, nominate a personal representative, and document a parent’s choice of guardian for minor children.

A revocable living trust can provide another way to hold and manage assets. In appropriate circumstances, trust planning may help reduce the time and expense associated with probate. A trust can also include instructions for managing and distributing property after death.

Families may consider trust planning when they own real estate, have several financial accounts, want assets managed for younger beneficiaries, or need more detailed distribution instructions. A trust may also provide continuity if the person who established it becomes unable to manage the trust property independently.

The usefulness of a trust depends in part on how assets are owned and coordinated with the document. Estate planning therefore involves more than choosing between a will and a trust. Property ownership, beneficiary designations, personal circumstances, and the intended distribution of assets all affect how a plan will function.

Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Instructions

A complete estate plan can address incapacity as well as the eventual transfer of property. Stewart and Bruss prepares powers of attorney, patient advocate designations, and physician directives.

A power of attorney authorizes a selected agent to take legal or financial actions for another person. Depending on the authority granted, the agent may be able to address banking, investments, insurance, real estate, or other contractual matters. This can become important when illness or injury prevents someone from managing routine responsibilities independently.

A patient advocate designation allows a person to select someone to make healthcare decisions if the person cannot communicate or make those decisions. A physician directive can document preferences concerning life-prolonging medical care.

Without advance instructions, relatives may be uncertain about who has decision-making authority or what type of care their loved one would have wanted. Preparing these documents before a medical crisis allows individuals to choose whom they trust and communicate their wishes in writing.

Elder Law Concerns

Stewart and Bruss includes elder law among its principal practice areas. Elder-law matters often involve the legal needs of older adults and the family members helping them.

Aging can create questions about financial authority, healthcare decisions, property management, and the documents needed if an older adult can no longer handle those responsibilities alone. Families may also need to review an existing estate plan after a spouse dies, health changes, or an adult child begins assisting with finances.

Because the services needed depend on each person’s circumstances, the firm’s estate-planning and administration work may become relevant at several stages: before incapacity, while relatives are helping an aging family member, and after that person’s death.

Probate After a Loved One Dies

Stewart and Bruss represents families in probate administration, including estates in which the deceased person had no will or other estate-planning documents.

The period after a death can be difficult even when the deceased person kept organized records. Relatives may be planning a funeral while also trying to locate accounts, determine what property the person owned, identify outstanding debts, and understand who has authority to act.

A will may nominate an executor or personal representative. If there is no will, Michigan law determines who may seek appointment, often beginning with a surviving spouse or another close relative. Disagreements can occur when more than one person wants to serve or family members have different expectations about the estate.

Once appointed, a personal representative may be responsible for collecting and protecting assets, addressing creditor claims, handling required filings, paying proper expenses, and distributing the remaining property. Stewart and Bruss assists personal representatives and executors with the probate process and the duties that accompany their appointment.

Carrying Out a Trust

Trust administration is handled outside the probate process but still creates significant responsibilities. When the person who established a trust dies, the successor trustee must follow the instructions in the trust agreement and protect the interests of its beneficiaries.

A trustee’s responsibilities may include collecting, managing, investing, and distributing trust assets. The trustee may also need to keep detailed records, prepare an inventory and accounting, obtain property appraisals, and determine whether estate, income, or fiduciary tax returns are required.

Someone named as successor trustee may be a relative or friend who has never administered a trust before. The role can become especially challenging when the trust owns real estate, beneficiaries want immediate distributions, financial records are incomplete, or family members question the trustee’s decisions.

Stewart and Bruss advises trustees about their powers and fiduciary duties. The firm also works with beneficiaries during trust administration. Following the written trust terms, maintaining accurate records, and communicating appropriately with interested parties can help a trustee fulfill the role and respond to questions about the administration.

Resolving Probate and Trust Disputes

Even a written estate plan cannot prevent every disagreement. Conflicts may develop over the meaning or validity of a document, ownership of particular property, the deceased person’s actual intentions, or the conduct of an executor or trustee.

Stewart and Bruss handles probate litigation involving contested property, bank accounts, real estate, personal belongings, wills, and living trusts. The firm represents executors, trustees, beneficiaries, relatives, and potential heirs in these disputes.

Beneficiaries may question whether a trustee or personal representative is protecting assets, providing necessary information, keeping accurate records, or making proper distributions. An executor or trustee may need to defend decisions made while administering the estate or trust. Relatives may also disagree about whether property belongs to the estate or should pass to someone outside it.

These cases can intensify existing tensions within a family. The financial issues may be intertwined with grief, strained relationships, or different understandings of what the deceased person intended. Stewart and Bruss helps clients consider options for addressing contested matters while accounting for the documents, property, fiduciary responsibilities, and family circumstances involved.

Real Estate Transactions and Disputes

Real estate can be one of a family’s most valuable assets and one of the most difficult to manage or divide. Stewart and Bruss represents clients in residential and commercial transactions, land contracts, easements, short sales, foreclosures, leases, eminent-domain matters, and real estate disputes.

This work may be relevant when a family is buying or selling property, transferring an interest in a home, negotiating a land contract, or disagreeing about ownership or use. Real estate questions may also arise during estate or trust administration when inherited property must be maintained, sold, or distributed among beneficiaries.

The firm provides advice concerning transactions and negotiations and represents clients in litigation when a real estate disagreement cannot be resolved through other means.

Serving Families in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties

Stewart and Bruss is based in Clinton Township and serves clients throughout Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

This three-county service area allows the firm to assist Metro Detroit families with planning during life, administering estates and trusts after a death, resolving inheritance disputes, and handling related real estate concerns.

Practice Areas

• Estate planning

• Wills

• Revocable living trusts

• Powers of attorney

• Patient advocate designations

• Physician directives

• Elder law

• Probate administration

• Trust administration

• Probate and trust litigation

• Residential and commercial real estate transactions

• Real estate disputes

• Land contracts, easements, leases, short sales, and foreclosures