The People's Firm

Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Attorneys in Dearborn, Michigan

Estate planning problems are often easier to recognize when they are framed around what could actually happen to a family. Who would care for young children if both parents died? Who could pay bills or make healthcare decisions if an adult suddenly became incapacitated? What happens when someone creates a living trust but never transfers the house or financial accounts into it? And what does a successor trustee actually have to do after a parent dies?

The People's Firm PLLC addresses these and other estate-related situations through a practice that includes estate planning, wills and trusts, probate, trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships, special needs planning, Medicaid planning, asset protection, and contested will and trust matters.

The firm maintains offices in Dearborn and Lansing and also offers mobile and expedited estate-planning services for clients dealing with circumstances in which completing documents has become unusually urgent.

Protecting Children If Their Parents Cannot Be There

For parents of minor children, an estate plan needs to address more than who inherits the family's property.

The People's Firm offers a Kids Protection Plan focused on the decisions parents face if they die or become unable to care for their children. That planning includes nominations of guardians as well as provisions concerning temporary or emergency guardians who could step in when immediate care is necessary.

Parents can also leave instructions concerning their children's care and establish how inherited assets should be managed. A trust can provide a structure for holding and distributing property for children rather than leaving those questions to be addressed only after the parents are gone.

These decisions can matter regardless of whether a family considers itself wealthy. Parents may have a home, savings, retirement benefits, insurance, or other property that could ultimately benefit their children. At the same time, the more immediate concern may simply be making clear who the parents trust to care for those children.

When a Living Trust Was Created but the Assets Were Never Transferred

Signing a trust does not necessarily mean every asset has been incorporated into the estate plan.

One practical issue addressed by The People's Firm is trust funding—making sure that property intended to be governed by a trust has actually been coordinated with it. The firm's planning work can involve reviewing deeds, bank and brokerage accounts, beneficiary designations, and other property to determine how those assets fit with the overall plan.

This can become an important issue for someone who had a living trust prepared years earlier but has not looked at it since. The family may assume that creating the trust resolved everything, while ownership of particular property or beneficiary arrangements may tell a different story.

The firm also prepares pour-over wills to work alongside trust-based estate plans. These documents address property remaining outside the trust at death and provide instructions for bringing qualifying probate property into the trust for distribution under its terms.

For families reviewing an older plan, the question is therefore not only whether the trust document still reflects the person's wishes. It can also be important to consider whether the person's current property and account arrangements remain coordinated with that plan.

Preparing for Incapacity Before Court Intervention Is Needed

An unexpected medical event can leave a family trying to determine who has authority to handle another person's affairs.

The People's Firm prepares financial powers of attorney and healthcare planning documents that allow clients to designate people to act for them if incapacity occurs. These arrangements can address responsibility for financial matters and healthcare decision-making while the client is still alive.

The firm also handles guardianships and conservatorships when court involvement becomes necessary.

These are related but different sides of incapacity planning. Advance documents allow someone to make choices about future decision-makers while capable of doing so. Guardianship or conservatorship proceedings may arise when a vulnerable person's circumstances require court-supervised arrangements for personal care or financial affairs.

For a family confronting declining capacity in a parent or another adult, the legal problem can therefore depend considerably on what planning was completed before the incapacity occurred.

Providing for a Loved One With Special Needs

Leaving an inheritance to someone who receives means-tested government assistance can require additional planning.

The People's Firm prepares special needs trusts for families seeking to provide supplemental resources for a beneficiary with disabilities while taking continued eligibility for government benefits into consideration.

Instead of simply transferring inherited assets directly to the beneficiary, property can be managed by a trustee according to the terms established for the trust.

This type of planning can be especially important for parents considering what will happen after they are no longer able to provide financial support and assistance themselves. Their estate plan may need to address not only what the child or other beneficiary receives, but also who will manage those resources and how the inheritance will be structured.

The firm's estate practice also includes Medicaid planning for families addressing eligibility and long-term care concerns.

When a Beneficiary May Need Help Managing an Inheritance

Not every beneficiary is necessarily prepared to receive and manage substantial assets outright.

The People's Firm's trust practice includes spendthrift trusts, which can be used when a client's objectives include providing ongoing management of inherited property rather than an immediate unrestricted distribution.

This may be considered when a beneficiary has difficulty managing money or when creditor concerns make the structure of an inheritance particularly important.

Trust planning allows the person creating the estate plan to consider not just who receives property, but also the circumstances under which that property will be managed and distributed.

The firm works with numerous other trust structures as well, including revocable and irrevocable trusts and specialized trusts for charitable, tax, property, and multi-generational planning objectives. The appropriate structure depends on the family's assets and what the client is trying to accomplish.

Suddenly Needing an Estate Plan Before Surgery or During an Illness

Sometimes estate planning stops being something a person intends to handle eventually and becomes an immediate concern.

The People's Firm offers expedited estate-planning services for circumstances such as an upcoming surgery, hospitalization, serious health concerns, or imminent travel. The firm also offers mobile service when a client cannot easily travel to an office.

This can address a very different situation from routine long-term planning. Someone preparing for surgery may realize that no financial power of attorney or healthcare arrangements are in place. A hospitalized individual may want to address estate documents while still able to make those decisions. Another person may be leaving the country and decide that existing arrangements need attention before departure.

The firm's rush and mobile services are designed for circumstances in which the ability to complete appropriate documents promptly has become particularly important.

Taking Over a Trust After a Parent or Relative Dies

Being named successor trustee can create substantial responsibilities after a death.

The People's Firm assists trustees with trust administration, including identifying and valuing trust assets, providing required notices, addressing creditor matters and taxes, preparing accountings, and ultimately making distributions to beneficiaries.

For someone who has never administered a trust, the scope of the job may not be obvious beforehand. A successor trustee may need to locate financial accounts and other property, determine what is actually owned by the trust, maintain records, communicate with beneficiaries, address expenses and obligations, and follow the distribution instructions contained in the trust.

These responsibilities can take time even when family members agree about what should happen.

Trust administration is therefore distinct from simply reading the trust and dividing property. The successor trustee assumes responsibility for managing the trust through the administration process and carrying out the terms established by the person who created it.

When a Will or Trust Leads to a Family Dispute

Not every estate or trust is administered without conflict.

The People's Firm represents clients in disputes involving wills and trusts. These matters can arise when beneficiaries, fiduciaries, heirs, or other interested parties disagree about estate documents or how property is being handled.

Inheritance disputes can be especially difficult because the legal disagreement may be intertwined with longstanding family relationships. Questions about money and property can emerge alongside disagreements about what a deceased parent or relative actually intended.

The firm's work in this area allows it to assist clients when an estate matter moves beyond routine planning or administration and becomes contested.

Planning for Property, Taxes, and More Complex Estates

The People's Firm's estate practice extends beyond foundational wills and revocable living trusts.

Its trust services include irrevocable trusts and a range of specialized arrangements used for particular asset-protection, charitable, property, tax, and multi-generational planning objectives. These include qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, generation-skipping trusts, and charitable trusts.

These structures are not relevant to every family. They become considerations when a client's assets, beneficiaries, tax circumstances, charitable objectives, or concerns about protecting property require planning beyond a basic will or living trust.

The firm's asset-protection and estate-planning services provide additional options for clients whose circumstances call for those more specialized arrangements.

From Dearborn to Families Elsewhere in Michigan

The People's Firm maintains a Dearborn office on Parklane Boulevard as well as an office in Lansing, giving the practice a presence in both Southeast Michigan and the state capital.

The firm also identifies Dearborn Heights, Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Troy, and Novi among the communities it serves.

For clients who have difficulty traveling because of illness, disability, hospitalization, or another circumstance, the firm's mobile estate-planning service provides another way to complete planning outside its offices.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Pour-Over Wills

• Revocable Living Trusts

• Irrevocable Trusts

• Special Needs Trusts

• Spendthrift Trusts

• Trusts for Minor Children

• Charitable Trusts

• Generation-Skipping Trusts

• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts

• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts

• Financial Powers of Attorney

• Healthcare Planning

• Kids Protection Planning

• Trust Funding

• Probate

• Trust Administration

• Trust & Will Disputes

• Guardianships

• Conservatorships

• Medicaid Planning

• Asset Protection

• Rush Estate Planning

• Mobile Estate Planning