Williams, Knack & Burrows

Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys in Brighton, Michigan

Estate planning becomes more complicated when a family's assets do not fit neatly into a bank account and a house. A business owner may need to decide who takes over a company. Real estate may be jointly owned with a spouse, relative or business partner. Tax considerations may affect how wealth is transferred. And after a death, the family may need help administering an estate—or resolving a dispute when people disagree about what should happen.

Williams, Knack & Burrows, P.C. has practiced in Brighton since 1994. Estate planning, wills, trusts and probate are established parts of a broader practice that also includes business, tax, real estate and litigation matters. Attorneys Adrienne B. Knack, Timothy L. Williams, Andrew C. Burrows and Jordan G. English each have verified involvement in estate planning or probate work.

An Estate Plan Has to Fit the Property You Actually Own

A will or trust does not operate in isolation from the way a person's property is owned.

That distinction can become particularly important with real estate. 

Property owned individually may pass differently than property held jointly with another person. Depending on the form of ownership, a deceased owner's interest may pass automatically to a surviving owner or become part of the deceased person's estate.

Williams, Knack & Burrows handles both estate planning and real-estate matters, allowing the firm to address questions involving property ownership as part of a client's broader planning.

For a family, these details can determine whether the plan works as expected. Instructions in an estate-planning document may not control an asset if the legal ownership of that asset causes it to pass another way.

Reviewing how significant property is titled can therefore be just as important as deciding whom someone ultimately wants to inherit it.

Wills and Trusts Should Reflect the Family Behind Them

Williams, Knack & Burrows prepares wills and trusts for clients seeking to establish how their property should be handled.

The appropriate plan depends on individual circumstances. Some families primarily need to establish who should receive property and who should be responsible for administering the estate. Others have business interests, multiple pieces of real estate, tax considerations or other circumstances that require additional planning.

A trust can provide a structure for holding and distributing assets, while a will can establish instructions for property that passes through an estate.

Rather than assuming every client needs the same set of documents, estate planning can begin with the family itself: what the client owns, whom the client wants to provide for and what needs to happen when the client dies.

When the Family Owns a Business

For a business owner, deciding who inherits personal property may be only part of the estate-planning problem.

Someone also needs to consider what happens to the company.

Williams, Knack & Burrows has a substantial business-law practice in addition to its estate work and specifically handles business succession planning. The firm assists owners considering eventual transfers to family members, employees or outside buyers.

This can become particularly important when some children participate in a family business and others do not. Simply dividing ownership among heirs may not answer who will actually operate the company or whether continuing family ownership is even the desired outcome.

The same problem can arise when a business has multiple owners. 

The death of one owner affects not only that person's family but potentially the other people who own and operate the company.

Succession planning gives the owner an opportunity to address the future of the business before illness, incapacity or death forces the issue.

Coordinating Estate, Business and Tax Concerns

Estate planning for a business owner or a family with more complicated assets can cross traditional practice-area boundaries.

That is a particularly relevant aspect of Williams, Knack & Burrows' practice. The firm handles estate planning alongside business and tax matters, and founding attorney Timothy L. Williams holds an LL.M. in Taxation.

Williams works with families and business owners on estate-planning, probate and tax matters in addition to his business-law practice.

Not every family needs sophisticated tax planning, and tax considerations should not be assumed merely because someone is creating an estate plan. But when tax issues are relevant, they can affect decisions about property, businesses and transfers between generations.

For clients facing those issues, the firm's combination of estate, business and tax experience allows related questions to be considered together rather than treating each as an entirely separate problem.

When Someone Has to Handle an Estate After a Death

Even a well-considered estate plan eventually reaches the point when someone has to carry it out.

Williams, Knack & Burrows handles probate matters for families after a death. Probate can become necessary when property remains in a deceased person's name and requires court-supervised administration before it can be transferred.

For the person responsible for the estate, that can mean taking on unfamiliar duties while also dealing with the loss of a family member.

Questions may arise about the deceased person's property, the effect of the will, how assets should be handled and what procedures are required before the estate can be completed.

Legal assistance during probate can help the person responsible for the estate understand the process and move the administration forward rather than trying to determine those responsibilities alone.

When Probate Becomes a Dispute

Not every estate proceeds without disagreement.

Family members may have different interpretations of what should happen to property, or a dispute may arise during the administration of an estate. Williams, Knack & Burrows specifically includes probate litigation among its services.

That distinguishes contested matters from ordinary estate administration.

A disagreement after a death can involve both legal and personal issues. Property may have substantial financial value while also carrying emotional significance. Business interests and real estate can make disagreements even more consequential because the assets may be difficult to divide or may involve other owners.

When a probate matter becomes contested, the firm's litigation practice provides a basis for handling disputes rather than limiting its involvement to preparing estate-planning documents.

Real Estate Can Complicate an Inheritance

A house is often a family's most valuable asset, but some estates contain more complicated real-estate interests.

A person may own property jointly, hold investment property or have real estate connected to a business. Those interests can raise questions about what the deceased person actually owned and how that ownership passes at death.

Williams, Knack & Burrows has a separate real-estate practice encompassing transactions and litigation. That experience can be relevant when real property becomes part of estate planning or probate.

The firm's own educational materials emphasize that the manner in which property is owned can affect what happens at death. Joint ownership, for example, can produce a different result from individual ownership.

For estate planning, this reinforces an important practical point: the plan needs to account for the legal structure of the assets rather than assuming everything will pass according to a will.

Estate Attorneys With Different Areas of Experience

Several attorneys at Williams, Knack & Burrows participate in the firm's estate practice.

Adrienne B. Knack handles estate planning and probate and has completed an Estate Planning and Probate certificate through Michigan's Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Her practice also includes business, tax and real-estate matters.

Timothy L. Williams, who founded the firm in 1994, works with families and business owners on estate planning and probate in addition to business and tax matters. His LL.M. in Taxation provides a particularly relevant background when an estate issue intersects with tax or business concerns.

Andrew C. Burrows works with families on estate planning, including wills, trusts and probate-related matters. His practice also addresses probate avoidance.

Jordan G. English prepares estate plans and lists estates, wills, trusts and probate among his practice areas, alongside a significant business-law practice.

That breadth is particularly relevant for clients whose estate concerns overlap with ownership of a company or real estate rather than involving estate-planning documents alone.

A Longstanding Brighton Law Firm

Williams, Knack & Burrows has been based in Brighton since the firm's founding in 1994. Its office is located on East Grand River Avenue.

The firm's estate practice is part of a broader concentration in the legal issues surrounding families, property and businesses. For one client, that may mean preparing a will or trust. For another, it may involve deciding how a business should pass to the next generation, determining how jointly owned real estate fits into an estate plan, administering an estate after a death or addressing a probate dispute.

That combination makes the firm's estate work particularly relevant when a family's legal problems do not fall neatly into a single category.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning

• Wills

• Trusts

• Probate

• Probate Litigation

• Business Succession Planning

• Estate-Related Tax Matters

• Estate Planning for Business Owners

• Estate Planning Involving Real Estate