Archive for November 3rd, 2008

Should My House Go into My Trust in Michigan?

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on November 3, 2008 – 3:27 pm -

A common question clients have is whether they should put their house into their revocable living trust in Michigan.  Like most questions, my answer is “it depends.”  This is where estate planning becomes more than just preparing documents or using software such as Willmaker, Quicken, or Suze Orman.  There is actually counseling involved based on the situation.

is the client single or married.  Do you want to destroy the tenancy by the entirety, where Michigan has afforded certain benefits?  Is the goal to avoid probate?  What about estate recover, does that have an effect?  Unfortunately, there are a few factors to consider when making this decision.

Fortunately, a quality Michigan estate planning lawyer will be able to walk you through the scenerios to decide upon the best answer in your situation.

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Estate Planning Weekend Round Up

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on November 3, 2008 – 3:11 pm -

Here are some of last weeks estate planning news across the internet.

  • The Modesto Bee had an article by Valentine Sabuco with the title “Is it time to get your estate planning house in order?”.  In the article she states “that estate planning is a very importnat component of everyone’s financial planning, regardless of the size of the estate.”  I could not agree more with her.  Read the rest of the article here: http://www.modbee.com/business/story/484500.html
  • Michael E. Andrews wrote an article for Northindystar.com entitled “Estate plan safeguards assets, loved ones.”  In the article he lists six quality reason why you should have an estate plan.  Many of these have been covered on this blog already.  You can read his article here.
  • Troy Neff wrote a good article in the Toledo Free Press entitled “Don’t Try this at Home”.  In the article Mr. Neff tells the story of a client who as a “do-it-yourselfer” and prepared his estate planning documents with a software package, without a lawyer.  Well, when it was all said in done, the client’s plan was fraught with issues.  You can read the full story here: http://www.toledofreepress.com/2008/10/31/don%E2%80%99t-try-this-at-home/

That’s all for this week across the web.  What we can take from it:

  • The time for estate planning is NOW.
  • I’ve yet to encounter anyone over the age 18 in Michigan who does not have a reason to complete a least  a basic estate plan.
  • If you are going to do an estate plan, do it right.  Sometimes an poorly drafted estate plan is worse then having any type of estate plan at all.
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