Archive for the ‘Personal Reflections’ Category

Do It Yourself Estate Planning Gone Horribly Wrong

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 24, 2008 – 3:55 pm -

I have seen a few instances where clients have brought in their old “estate planning” documents that they have attempted to do themselves. Time and time again they are wrought with problems. Both the client and I are grateful that we were able to put a professional plan in place before anything happened and those documents would be tested.

A colleague down in Florida (read his blog here) has worked on a case where unfortunatly, an individual attempted a do it yourself approach and ended up costing his intended beneficiaires nearly $75,000.

That $50, internet form doesn’t seem so cheap when it costs $75,000 to your beneficiaries on the back end.

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Posted in Estate Planning, Michigan Probate, Personal Reflections, Trust Administration | 2 Comments »

Michigan Supreme Court, huh?

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 8:06 pm -

While not having to do with estate planning, I do keep any eye on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Today they had a ruling I find a bit activist and odd. They struck down precedent and ruled that criminals can be sentenced as habitual offenders if their felonies stem from the same criminal act.

The argument of the dissent seems to make sense, which is that the lawmakers intended for harsher penalties for persistent criminals versus multiple crimes in one event.

Read more here.

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Posted in News, Off Topic, Personal Reflections | No Comments »

Who is Watching The Child Care that is Watching Your Children

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 1:04 pm -

In a frightening report, according to a Michigan auditor general’s office audit as reported by the Detroit News, state oversight of child care providers was so poor that 1,900 people who were not qualified to provide the care, including sex offenders and child abusers, were not identified, nor prevented from doing so.

This is a frighting for any young families looking for child care. DHS has provided a good guide for what to look for in your child care provider. Their guide can be read here. Included in the guide are questions to ask, what to look for, how to check references, and how to stay involved.

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Posted in News, Personal Reflections, Planning For Young Families | No Comments »
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