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Protecting Your Assets From Long-Term Care Costs: A Guide for Michigan Families
For most Michigan families, a home, a retirement account, and a lifetime of savings represent decades of hard work. It’s unsettling to realize that a single health event — a stroke, a fall, or a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s — can put all of it at risk. Long-term care is one of the most…
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Michigan Estate Planning: Week #6 — Do You Need a Property Transfer Affidavit? (And Why Filing Matters More Than You Think) (Lansing Area Guide)
Michigan Estate Planning: Week #6 — Do You Need a Property Transfer Affidavit? If you own property in the **Lansing area—including Okemos, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, St. Johns, Mason, and Charlotte—**you’ve likely encountered (or will encounter): The Property Transfer Affidavit (PTA) And here’s where confusion sets in: “Do I really need to file this every…
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Michigan Estate Planning: Week #5 — What Is “Uncapping” in Michigan Property Taxes (and How Transfers Can Raise Your Taxes) (Lansing Area Guide)
Michigan Estate Planning: Week #5 — What Is “Uncapping” in Michigan Property Taxes? If you own property in the **Lansing area—including Okemos, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, St. Johns, and Charlotte—**you may have heard the term: “uncapping” And if you haven’t yet, you probably will—especially when doing estate planning or transferring property. Here’s the reality: 👉…
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How Elder Law Planning Helps You Secure Long-Term Care and Financial Stability
Nobody likes thinking about getting older, needing care, or losing independence. We get it. But here’s the thing: families who have those conversations early end up with the most options. At Estate Planning Pros, PLLC, we help families put elder law plans in place before a health crisis hits. The difference it makes is significant.…
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Michigan Estate Planning: Week #4 — Who Actually Inherits in Michigan? (Do Second Cousins Get Anything?) (Lansing Area Guide)
Michigan Estate Planning: Week #4 — Who Actually Inherits in Michigan? One of the most common (and surprisingly confusing) questions we hear from families in the Lansing area—including Okemos, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, and St. Johns—is: “If someone dies without a will, who actually gets the estate?” And sometimes the question goes deeper: “Do second…
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Michigan Estate Planning: Week #3 — Can You Disinherit a Spouse in Michigan? (Elective Share Explained) (Lansing Area Guide)
Across the **Lansing area—including East Lansing, Okemos, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, St. Johns, and Charlotte—**we frequently hear a version of this question: “Can I leave my spouse out of my will?” The short answer is: 👉 Not the way most people think. Michigan law gives a surviving spouse powerful rights—even if the will says otherwise.…
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Michigan Estate Planning: Week #2 — Why Banks Reject Power of Attorney Documents (and How to Fix It) (Lansing Area Guide)
If you ask most people in the **Lansing area—including Okemos, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, and St. Johns—**what a Power of Attorney does, they’ll say: “It lets someone help handle my finances if something happens.” That’s correct—but here’s the part many families don’t realize until it’s too late: 👉 A Power of Attorney only works if…
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What Every Family Needs to Know About Wills, Trusts, and Power of Attorney
Most families know they should have an estate plan, but far fewer actually have one in place. At Estate Planning Pros, PLLC, we hear the same concern from clients again and again: they kept meaning to get around to it. The truth is that wills, trusts, and powers of attorney are not complicated concepts. Once…
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Why Beneficiary Designations Can Accidentally Break Your Estate Plan
One of the most common things we hear from clients in the Lansing area (Ingham County, Eaton County, and Clinton County) is: “I don’t think I need a trust—everything already has a beneficiary.” On the surface, that sounds efficient. After all: And under Michigan law, these types of transfers generally pass outside probate, meaning they…
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Protecting Your Legacy: A Complete Guide to Estate Planning for Families
If you are approaching retirement or have recently stepped away from your career, now is the time to take a serious look at your estate plan. At Estate Planning Pros, PLLC, we help families build estate plans that protect what they have worked a lifetime to build. Whether you are thinking about a will, a…
