Estate Planning

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Estate Planning and Administration Attorneys

Howard P.C.'s estate planning, probate, and estate administration practice focuses on helping our clients achieve comprehensive estate planning goals and tax-saving strategies. Our practice is designed to allow clients to direct the transfer of their assets according to their wishes, keeping the estate out of probate court and keeping taxes and expenses to a minimum. We will give you the peace of mind that your affairs will be taken care of properly without leaving any unnecessary burdens on the ones you leave behind.

We can assist clients in planning for future events like death or incapacity, so that assets are transferred according to their wishes. Estate planning might involve the following issues:

• Wills
• Lifetime gifts
• Revocable living trusts
• Durable or general powers of attorney
• Medical powers of attorney
• Living wills
• Naming a guardian for children
• Educational trusts
• Irrevocable life Insurance Trusts
• Tax planning, including estate, gift & generation skipping transfer tax planning
• Real estate transfers & ownership planning & related valuation matters
• Patient advocate designations
• Medicare/Medicaid qualified special needs trusts for disabled beneficiaries
• Charitable giving and private foundations
• Family LLC, for investments or resort property

Business succession

If you or a loved one is a business owner, provisions for orderly business succession can be incorporated into estate plans and into corporate documents to minimize tax burdens and ensure the legacy you worked so hard to build continues to provide for your family long after you are gone. We have helped clients facilitate wealth preservation and transfer in many ways, which we individually tailor to meet each client's specific circumstances. Business succession planning may include "buy-sell", "stock repurchase" agreements & similar shareholder/recapitalization agreements.

These include deferring taxes by using charitable remainder trusts in the sale of businesses, or minimizing wealth transfer taxes by restructuring real estate, business and investment portfolios into limited partnerships or LLCs.

We help set the stage for your business to grow and thrive for many generations to come.

Asset Protection Planning for Business Risks

For a business owner or professional, it is important to create a strategy that shields your personal and business assets from liability because of a business slow-down or lawsuit. Failing to shield assets from liability could subject you to liens and forfeitures from creditors and courts. Howard, P.C. can help you protect you from liability accruing to your business.

Corporations, limited liability corporations, and limited liability partnerships all serve to shield business owners from personal liability. However, these state created entities are not always able to shield professionals like doctors, accountants, and architects from liability. Even if you incorporate yourself or your business, as a professional, you may not be shielded from personal liability. In order to protect your personal assets from liability, speak to a lawyer at Howard, P.C. Asset protection planning is a supplemental way to shield your personal property from liability because of lawsuits or disputes with your business.

Asset protection planning is an important tool that is effective only before the event you seek to protect your assets from occurs. Transferring assets after an event may be viewed as fraudulent and is an ineffective way to shield yourself from liability. Speak to one of our lawyers to determine your options to protect your assets now.

To learn more about personal and business asset protection contact Howard, P.C.

Trusts and Trust Administration

Michigan law does not require that an attorney assist with estate planning, but an experienced lawyer can ensure that a will or trust meets all of the state's legal requirements and takes all the wishes of the testator into account. Our estate planning attorneys will also help you find creative solutions to problems unique to your family or business.

In the matter of trusts, especially those that are created for a sizeable estate, experienced lawyers like those at Howard P.C. will help clients determine which options will achieve the greatest tax benefits and take steps to ensure that the estate is left to the intended heirs.

Once a person dies or becomes disabled, we will work closely with the trustee and beneficiaries to ensure that your wishes are carried out quickly and efficiently. We take the time to educate the trustee about his or her responsibilities and how they should be carried out.

Probate and Estate Administration

Probate is the legal process through which a person's assets are distributed upon his or her death, and provides for paying the individual's debts. Estate administration covers the probate process and other types of transfers of assets from the deceased person to his or her heirs. Our estate and probate attorneys help put your plan into effect by guiding the executors and trustees through the documents to ensure a smooth transition of assets between generations.

Howard P.C. works closely with clients and their chosen executors and trustees to make sure we know your unique situation, and we will customize each estate plan and administer it accordingly and cost effectively when that time comes.

Contact an experienced attorney now

We will meet and discuss estate planning wherever it is comfortable for you, and always at your convenience. Contact Howard P.C. for all your estate planning needs, and take advantage of our experience and commitment.