- Real Estate TransactionsJohn Erdevig has been helping Ann Arbor-area households with estate planning and residential real estate transactions since 1997. John graduated from The University of Michigan Law School, and is a long-time Ann Arbor resident.
- Estate PlanningFor simple estate planning, John will usually begin the first interview over the phone. We will plan to exchange information and instructions. John will produce drafts promptly for your review. Generally, your first in-office appointment is for signing in front of witnesses.
- WillsProbate avoidance, the most common reason cited for wanting a trust: Trusts are often sold as a surefire way to avoid probate and as the only way to minimize probate. Probate is the court-based process for determining what property is owned by a deceased person, what legitimate debts can still be claimed against that property, and then who receives what and in what shares. If the person left a will, then the will is proven to be the last will made by the person while competent, and property is distributed according to your will. If you die without a will, there is a formula for distribution of your property that favors close relatives based on social science survey data. What probate definitely is not is a black hole where "the government gets my money" or a judge arbitrarily decides who gets what. Still, the amount of property that might be subject to the probate process should normally be minimized to save money and time. The amount of a deceased person’s property subject to probate can be minimized by various means besides setting up a living trust -- see the last paragraph of this topic. Also, probate can be a tolerable or even a necessary thing. Sometimes it resembles post-death trust estate settlement, but with a few interactions with a court clerk who appears to just stamp documents, with no judge or courtroom in sight. Even when not desirable, probate is not always the costly and protracted ”nightmare” of urban legend, particularly in Washtenaw County, where almost all of my practice is located. Some sad tales of probate delay, poor interactions with staff, even corruption or incompetence, makes the rounds among clients and attorneys, however. Know that circumstances that complicate probate can also complicate post-death trust settlement, even winding up in court either way. So the appropriate question is whether the burden of maintaining a living trust throughout one’s lifetime is worth the attempt to avoid probate completely. Usually, for most of my clients, there needs to be another reason besides probate avoidance, before a living trust seems appropriate to commit to.
- TrustsLiving Trust -- what most people ask about: A living trust or revocable grantor trust is a legal entity that can own property. It is an entity that you form during your lifetime with a signed document similar to a will. A trustee manages the trust. Sometimes it is said that certain assets have been transferred to the trustee, rather than to the trust. The first trustee you name in that document is typically you. But then you also usually name a family member so that if you should become disabled or die before them there is less chance of a gap in the management of the trust’s assets. (For a discussion of trusts in a will for the support of abled but still maturing young adult children, see ”Trust in will, for children.”) Living trusts can be kept simple, but still require more attention and maintenance as compared to, say, completing a stand-alone will. Your follow-up with your will might be as simple as pulling it out of a drawer for review every few years, or when there is a significant event like a death in your family. For a trust to work, some care must be taken to title newly acquired property in the name of the trust, and for the trustee to show on many occasions that the trustee is signing on behalf of the trust, for example. It might be helpful to think of a trust as similar to a corporation, and the trustee as like the governing board of the corporation.
- Power of AttorneyThere is always some possible or marginal advantage to a trust, say, to provide for relatively seamless continuity of management of assets by the next generation as an older client ages, and to systematically minimize, if not avoid probate settlement of a decedent's estate. But many of my clients are making a will, power of attorney and health care directive for the first or second time. They are busy, and want to budget their time and money. Procrastination is the rule when talking about death, disability and money. In the interests of ”getting it done,” we sometimes ”keep it simple,” while still serving the client’s basic legal needs.
- Probate