Troy Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning involves making legal arrangements for the management and distribution of your assets at death or incapacity. A thorough plan accounts for your personal, family, and financial circumstances so your wishes can be carried out and your loved ones can be protected. It also addresses who makes decisions for you if you’re unable to do so yourself.

Without a plan, Michigan intestacy law determines who inherits your assets, and that prescribed order may not match your intentions. The result can be probate delays, unnecessary costs, and family conflict during an already difficult time. A well-drafted plan helps keep control in your hands and gives your family a clear path forward.

The right time is now, regardless of your age or health. Life events like marriage, a new child, a health diagnosis, or a change in finances can make an existing plan outdated almost overnight. Adults at any stage benefit from having legal arrangements in place because the cost of not having them often falls on the people they leave behind.

A complete plan typically includes a will, one or more trusts, a financial durable power of attorney, a healthcare power of attorney or advance directive, and properly updated beneficiary designations. Each document serves a distinct function, and missing one can leave gaps that only become apparent when it’s too late to fix them.

A will directs how your assets are distributed after death and must go through probate before anything is transferred. A revocable living trust, by contrast, takes effect during your lifetime and allows a trustee to manage and distribute assets to beneficiaries without court involvement. Trusts can provide more control over the timing and conditions of distribution, and they’re often a central part of a comprehensive estate plan.

Yes, and you should. Estate plans should be reviewed every three to five years and after any major life event, including marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a significant financial change, or a health diagnosis. Our attorneys can help you update your plan so it stays aligned with your current wishes and circumstances.

Dying without a plan means Michigan intestacy law controls who receives your assets, in an order set by statute that may have no connection to your actual intentions. The estate typically goes through probate, a court-supervised process that can take months or longer and generate costs that may reduce what your beneficiaries ultimately receive. Family disputes are common when no clear direction exists.

Elder law attorneys handle legal matters specific to aging adults, including Medicaid eligibility, long-term care planning, and guardianship or conservatorship proceedings. These concerns intersect directly with estate planning: how a plan is structured can affect Medicaid eligibility, and incapacity planning is central to both practice areas. At Barron, Rosenberg, Mayoras & Mayoras P.C., our estate planning attorneys are also elder law attorneys, so clients throughout Troy and Oakland County get both dimensions of planning addressed together rather than through two separate firms.