Estate planning for Auburn Hills and Clarkston, Lake Orion and Waterford, Michigan families
Wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney and probate guidance for Auburn Hills households; with a flat fee quoted in writing before any work begins.
Auburn Hills, Clarkston, Lake Orion and Waterford cover the northern half of Oakland County, and their estates share a shape: a lake or inland property, a home with a mortgage from the last decade, pensions and 401(k)s from automotive or manufacturing careers, small businesses along the corridors, and children still at home or just starting out. These are working plans in the most literal sense: they have to hold up while the family is busy living, and they have to work even if nobody can get to a lawyer's office.
Where we work in and around Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills, Clarkston, Independence Township, Lake Orion, Orion Township, Oxford, Waterford, White Lake, Commerce Township, Pontiac, Bald Mountain, Dutton Road, Pine Lake area, and nearby Rochester Hills, Lakeville and Davisburg.
What a Auburn Hills estate plan usually includes
- a will or revocable living trust, chosen on whether the estate should stay out of the Pontiac courthouse;
- a financial durable power of attorney so someone can handle bills, accounts and property if you cannot;
- a patient advocate designation naming who makes health care decisions, with a HIPAA authorization so they can actually get the records;
- a review of every beneficiary designation, because retirement accounts and life insurance pass by that form rather than by the will;
- a deed review for the Auburn Hills home, since real estate is the asset most likely to force a family into probate.
What comes up most often in Auburn Hills
Cottages and lake properties up north
Families here often own a lake cottage in addition to the year-round house, and the cottage is where estates go wrong. It is usually titled to the original owners alone, and when they pass, three adult children inherit it as tenants in common with no rules about use, cost or exit. A shared plan for the cottage prevents the argument before it exists.
Pensions, 401(k)s and union benefits
Retirement benefits from long manufacturing and automotive careers pass by beneficiary form, not by the will. Old forms name someone who has since died, an ex-spouse, or no one, and each of those sends the money somewhere the owner never chose. Every designation should be reviewed as part of the plan.
Minor children and who raises them
Parents of young children need a guardian nomination and a trust that holds money past age eighteen. Without both, a court picks the guardian and the children receive whatever is left in a lump sum on their eighteenth birthday, which is exactly what most parents are trying to prevent.
Small business and trades owners
Contractors, shop owners and small manufacturers around Auburn Hills hold the asset most likely to stall an estate: a business nobody else can run and nobody planned to sell. Succession needs to be written down while the owner is healthy, including who takes over and where the money comes from.
Request a free consultation in Auburn Hills
Where a Auburn Hills estate is probated
Auburn Hills sits in Oakland County, so an estate for someone who lived here is opened at the Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac. Addresses, hours and filing details are on the Oakland County probate page, and the wider county overview is on the Oakland County estate planning page. Most of that process is avoidable with planning done in advance.
The step almost everyone misses
Services and pricing
- Estate planning services
- Estate plan packages and flat fee pricing
- Articles, probate courts and areas we serve
Book a consultation call
Tell us about your family and what you own. Your request goes directly to Attorney Badri Yono Jr. of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C., who runs a conflict check before contacting you directly. You get a flat fee in writing before any work starts, so there is no meter running and no surprise invoice. Most Auburn Hills clients finish the whole process without driving to Pontiac once.
Request a free consultation in Auburn Hills
This is an intake funnel and does not provide legal advice or legal representation. THIS FUNNEL IS NOT A LAW FIRM. Using this funnel or submitting a request does not create an attorney-client relationship. All requests are referred to Attorney Badri Yono Jr. (P88777) of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C., who will provide legal services after an engagement agreement is executed, subject to its terms.
Talk with Attorney Badri Yono Jr.
Tell us about your family and we'll connect you directly with Attorney Badri Yono Jr. of Foster Swift; with a flat fee quoted in writing before any work begins.