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 submitted through this funnel are referred to Attorney Badri Yono Jr. (P88777) of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C., who will conduct a conflict check before communicating directly with you and will provide legal services after an engagement agreement is executed, subject to its terms.
Badri Yono Jr. Esq.Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C.

Livingston County Estate Planning Lawyer

Attorney Badri Yono Jr. of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C. helps Livingston County, Michigan families with wills, revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney and patient advocate designations. Every plan is quoted as a flat fee in writing before any work begins.

Livingston County estates usually involve land. A house on several acres, a lake lot that has been in the family since before the subdivision went in, a pole barn with equipment in it, sometimes a second parcel bought years ago and never thought about again. Land is the asset most likely to send a family to the Howell courthouse, and also the asset families argue about hardest, because it cannot be split the way a bank account can. Deciding now who gets what, and how the person who keeps it pays the others, prevents most of that.

Livingston County Wills and Trusts Attorney

A Livingston County estate plan usually starts with a choice between a will and a revocable living trust. A trust can keep an estate out of the Howell probate court, but only for the assets actually titled into it; see funding your trust.

Livingston County Powers of Attorney

A financial durable power of attorney names who handles bills, accounts and property if you cannot. A patient advocate designation names who makes health care decisions, and a HIPAA authorization lets them get the records.

Estate planning matters handled for Livingston County families include:

Livingston County Probate and Trust Administration

When someone who lived in Livingston County dies with assets in their sole name, the estate is opened at the Livingston County Probate Court in Howell, at 204 S. Highlander Way, Howell, MI 48843. Livingston County probate is handled in Howell, and estates involving multiple parcels typically need each deed identified before an estate can be closed. Filing methods, hours and fees are on the Livingston County probate page.

Estate Planning Situations Common in Livingston County

Lake property and family land

A lake house or acreage that several children all want, or that only one can afford to keep, needs written terms long before anyone dies. Who may use it, who pays the taxes and insurance, how a child who does not want it is bought out, and what happens if nobody can afford it. Michigan families lose more lake property to unpaid taxes and stalemates than to any market.

Property held in a personal name only

Vacant parcels, hunting land and second lots are routinely left out of a trust even when everything else went in. A trust only governs what has actually been retitled into it, so any parcel still in a personal name at death goes through probate on its own.

Commuter households with young children

Many families here work in Ann Arbor, Lansing or metro Detroit and have school-age children at home. The two documents that matter most are a guardian nomination for the children and a trust that holds money for them rather than handing it over at eighteen.

Aging parents still living on the property

When a parent wants to stay on the land as long as possible, the plan needs a financial power of attorney and a patient advocate designation signed while capacity is clear. Without them, keeping the property running can require a conservatorship petition in Howell.

Communities Served in Livingston County

Cities and Villages

  • Brighton
  • Fowlerville
  • Howell
  • Pinckney

Townships

  • Brighton Township
  • Cohoctah Township
  • Conway Township
  • Deerfield Township
  • Genoa Township
  • Green Oak Township
  • Hamburg Township
  • Handy Township
  • Hartland Township
  • Howell Township
  • Iosco Township
  • Marion Township
  • Oceola Township
  • Putnam Township
  • Tyrone Township
  • Unadilla Township

For more information, request a consultation with a Livingston County estate planning attorney, or see flat fee plans.

Request a consultation

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.

Request a Consultation