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.

Oakland County Estate Planning Lawyer

Attorney Badri Yono Jr. of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C. helps Oakland 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.

Oakland County holds some of the largest estates in Michigan and some of the simplest, often on the same street. A long-owned home in Bloomfield, a business or two, deferred compensation from a decades-long career, retirement accounts at three former employers, and children who now live in three different states; that combination is the reason a two-page will is usually not enough here. The good news is that none of it is difficult to organize. It just has to be organized deliberately, while you are the one deciding, rather than later by a judge and a lawyer your family never met.

Oakland County Wills and Trusts Attorney

An Oakland 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 Pontiac probate court, but only for the assets actually titled into it; see funding your trust.

Oakland 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 Oakland County families include:

Oakland County Probate and Trust Administration

When someone who lived in Oakland County dies with assets in their sole name, the estate is opened at the Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac, at 1200 N. Telegraph Rd., Dept. 457, Pontiac, MI 48341. Oakland County requires estate filings to be submitted electronically through MiFILE, which matters if the person handling the estate lives out of town. Filing methods, hours and fees are on the Oakland County probate page.

Estate Planning Situations Common in Oakland County

The family business no document addresses

A closely held company, a professional practice, or rental property held in a personal name is the asset most likely to stall a Michigan estate. Succession needs to be written down: who runs it, who owns it, what happens when an owner dies, and where the money to buy out a deceased owner's share comes from. Without that, the family's real choice is a quick sale at a bad price or a court-supervised argument. Business interests also rarely pass through a trust unless the ownership interests are actually retitled into it.

Second marriages and children from a first marriage

Blended families are common here, and the default plan; everything to the spouse, then to the children; quietly fails in these households. If the survivor remarries, or simply spends what is left, the children from the first marriage may receive nothing. A trust can give the surviving spouse a place to live and income for the rest of their life while guaranteeing that what remains reaches the children you intended. See planning for blended families for how that is structured.

Adult children who no longer live nearby

When the person you name as personal representative or successor trustee lives in another state, the plan has to work remotely. That means clear instructions, a trustee comfortable handling matters by phone and email, and documents that are easy to find. It also means the plan should not depend on anyone physically traveling to Pontiac more often than it has to.

Parents being cared for while they still have capacity

Adult children supporting an aging parent routinely discover that nobody holds legal authority to sign on their behalf. A financial power of attorney and a patient advocate designation signed now cost a small fraction of a conservatorship petition later, and they keep those decisions out of a courtroom. Capacity is the deadline: once it is gone, the documents can no longer be signed at all.

Why e-filing changes what families should expect

Oakland County requires estate documents to be filed electronically through MiFILE rather than handed across a counter. That is a genuine advantage for a family administering an estate from out of town, since almost none of the process requires a trip to Pontiac. It also means the work is more document-driven than most people expect: the estate moves exactly as fast as the paperwork is complete and correct. A plan written in advance is what makes most of that paperwork already exist.

Communities Served in Oakland County

Cities and Villages

Townships

  • Addison Township
  • Bloomfield Township
  • Brandon Township
  • Commerce Township
  • Groveland Township
  • Highland Township
  • Holly Township
  • Independence Township
  • Lyon Township
  • Milford Township
  • Novi Township
  • Oakland Township
  • Orion Township
  • Oxford Township
  • Rose Township
  • Royal Oak Township
  • Southfield Township
  • Springfield Township
  • Waterford Township
  • West Bloomfield Township
  • White Lake Township

For more information, request a consultation with an Oakland 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.

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