Blog Posts Page 5

My big brother recently died with only one bank account worth about $13,000. He had no beneficiaries listed and I don’t know how to get at the money to pay for his final expenses.

My condolences to you on the loss of your brother. When your brother passed away and didn’t have a beneficiary listed on his account, the probate court steps in to direct where the money in his account will go. Thankfully Michigan has as “Small Estate Probate” procedure that allows you to take care of this… Read More »

My father is going in for surgery next month and I was wondering what kind of planning he should do beforehand?

Great question. Your father should have at least a “base” estate plan in place. This covers three major areas: (1) incapacity, (2) wealth transfer, and (3) beneficiary protection. First, he needs to put someone in place for financial and medical decisions if he can no longer handle his affairs. Be very careful here – many… Read More »

I was awarded $10,000, plus interest, in my Judgment of Divorce. The Judgment was finalized in 2003. My ex has paid very little and still owes me most of that money. I was told I only have a limited amount of time to go to Court to enforce the Judgment and make my ex pay. Is this true?

YES! It is true that a Judgment of Divorce must be enforced within a specific time period. The “Statute of Limitations” bars legal action after a certain amount of time. For example, in most personal injury cases you have 3 years to sue and in most contracts cases you have 6 years to sue. To… Read More »

My mother is going in for surgery next month and I was wondering what kind of planning she should do beforehand?

Great question. Your mother should have at least a “base” estate plan in place. First, she needs to put someone in place for financial and medical decisions if she can no longer handle her affairs. Be very careful here – many times a “form” or “standard” power of attorney doesn’t work the way you expect…. Read More »

My wife and I have a cottage up north. Is there any special way we need to deal with it in our estate plan?

Cottages and vacation homes are special assets. Many times they have been in your family for generations. There are several legal issues that arise with cottages that don’t arise with other assets like your home and finances. For example, maybe one child uses the cottage but other children don’t. Maybe some of your children can… Read More »

Will I have to pay Alimony? I have a fairly short term marriage (3 years), no kids but I make a lot more than my wife. I am not sure how to plan.

There are a number of different factors used to determine whether alimony (referred to as spousal support) should be considered. Length of marriage, difference in income, education of parties, special needs of the parties, earning potential and history, fault and other factors are all considered. You will need to provide more information to determine the… Read More »