Farmington Hills Estate Planning Lawyers Offering Personalized Solutions For Michigan Residents

Last updated on April 3, 2025

Even though most people admit that they haven’t done so yet, about 58% of adults in the U.S. have not completed essential estate planning documents. It can be uncomfortable for many people to discuss what will happen to their assets when they pass away, but estate planning is necessary to ensure your final wishes are carried out.

Establishing a well-thought-out estate plan allows you to provide protection for your property, finances and medical care. Your answers to these and other questions will inform your choices: Do you want to avoid probate court? Maximize your heirs’ inheritance? Ease the process of estate administration? Preserve a vacation home? Provide for a child with special needs? Make sure that the family business goes to the next generation? Appoint a decision-maker in the event you become incapacitated? At Brown Borkowski & Morrow, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, our estate planning lawyers have been helping clients just like you since our firm was established.

We Provide A Range Of Estate Planning Services

At Brown Borkowski & Morrow, our attorneys use their extensive experience and knowledge of Michigan law to provide clients with a comprehensive estate plan. Personalized strategies are a priority. Our Farmington Hills estate planning lawyers will ensure that your estate plan is custom fit to you and your family’s specific situation and needs. We provide professional legal guidance in:

• Creating living wills
• Establishing different kinds of trusts
• Planning business succession
• Arranging for the care of your pets
• Facilitating charitable donations
• Reducing taxes for your heirs
• Selecting durable powers of attorney
• Managing health care directives
• Crafting pour-over wills
• Avoiding probate court
• Mitigating federal estate tax
• Choosing a personal representative or trustee
• Appointing a guardian or conservator in case of disability
• Making informed medical decisions while you are healthy

With over 30 years of combined experience, our lawyers at Brown Borkowski & Morrow are well-versed in creating estate plans that take important assets such as businesses and real estate into consideration. Whether you are planning for the future of your business or ensuring the care of your family, our dedicated legal team is here to support you every step of the way.

Estate Planning Basics

Thinking about – and planning around – your death or incapacity can be daunting. However, preparing for these events can benefit both you and your loved ones. It ensures that you still have agency and control over your finances or medical treatment, even when you reach a point when you’re unable to make or communicate those decisions. It can also minimize the burden and conflict your loved ones may feel over making decisions for you.

The focus of estate planning is the distribution of assets. You assign a trusted estate administrator to carry out your instructions regarding care for any minor children, disabled family members, pets or whoever you designate. Your administrator is responsible for ensuring your assets comply with local, state and federal government regulations. The administrator, often called an executor, is meant to be accountable and trustworthy. An estate planning attorney can guide you through these important decisions and help you carry out these plans smoothly.

Step 1: Hiring An Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning involves many moving parts. It can feel overwhelming due to the complexity of legal documents. The emotional weight of planning for the future also adds to the challenge. Additionally, you need to consider various financial, medical and familial aspects. An attorney can simplify the process by providing clear guidance and expert advice, making it easier to navigate the intricacies of estate planning.

Estate planning involves many moving parts, and it can feel overwhelming. Many of the legal documents involved can be lengthy and have complicated language. You may need to consider various financial, medical, and familial aspects of your life and future, which is not easy. The emotional weight of planning for the future also adds to the challenge.

Working with an estate planning lawyer based in Farmington Hills can help simplify the process for you. More importantly, they help ensure that your estate plan can carry out your health care decisions and property distributions according to your wishes.

Step 2: Preparing To Meet With An Estate Planning Attorney

Before your meeting with your attorney, it can be helpful to gather as much detailed information as you can. Not only will this let your attorney better understand your needs, but it can also potentially cut down on time and costs. Provide information and documents on your:

• Marital status and family structure or setup (such as children, grandchildren, etc.)
• Financial situation, including all assets and debts
• Specific goals for estate planning
• Loved ones’ needs if you’re not around
• Major health concerns and health care preferences

The more specific you are, the better your attorney can customize your estate plan to suit your needs. After this meeting, your attorney will discuss your options and work to create a plan that meets your goal and addresses any concerns.

Step 3: Creating A Comprehensive Estate Planning Guide

At this stage, you will be working closely with your attorney to set up all the legal documents that best suit your estate planning goals. This paperwork – which can include your will, a living or testamentary trust or powers of attorney – forms your estate planning guide. It should provide value and clarity regarding:

• Asset management: Distribution amounts and designations.
• Guardianship: Minor children and pets placements.
• Taxes: Investment strategies that protect assets from inflation and depreciation.
• Probate: Adherence to laws to protect against court-ordered intervention.

It can also outline any instructions you have about gifts, charitable donations and any personal or religious preferences you may have about medical treatments. Your attorney will guide you through the process, ensuring that all documents meet legal requirements and align with your intentions.

Step 4: Saving Digital And Hard Copies Of Your Estate Planning Guide

After you begin estate planning, it’s essential to create multiple copies in locations that are easily accessible for your executor. Digital storage is the safest method to store important information, and it is easy to print copies when necessary. Your estate planning includes financial planning and burial preferences, so it’s important to note how taxes and inflation might affect these components.

Step 5: Keeping Documents Updated

It’s crucial to review your estate planning documents regularly, especially when major life events occur. This can include:

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Births or adoptions
• Deaths in the family
• Medical diagnoses or illnesses

When any of these events happen, it’s important to meet with your attorney to ensure your plan stays current and your documents stay up to date.

Common Estate Planning Documents You Need

1. Last will and testament, (or a will)
   The last will and testament, or a will, is an estate planning document that will dictate how your assets will be distributed to your beneficiaries when you pass away. It’s the most important document but not the only one. You also need to specify beneficiaries on financial accounts like a 401(k) account, insurance plan or annuity. This lets those assets pass directly to a specific person without the probate process. You should also write a letter of intent. This is not legally binding, but it contains your plans for how you want your assets divided, as well as any funeral plans. The document will also describe when your loved ones will receive the assets you’ve left behind and indicate who your estate executor will be. You need a last will and testament so you can take estate planning into your own hands instead of allowing the state to determine what will happen to your estate.
2. Durable power of attorney
   Your durable power of attorney is essential for estate planning because it allows you to assign someone to be your attorney-in-fact. You can choose from a “sprung” power of attorney, in which the terms of the document are legally binding the moment the papers are signed or opt for the “springing” power of attorney, in which the terms of the document are not legally binding until a certain date or if you become incapacitated.
3. Advance directive for health care
   This series of documents is important for estate planning because the directive allows you to assign someone to serve as your health care proxy. You should make your wishes regarding your medical care known to your relatives if you become unable to make these decisions for yourself. This makes your health-related wishes clear and can ease some of the stress on your loved ones if you become incapacitated or seriously ill.
4. Guardianship agreement
   This is important if you have underage children. This specifies who takes care of the kids if you pass away and they are not old enough to live on their own yet.
5. Trusts
   Trusts are legal tools designed to manage and protect your assets during your lifetime. When you pass away, they will distribute them according to your wishes. Trusts can offer benefits like avoiding probate, managing taxes and providing for beneficiaries under specific conditions. There are different types of trusts that you can choose from, depending on the level of control and protection you desire.

What Is The Difference Between A Will And A Trust?

A will is a legal document that you can draft with an estate planning lawyer that provides instructions about how you want things to be done – which beneficiaries get certain assets, for instance. A trust is a legal tool used to hold assets. For example, you could put someone’s inheritance in a trust that is designed to pay for their eventual college education. This gives you more control over how your assets are used after death because the trustee has to follow your instructions.

Who Needs An Estate Plan?

Anyone can benefit from an estate plan as long as they are a legal adult. It can be particularly helpful if you own high-value assets or property. It allows you to not only protect them from liability but also clarify and secure their future ownership under your heirs or beneficiaries.

Remember that estate planning goes beyond simply distributing assets. It can also be used for medical decisions, creating a guardianship for a minor child and much more. There are helpful estate planning tools at any stage in life.

Do Single People Need An Estate Plan?

Yes. Everyone should have an estate plan. It is essential to an overall financial plan to prevent giving the state the power to decide who gets your assets when you die. If you are single and thinking about estate planning, check out our blog post on singles and estate planning for more information.

Does Your Law Firm Handle Only Rich People’s Estates?

Not at all. Many of our clients’ deceased loved ones left estates worth far less than a rich person’s estate and we handle probate cases that range from a small estate (under $24,000) to multimillion-dollar estates. Our services are efficient as well as thorough. We will not take shortcuts, but neither will we take unnecessary steps or waste your time. We regularly serve middle-class working clients, as well as wealthier ones.

What Happens If You Don’t Have An Estate Plan?

If you die intestate, which is when you do not have a plan, then state law will dictate what happens to your assets. As a general rule, these assets will be divided between your direct descendants and your spouse. But this can be a contentious and complex process, and you would have no say at all in how it played out.

In some cases, not having an estate plan means that your estate may have to pay more in taxes, so a greater percentage of your wealth goes to the government. Additionally, estate disputes are more likely when you pass away without a plan. Adult children have to make decisions about health care and asset distribution on their own, and they may not always agree. Creating an estate plan in advance gives you a voice, and you can make decisions about what happens to your assets – instead of letting the government make them.

Read Our Estate Planning Blog Posts

• Lame Duck Legislature Abolishes Michigan Dower
• Family Feud: Estate Edition
• Estate Planning Mistakes To Avoid

Our Estate Planning Lawyers Assist In Creating And Maintaining Your Legal Documents Over Time

At Brown Borkowski & Morrow, we believe it is vital to create an estate plan and ensure they stay up-to-date to be certain that the documents meet your intentions. That is why we work with you to make sure all of your wills and directives are updated and meet your current wishes. If the laws change, our Michigan estate planning lawyers will work with you to change your estate plan to protect your financial interests.

To schedule a free initial consultation to learn more, call us at 888-757-1681 or contact us online. We are conveniently located in Farmington Hills but take clients throughout Oakland County and metro Detroit.