What is estate planning?
Put your decisions in writing for the people who may need to act for you.
ExploreMichigan Trust
Understand the choices before you make them.
Start with your question. Explore the detail when you want it.
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What do you want to understand?
22 guides
Business owners
If You Couldn’t Work Tomorrow, Could Your Michigan Business Survive?
Who can keep your Michigan business running if you cannot? Coordinate incapacity planning, business ownership, powers of attorney and trusts.
Explore ↗What is estate planning?
Your decisions, written down.
Learn how the documents work together to guide the people you choose.
Explore ↗Do I need a plan?
Different risks need different tools.
Start with the risk. Different planning tools solve different problems.
Explore ↗Do I need a plan?
How would each asset reach your family?
Map how each asset would pass before choosing the documents.
Explore ↗Do I need a plan?
A trust does not automatically lower your taxes.
Income tax, gift tax and estate tax are different questions.
Explore ↗Do I need a plan?
Who handles healthcare? Who handles money?
Match the person, the authority and the circumstances in which it can be used.
Explore ↗Do I need a plan?
Private does not mean hidden from everyone.
Plan who needs information, when, and for what purpose.
Explore ↗How does this work?
A plan for the life you’re living.
People whose plan needs to reflect a life, not a label.
Explore ↗How does this work?
Tell us what matters.
Explain what matters before deciding what the documents should say.
Explore ↗How does this work?
What does our flat fee include?
One agreed flat fee. Estate-plan guidance and an annual revision under your engagement.
Explore ↗How does this work?
Explore a focused planning day
One optional format. You can also spread the work across shorter meetings.
Explore ↗Who should I choose?
Revocable and irrevocable: what is the difference?
Compare control, management and consequences; the name is only the starting point.
Explore ↗Who should I choose?
Who should do each job?
Trustworthiness matters. So do skill, availability and the ability to handle conflict.
Explore ↗After signing
Signing is not the last step.
Connect each asset to the plan; keep evidence that the connection was made.
Explore ↗Athletes & NIL
Some payments can pass to your family.
Identify the right, its owner and its restrictions before proposing a transfer.
Explore ↗After signing
Your will and account beneficiaries may say different things.
Your documents and institutional instructions must point in the same direction.
Explore ↗Who should I choose?
We arrange the signing.
Each document has its own rules. One stamp does not finish the whole plan.
Explore ↗Athletes & NIL
An NIL deal creates more than income.
Understand what the deal creates; learn where your estate plan fits.
Explore ↗Athletes & NIL
Keep the deal. Keep the records.
Track what you receive, where you earn it and what obligations follow.
Explore ↗Athletes & NIL
Your student is becoming an adult.
Begin with the student’s adulthood, permissions and practical needs.
Explore ↗Life changes
Moving? Let’s check your plan.
A new address calls for a review; it does not automatically invalidate your documents.
Explore ↗Life changes
New person. New property. New place.
Use the annual revision; raise important changes when they happen.
Explore ↗No guides match. Try another word or choose all topics.
Still unsure? Let’s talk it through.
Tell us what you’re deciding. We’ll explain the next step.
Let’s talk about your plan