Estate Planning

Our Bloomfield Hills Probate Lawyer office helps individuals and families with Michigan estate administration issues on a regular basis. One thing that I must remind clients of many times, is that the Michigan probate process is generally, not as quick and easy as you would like it to be. If you do not have a properly funded trust based estate plan, there is a very good chance that your estate will end up under the jurisdiction of the Michigan probate courts. That may not be a bad thing, but you have to understand that if your estate is in the Oakland County Probate Court ... Read Full Story

What happens when an Oakland County Probate Judge and Oakland County Probate register get together?  Why the write an opinion piece for the Oakland Press, of course! You can read Oakland County Probate Judge, Eugene Arthur Moore and Oakland County Probate Register Jill Koney Daly's piece explaining very succinctly what a Michigan living probate is by reading the article here: Guardianships, conservatorships explained . Kudos to them for getting this important education out to the public. Read Full Story

Curious about how celebrity estate errors can help you protect yourself, your family, and your heirs? Watch this video: Posted by: Author and probate attorney Andrew W. Mayoras, co-author of Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights! and co-founder and shareholder of The Center for Probate Litigation and The Center for Elder Law in metro-Detroit, Michigan, which concentrate in probate litigation, estate planning, and elder law. You can email him at awmayoras @ brmmlaw.com. Read Full Story

In early March, I wrote this article about how one of the granddaughters of famed media mogul William Randolph Hearst  -- she of the 2.1 billion dollar net worth -- was fighting family members who felt she was no longer competent to manage her affairs.  They were worried she was being exploited and taken advantage of because she kept give people large checks (in the six-figure range). Phoebe Hearst Cooke went through multiple attorneys trying to prove she could manage her own affairs.  Meanwhile, a court-appointed guardian handled her finances, selling some of her prized horses and cattle, which upset Cooke.  A few days ago, ... Read Full Story

Massachusetts artist Mary Kass lived in a modest house in Provincetown.  Few realized that the unassuming Kass owned an extraordinary art collection with works by Matisse, Renoir and Picasso.  In fact, her Estate is said to be worth at least 40 million dollars and as much as 60 million.  She died at age 78 on March 12, 2009. Divorced and without children, Kass left a will and trust leaving her assets to charity, friends, and a niece and nephew.  She bequeathed her art collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. But the niece and nephew, Catherine Mason and Thomas Berger, weren't satisfied with receiving one million dollars each.  They alleged that Kass' friend ... Read Full Story