Let’s Get Real about Your Adult Children

I want to know if your adult children are productive citizens or drains on your bank account. Are they employed or underemployed? Are they shrewd investors or spendthrifts? Are all of your kids similar, or do their financial situations and personalit… Read More
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Breaking Down Barriers With Special Needs Trusts

Individuals with disabilities who receive financial assistance from needs-based governmental programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) must meet strict income and asset limit eligibility requirements in order to qualify for ben… Read More
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Michigan’s New Asset Protection Trusts

Michigan is newly positioned to become a major player in the asset protection arena. With the adoption of the Qualified Dispositions in Trusts Act (the “Act”) last month, Michigan joined 16 other states that permit the creation of domestic asset… Read More
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Do It For Your Kids

Do It For Your Kids

We understand that preparing an estate plan is not always the most urgent priority for young families. Buying your first home, sleepless nights with a newborn, coordinating everyone’s packed schedules while trying to maintain your family’s sanity… Read More
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Keeping Your Living Trust…

Keeping Your Living Trust Private

In an age when we seem to have less and less privacy, most of us are reluctant to needlessly surrender what privacy we do have. I was reminded of that a few days ago when a long-time client, who was selling a home titled in his living trust, called t… Read More
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A 2015 Resolution: Who’…

A 2015 Resolution: Who’s With Me?

As many of you may know, my husband, Joe, and I welcomed our second child, Cole Elizabeth, four months ago. (Our son, Callum, is now two and a half.) I look back on the two and a half years of being a parent, and am amazed by all of the planning, reo… Read More
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Wright Beamer Founder Tea…

Wright Beamer Founder Teaches Estate Planning to Lawyers

William M. Wright – founder and of counsel attorney with Wright Beamer, PLC – recently taught a seminar at the Probate and Estate Planning Institute’s sessions in Traverse City and Plymouth. The Institute, which is sponsored by the Institute of… Read More
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Charitable Remainder Trus…

Charitable Remainder Trusts: They’re Ba-ack!

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”), coupled with the expiration of the 2% Social Security payroll tax reduction, mean increased taxes for most Americans. The increases come primarily in the form of new taxes, higher tax rates, phas… Read More
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