Estate Planning Attorney Helping Livonia, Northville, and Plymouth with Wills, Trusts, & Powers of Attorney
At Matt Devitt Law, Livonia's neighborhood estate planning law firm, we understand the importance of planning for the future. Matt realizes that you have worked hard throughout your lifetime and that you deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor and to have your wishes for your estate honored.
Mr. Devitt will work closely with you to develop a well-crafted estate plan that provides for your loved ones in an effective and efficient manner by avoiding guardianship during your lifetime, reducing probate procedures and oversight at death, lessening or reducing estate taxes and limiting unnecessary delays.
We believe that the peace of mind of knowing that your loved ones are taken care with an estate plan should be felt by everyone including middle income families, high net worth individuals, as well as, those with modest estates.
There is no “one size fits all” plan and by understanding your individual circumstances and family dynamics Matt looks forward to working together to tailor an estate plan that best suits your individualized needs.
Our Estate Planning Services Include:
Wills are important legal document that decide how your estate will be distributed and who will take care of your minor children (guardian). A will also works to minimize the length and complexity of the probate process, and decides who will be in charge (personal representative) of winding up the affairs of your estate among other things.
Whether creating a simple will, pour-over will to help fund a revocable trust, or creating a testamentary trust within a will, we look forward to partnering with you through every step of the drafting process.
Trusts are legal arrangements that can provide incredible flexibility for the ownership of certain assets, thereby enabling you and your heirs to achieve a number of significant personal goals that cannot be achieved otherwise.
Trusts help by avoiding probate, providing protection for children who are not ready an inheritance due to age or other circumstances, and helps to provide guidance to loved for how you would like them to spend their inheritance.
We will work closely with you to create the appropriate trust to meet you and your familys needs. Whether it is a standard joint, revocable or irrevocable trust or a more specialized QTIP, Family Cottage Trusts or Special Needs trust, we are here to help.
While many of the estate planning goals will be the same for parents, including providing for your loved ones in an effective and efficient manner, there is also the need to ensure that your special needs child will be able to qualify for important government benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability (SSDI) at the time of the parents passing, and Medicaid. If an estate plan is not properly drafted, the inheritance can viewed as income with can disqualify a child from these critical benefits.
Being a parent is an important job, and Matt Devitt Law, PLC will be in your corner throughout the estate planning process to provide counsel on the legal aspects, benefits planning, personal, and medical affairs of your child.
Power of attorney ("POA"), is a legal document that allows an individual to act on another person’s behalf if they are unable to do so. They are a core building block to a comprehensive esate plan and can benefit anyone from a recent high school graduate to retirees.
Powers of Attorney allow those who anticipates the possibility of disability or incapacity to provide an efficient, private, out-of-court mechanism for dealing with his or her own affairs.
We will listen to your individual wants and create a general, limited, springing, or immediate power of attorney to meet those needs.
Free Initial Consultation
Estate Planning Services
A patient advocate form, otherwise knows as a health care power of attorney or living will, is a document that appoints an individual (an “agent”) to make health care decisions when the grantor of the power is incapacitated. Also referred to as a “health care proxy” or “patient advocate.”
A living will is, a written document, intended to be the clear and convincing expression of a patient’s wishes in connection with certain health situations. Often, a living will, along with a DNR or POST order, expresses the patient’s intent concerning end-of-life decisions. Sometimes, the document expresses other desires, such as no autopsy or no surgeries.
Similiar to a financial power of attoreny, everyone regardless of age or wealth, would benefit from a health care power of attorney and the peace of mind of konwing that someone you trust is empowered to make health and wellness decisions for you during times of incapacity.
Being named a personal representative in a will, or a trustee of a trust is an important role. Many times the loved one's who are named have never served in the role and have little knowledge on what steps need to be taken.
Proper estate planning will greatly simply the estate administration process by reducing the amount of probateable assets and clearly identifying the expected tasks. However, probate and trust administration can be a challenging and frustrating process.
When you are a trustee or personal representative, and a loved one has passed away, the last thing on your mind may be administering the estate. It is important to allow yourself a few weeks to recover from your loss before beginning the duties as a trustee. We are here to help reduce the stress and ensure that all proper steps are taken in a timely and efficient manner.
We are fortunate to live in a state with over 60,000 lakes, miles of streams and rivers, and tens of thousands of acres of woodlands. Michigan is a beautiful state and it is no surprise that many residents own a primary residence and a family cottage to enjoy the beauty, and to get away from the stress that sometimes come along with the fast pace in Southeast, MI.
Family cottages often act as the family meeting place when children get older and like a magnet helps to keep families together. Cottage planning helps to ensure that the very place that brought families together does not act as the thing tears them apart after the parents have passed. Family cottages bring a wide range of emotions, as well as, how family money should be spent for upkeep etc., and without proper succession planning these two factors can quickly disintegrate into resentment and even lawsuits.
Trust Funding and Asset Protection Support
Funding of a trust, makes many individuals anxious and concerned about the challenge that they may face. Funding a revocable living trust in technical terms is the process of taking assets that are titled to the individual trustmakers name, or in joint names with others, and retitling them into the name of the trustmakers trust.
Before you begin putting assets into a trust (funding), we will have reviewed in great detail each asset that you own and have created an individualized written plan for how to utilize each asset to maximize your estate planning goals.
Lady Bird Deeds, also known as enhanced life estates, are a simple but effective part of estate planning in Michigan. Lady Bird Deeds primary purpose is effectively passing property at the time of passing. The tool allows the grantor (the person transferring the property) to retain full control of property during life while designating who the property will transfer to after death.
While a good estate planning attorney will build flexibility into your comprehensive estate plan during the initial setup, it is still a good idea to review at a minimum every 3 years.
While it is good to review an estate plan every three years, there are many life events including marriage, beneficiary changes, and tax law updates which may necessitate the need to review sooner.
Additional Estate Planning Services
Digital Asset Planning: Many individuals first thought when they hear “digital asset” is that this really doesn’t apply to me. In reality, most people have a pretty broad and robust digital life that does need to be integrated into their estate plan.
What you can expect when working with Matt Devitt Law, PLC to Create an Estate Plan:
We realize that Estate Planning is a complex process. Further, we understand that you have worked hard throughout your lifetime to provide for your loved ones and it is a big responsibility to be a part of making sure that your wishes for your estate are honored. For these reasons, Mr. Devitt makes keeping the client informed and a part of the process throughout, as well as, simplifying the agenda a top priority during the entire planning process.
When building your estate plan with Matt Devitt Law, PLC you can expect an orderly process with continuous feedback and preparation.
Utilizing an accommodating scheduling approach and never making you feel rushed:
At Matt Devitt Law, PLC we pride ourselves on never forgetting who we work for; you the client. We take a unique approach to our estate planning by scheduling up to three in person meetings depending on the desire of our clients. Given the importance and complexity of a
well drafted estate plan, we do not believe that our clients should be rushed through the process and have found that the more time we spend together planning, equates to a more comprehensive estate plan that best meets the wishes of our clients.
In addition, Matt is proud to offer clients a value based pricing plan instead of the traditional hourly billing model. This means that Matt is available for unlimited calls and emails throughout the planning process and we will never charge you; we want you to contact us and
talk about any issues, questions, and goals that you have throughout the entire process.
Finally, Matt understands that everyone is busy with work, family, and other commitments and it is not easy to schedule time during normal business hours to meet in office. Matt is pleased to offer clients flexible scheduling, meaning that Matt is available on evenings and weekends, as well as, available to meet with clients at their home or business upon request.
Proudly Serving Livonia and Surrounding Areas
Our Estate Planning Fees
Basic Will Based Plan
This package includes advice and recommendations from attorney Matt Devitt, and will result in the creation of custom Wills, Living Wills and Healthcare Powers of Attorney, and Financial Powers of Attorney.
$1,050 Single / $1,150 Couple
Testamentary Trust Plan
This package includes advice and recommendations from attorney Matt Devitt, and will result in the creation of custom Wills, Testamentary Trust, Living Wills and Healthcare Powers of Attorney, and Financial Powers of Attorney.
$1,800 Single / $1,950 Couple
Revocable Trust Plan
This package includes everything contained in a Basic Will Base Plan, plus a custom-designed Revocable Living Trust and (if you have minor kids) a Temporary Guardianship Agreement. The package includes all advice and drafting costs, as well as funding assistance with your primary residence and other estate assets.
$2,100 Single / $2,300 Couple
** For fixed or low income clients, Matt will do his best to put together a comprehensive estate plan that meets your needs and budget.
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