Probate Law

Ensure your assets are accounted for with our probate services. The professionals with DFWN, PLC are here to support you during this difficult time. Our firm provides the finest legal services for individuals needing to handle contested decedent estate services.

Probate Text In Mini Notepad - Grosse Pointe Farms, MI - Dodson Fowler Williams & Nesi

What is probate?

Probate is the process of administering a decedent's estate to make sure that all assets are accounted for and all debts are paid. Deaths are often sudden and unexpected, so let the probate attorneys at DFWN, PLC assist you in sorting everything out. We understand how challenging and complex these times can be. Our experienced attorneys are ready and able to handle these cases, dealing with them promptly, professionally, and with your outcome at the forefront of our practice.

Wills

It’s important to prepare your will as soon as you can, to ensure your assets, child custody, and estate are cared for. Assigning an executor to carry out your requests is typical. We’ll help you best determine who to choose as your executor, and help guide you through the process. A will is generally accompanied by other documents to make an estate plan. Those include a patient advocate designation, commonly referred to as a "living will." This will make sure your wishes about whether to remain on life support or not are made in writing, so there are no disputes. Other documents are powers of attorney that become effective upon a determination of incapacitation. In other words, if you can't make decisions for yourself anymore, and two doctors support such a finding based upon medical evidence, another designated person can make those decisions. This helps ensure bills and medical decisions can continue to be handled for you while you remain alive, even if you cannot. Finally, if you have children, a power of limited guardianship is often considered, to designate who should have guardianship over your children if a spouse and you both predecease those children, and they are minors. None of these are things people like to talk about, but making these decisions is important, and a delay can lead to difficult choices and consequences for you and your family. And absolutely don't trust these decisions to pre-printed forms you can find on a website. You and your family aren't cookie-cutter and interchangeable. Why would you treat your most important decisions for you and them as if they were? Talk to a real attorney, who is actually licensed to practice in Michigan, and get documents that are tailored to your needs and requests that are guaranteed to comply with the requirements of Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC). You get what you pay for.

Close Up Of A Will Document - Grosse Pointe Farms, MI - Dodson Fowler Williams & Nesi

Family Estate Planning - Grosse Pointe Farms, MI - Dodson Fowler Williams & Nesi

Trusts

To protect your family financially, it’s worth considering a trust. A trust is a method of transferring your estate to your beneficiaries. A trust is managed by a designated trustee. Creating a trust can help keep your trustees out of Probate Court upon your death, and can eliminate contests over your desires as to how your assets should be passed to your heirs when you pass. Trusts are more detailed that Wills and are especially important to consider if your estate will pass real property on to one or more designated heir(s).

Why Choose Us?

The attorneys with Dodson, Fowler, Williams, and Nesi bring over two decades of experience to the table, for every client. If you recently lost a loved one and need urgent probate law support, contact out firm today.