Biddinger, Bitzer & Estelle, PLLC

Michigan Estate Planning Attorneys

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Posts by category

  • Category: Elder Law
    • What is a Springing Power of Attorney?
    • What are the Consequences of Nursing Home Abuse?
    • Are There Tax Breaks for Saving for Retirement?
    • How Should I Save for Retirement?
    • Five Ways to Prepare for a Serious Health Emergency
    • What is Aid & Attendance and How Does it Help Veterans?
    • Drug Resistant Bacteria Create Nursing Home UTI Risks
    • Why Talk with Elder Law Attorneys After a Terminal Illness Diagnosis?
    • 4 Components of an Incapacity Plan
    • More Americans with Alzheimer’s Are Dying at Home
    • Had a Baby? Schedule a Meeting with an Elder Law Attorney
    • How a Northern Michigan Elder Law Attorney Helps Young People
    • How a Northern Michigan Power of Attorney Lawyer Helps You Choose an Agent
    • 5 Ways an Elder Law Attorney Can Help With Your Finances
    • What Steps Should Be Part of Your Asset Protection Plan?
    • Step by Step Guide to Creating Durable Powers of Attorney
    • 5 Surprising Things an Elder law Lawyer Can Help With
    • The Right Way to Deal with Rising Nursing Home Costs
    • Elder Law, Your VA Benefits, And You
    • What Does an Elder Law Attorney Do?
    • Get the Elder Law Answers You Need with a Michigan Medicaid Attorney
    • Why We All Need Healthcare Directives
    • Six Reasons You Need a Michigan Medicaid Attorney
    • Don’t Take Chances with Your Medicaid Eligibility in Michigan
    • Five Signs That You Need a Michigan Elder Law Attorney
  • Category: Estate Planning
    • How Your Family Situation Affects Your Plans for Your Legacy
    • Special Estate Planning Issues When You Have a Large Estate
    • Five Questions to Help You Determine if Your Assets are at Risk
    • Why Do People Procrastinate About Estate Planning?
    • Are There Special Estate Tax Rules for Family Farms?
    • How to Make a Plan to Protect Your Pets
    • How to Pick a Legal Guardian for Your Kids
    • Key Facts About Aid & Attendance
    • Do You Need Life Insurance?
    • Sleeping Pill Concerns for Senior Citizens
    • Why Durable Powers of Attorney are Vital for Incapacity Planning
    • 5 Life Changes That Should Send You to an Estate Plannning Lawyer
    • Three Key Reasons to Talk with Caro Estate Planning Lawyers
    • 5 Reasons to Create a Durable Power of Attorney
    • Why Is It Important to Work with an Estate Planning Lawyer to Protect a Family Farm?
    • Do Young People Really Need Estate Planning Lawyers?
    • Pros and Cons of Durable Power of Attorney vs. Guardianship
    • Does a Living Trust Protect You In Case of Incapacity?
    • How Can I Pass A Business Down to My Kids?
    • How Does Estate Tax Affect Farms?
    • What if You Choose the Wrong Kind of Trust?
    • How Often Should You Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney?
    • Estate Planning Tips for Single Parents
    • Why Business Owners Should Talk to a Michigan Trust Attorney
    • 5 Reasons to Create a Trust
    • 5 Times A Will Isn’t Enough for Your Estate Plan
    • Benefits Offered by a Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer
    • Michigan has Abolished Dower Rights Effective April 1, 2017.
    • Beginner’s Guide: What is a Trust?
    • Key Tips to Navigate Michigan Probate Court Proceedings
    • 5 Facts About Medicaid Eligibility in Michigan
    • Incapacity, Guardianship, and You
    • Secure the Veteran’s Benefits You Need
    • Safeguard Your Wealth with an Asset Protection Lawyer
    • Five Facts You Need to Know about the Michigan Power of Attorney
    • Will Revocable Trusts Offer the Flexibility You Need?
    • Should You Plan to Avoid Conservatorship?
    • The Power of Attorney: Your Shield Against an Uncertain Future
    • Could a Family Limited Partnership Preserve Your Family’s Assets?
    • Use Pet Planning to Ensure Your Pets’ Wellbeing When You’re Gone
    • How Joint Tenancy Can Benefit Your Estate Planning
    • Essential Estate Planning Facts about Setting Up a Trust
    • Why Buy-Sell Agreements Are Essential for Your Business and Estate Plan
    • Facts About the Testamentary Trust You Need to Know
    • Get the facts about the Inheritance Tax in Michigan
    • Four Key Family Trust Benefits for Your Estate Planning
    • The Pros and Cons of the DIY Will
    • Why Asset Protection is Critical for Your Estate Plan Needs
    • Why You Should Rely on Your Michigan Estate Planning Attorney
    • Will Trump’s Estate Tax Proposal Complicate Planning?
    • Wills Vs Trusts: The Never-Ending Debate
    • Learn How the Revocable Living Trust Can Benefit Your Estate Planning Goals
    • Enjoy the Advantages Revocable Trusts Can Provide
    • Don’t Believe These Common Last Will and Testament Myths
    • A Michigan Trusts Lawyer Can Help You Protect Your Family
    • Does Your Estate Plan Need to Include Business Planning Too?
    • You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Benefit from Irrevocable Trusts
    • Don’t Neglect Incapacity Planning in Your Estate Planning Strategy
    • Securing Your Assets with Medicaid Planning
    • Asset Protection Strategies that Can Protect Your Estate
    • Why You Shouldn’t Be Without a Michigan Estate Planning Attorney
  • Category: General
    • Is the Durable Power of Attorney Important for Your Estate Planning Efforts?
    • Understanding Michigan’s Probate Process
  • Category: Medicaid
    • Why Asset Protection is More Important if You’re Getting Older
    • What Caregivers Need to Know About Medicaid
    • Costs of Different Long-Term Care Options
    • Does Medicaid Pay for Home Healthcare?
    • What is Custodial Care and Why Does it Matter?
    • How Can You Find Out About Nursing Home Quality?
    • How Many People and Families Rely on Medicaid?
    • How Medicaid Helps Protect Your Assets
    • Holding Michigan Nursing Homes Accountable for Abuse and Neglect
    • How Much Do Seniors Need to Save for Medical Care During Retirement?
    • How to Protect Access to Medicaid for Your Disabled Child
    • 5 Reasons Medicaid Planning is Important
    • Poll: No Obamacare Repeal Until Replacement Found
    • How Will the ACA’s Fate Impact Michigan Medicaid?
    • Medicaid Study Reveals Increase in Michigan Insured
    • As Medicaid Payment Shortfalls Grow, Expansion Yields Little Benefit for Hospitals
  • Category: Probate
    • Why It’s Important for Your Family to Know Where Your Assets Are
    • 5 Ways a Probate Attorney Helps Executors
    • 5 Reasons a Will Could be Contested
    • What Does it Mean to Contest a Will?
    • 3 People Who Should Have a Lawyer In Michigan Probate Court
    • 3 People Who Should Be Represented by a Northern Michigan Probate Lawyer
    • What is the Role of an Executor in Probate Court?
    • Reduce Executor Stress with Professional Probate Services
    • Avoiding Probate: It’s Not as Difficult as You Might Think
    • Why Executors Need a Probate Lawyer
    • Can Your Estate Avoid Michigan Probate Court?
    • Reduce Your Stress with Professional Probate Services
    • Do I Need Probate? How to Know When Simple Probate Is All You Need
    • How You Can Avoid the Michigan Probate Process
  • Category: Trust Administration
    • What Happens if You’re the Beneficiary of a Trust?
    • How to Recognize When a Living Trust Might Be Right for You
    • Seven Things You Need to Know About Trust Administration
  • Category: Uncategorized
    • Pros and Cons of Guardianship
    • A Living Trust is Key if You’re the Family Breadwinner
    • When Do Parents Need Help With Special Needs Planning?
    • Dispel Medicaid Myths with a Michigan Medicaid Attorney
    • Six Tips for Inheritance Planning in Michigan
    • How Much Help Do You Need with Your Business Plan?
  • Category: Wills
    • Contesting a Will: When Last Wishes Might Not Stand
    • Intestate Laws and the Blended Family
    • Don’t Wait Too Long to Create Your Will

Staff Profiles

  • MICHELLE BIDDINGER
  • JASON BITZER
  • RACHEL M. ESTELLE
  • GREG SCHROT
  • VICKI FRITZ
  • BARBARA DOERR
  • ELAINE OSENTOSKI
  • LINDA BITZER
  • DEB MCCLOREY
  • SARA BOUCK
  • HEATHER SEVERANCE
  • MARNEY REEHL
  • DEBRA BITZER
  • CHERYL SKINNER
  • AMY HARTEL

FAQ

  • Is a Living Trust a good idea for a LGBT person?
  • Do unmarried couples have to plan more than married couples do?
  • Are my estate planning documents a matter of public record?
  • Is there a tax if I give some of my property to my spouse or partner?
  • Will my spouse or partner be appointed guardian of my minor child?
  • Can I make decisions about my spouse or partner’s remains?
  • How can I be sure that I will be allowed to visit my spouse or partner in the hospital or assisted living facility?
  • Can my spouse or partner make medical decisions for me if I’m sick?
  • Can my spouse or partner handle my financial affairs if I am incapacitated?
  • I’m married, why do I need to plan?
  • Does marriage, domestic partnership or civil union provide all the benefits of marriage?
  • Is a Living Trust a good idea for a LGBT person?
  • Do unmarried couples have to plan more than married couples do?
  • Are my estate planning documents a matter of public record?
  • Is there a tax if I give some of my property to my spouse or partner?
  • Will my spouse or partner be appointed guardian of my minor child?
  • Can I make decisions about my spouse or partner’s remains?
  • How can I be sure that I will be allowed to visit my spouse or partner in the hospital or assisted living facility?
  • Can my spouse or partner make medical decisions for me if I’m sick?
  • Can my spouse or partner handle my financial affairs if I am incapacitated?
  • I am in an unmarried relationship, do I need to plan?
  • I am married, why do I need to plan?
  • Does same-sex marriage, domestic partnership, or civil union provide all the benefits of heterosexual marriage?
  • How will my income tax return get filed?
  • What happens if my son needs his tuition paid while I’m disabled?
  • What happens if my investments need to be changed quickly due to market conditions or to reflect new circumstances and risk tolerance?
  • How will my bills get paid?
  • If I have no chance of recovery, will I be kept on life support?
  • Who will decide medical treatment issues?
  • Who will decide where I live?
  • What do I do about Social Security?
  • How do I transfer the car(s) into my name?
  • Can I pick and choose what assets go into the “B” trust?
  • I thought that a living trust avoids probate and attorney fees. Why do I have to pay more fees?
  • Does the Trust Administration process take a long time?
  • What is Probate Court?
  • Does the Probate process take a long time?
  • What is Probate?
  • What steps can I take to preserve my legacy?
  • Can any attorney create a Family Wealth Trust?
  • Is a Family Wealth Trust only for the rich?
  • If I have a “bare bones” living trust should I go back to the attorney who drafted the trust?
  • How do I know if I have a “bare bones” living trust?
  • Is the Family Wealth Trust some kind of loophole the government will eventually close down?
  • Can I transfer real estate into a Family Wealth Trust?
  • Will a Family Wealth Trust avoid income taxes?
  • If I set up a Family Wealth Trust, can I be my own trustee?
  • Why should I have a Family Wealth Trust?
  • The possibility of a disabling injury or illness scares me. What would happen if I were mentally disabled and had no estate plan or just a Will?
  • How does a Family Wealth Trust differ from a Revocable Living Trust?
  • What’s the difference between having a Will and a Living Trust?
  • What is a Family Wealth Trust?
  • If I don’t create an estate plan, won’t the government provide one for me?
  • What is the difference between “traditional” estate planning and Legacy Wealth Planning?
  • Why do I need an estate plan?
  • What is “traditional” estate planning?
  • What is Legacy Wealth Planning?
  • Must an estate tax return be filed if portability will be utilized?
  • What is portability?
  • What is a state estate or inheritance tax?
  • What is the federal estate tax?
  • Can any attorney create a Living Trust?
  • Isn’t a Living Trust only for the rich?
  • Is the Living Trust some kind of loophole the government will eventually close down?
  • Can I transfer real estate into a Living Trust?
  • Will a Living Trust avoid income taxes?
  • If I set up a Living Trust, can I be my own trustee?
  • The possibility of a disabling injury or illness scares me. What would happen if I were mentally disabled and had no estate plan or just a Will?
  • What’s the difference between having a Will and a Living Trust?
  • If I don’t create an estate plan, won’t the government provide one for me?
  • Why do I need an estate plan?

Category

  • Estate Planning FAQ’s
  • Families Without an Estate Plan
  • Legacy Wealth Planning FAQ’s
  • LGBT
  • LGBT Estate Planning
  • Trust Administration & Probate

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Cass City Address

CASS CITY
4415 S. Seeger St.
Cass City, MI 48726
Phone: (989) 872-5601
Fax: (866) 450-0950

Bad Axe Address

BAD AXE
970 N. Van Dyke Rd., Suite A
Bad Axe, MI 48413
Phone: (989) 872-5601
Fax: (866) 450-0950

Deckerville Address

DECKERVILLE
2046 Black River St., Suite 1
Deckerville, MI 48427
Phone: (989) 872-5601
Fax: (866) 450-0950

Reese Address

REESE
12729 Washington Rd. Suite 3
Reese, MI 48757
Phone: (989) 872-5601
Fax: (866) 450-0950

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Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

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