Dedicated to generations of sound counsel.
Brandon S. Dornbusch, PLC is an Estate Planning, Elder Law, Business, and Real Estate Law Firm in Traverse City, Michigan, offering professional legal services to Northern Michigan and beyond.
A Traverse City law firm focusing on estate planning, probate, special needs planning, real estate, business law, and elder law.
Brandon S. Dornbusch, PLC is a boutique law firm focused on only those areas of law that we excel. Today’s laws are far more voluminous and sophisticated than the past. When you face complicated and important legal issues, you need an attorney with specialized knowledge and experience.
Brandon S. Dornbusch has been planning and administering complex estates and trusts for over a decade in some of Northern Michigan’s most respected firms. His experience is concentrated on estate planning for families and individuals, planning for families with special needs, helping elders with long term care planning and qualifying for Medicaid’s long term care benefit, buying, selling, and operating family businesses, and dealing with special real estate issues. In addition, he is one of the few practitioners in Northern Michigan with the resources and expertise to counsel high net worth clients on gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxation.
Brandon enjoys crafting unique solutions to his clients’ legal issues. Every client’s situation is different, and each deserves a nuanced approach. Brandon believes that the value an attorney adds is more often in the advice and counsel an attorney offers rather than the documents drafted. Empowering clients to understand and take control of their legal affairs is Brandon’s utmost priority.
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Experienced & Trusted.
Our practice areas are focused and highly interrelated, allowing us to develop a level of expertise that can’t be matched by generalists. Our areas of law are constantly changing, we stay ahead of the curve by continually studying the latest legislation and court decisions, attending the leading symposia of practitioners, and staying highly involved with our professional associations.
Probate
In Michigan, the probate court is the venue for administering estates, deciding trust and estate disputes, creating and overseeing guardianships and conservatorships, and deciding most issues involving a person’s care and management of their assets when that person is unable to attend to those matters on their own behalf. We have extensive experience in Michigan’s probate courts, litigating on behalf of heirs, trustees, and personal representatives, and applying our pervasive knowledge of the probate code to accomplish client goals.
Elder Law
Elder law is an interdisciplinary practice area encompassing estate planning, real estate law, business succession planning, administrative law, and special needs planning. Most notably, it involves planning for long term care and qualification for Medicaid’s long term care benefit if that goal is appropriate. Most importantly, it involves maximizing an elder’s quality of life and ensuring their future well-being in light of their goals, resources and health.
Business Law
A business is often a family’s most valuable asset. Like people, the life of a business is cyclical. We are well-versed in the legal issues that arise in all parts of the business cycle including formation, operation, employee issues, sales, regulatory compliance, acquisitions, and succession. Advising a business involves careful familiarization with the industry, and knowledge of the interpersonal dynamics within each business that motivate each person involved.
Estate Planning
Estate planning commonly involves the preparation and execution of wills and trusts. Traditionally, an estate plan is your plan for what happens to your property after you pass away, however a comprehensive estate plan also provides for management of your property during life if some unforeseen circumstance like divorce, cognitive decline, or a financial windfall occurs. We have experience planning modest estates for millenials, to taxable estates with values over $12 million. An estate plan is an essential component of your plan for the future.
Real Estate
Whether you are purchasing or selling property, for a residential or commercial purpose, we can help protect your interests by representing you in the transaction. We are experienced in condominium issues, conservation easements and related tax issues, land contracts, and environmental issues. In addition, we represent clients in partition actions, quiet title actions for adverse possession and prescriptive easements, and many other situations that arise when owning land.
Special Needs Planning
Meet the Attorney Behind Brandon S. Dornbusch, PLC
Brandon S. Dornbusch
Founding Attorney
Brandon is an estate planning, elder law, business and real estate attorney in Northwest Michigan.
What Our Clients have to say:
“We thought we had a simple estate, but Brandon asked questions that made us think about things we overlooked. He took the time to get to know us and we felt comfortable sharing with him.”
-Tom C. and family
“Buying my business was one of the most stressful times of my life. Brandon handled the difficult sellers and went above and beyond to make sure all the licensing and regulatory issues were taken care of well in advance.”
-John G.
“When my mom got Alzheimer’s, I didn’t know how she was going to pay for the nursing home. I’d heard a little bit about Medicaid, but it seemed very confusing. Brandon got her qualified, figured out a way to pay for her house, and secured some of her hard earned savings for her future needs.”
-Diane F.
Latest Articles
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The Value of a Trust Director for Special Needs Trusts
When you have a loved one with a disability or other special needs, establishing a Special Needs Trust is an essential component of your estate plan. Simply understood, a Special Needs Trust is a trust that is purely discretionary, wherein the person or entity you appoint as trustee makes distributions for the benefit of your
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Attorney Advice on Lady Bird Deeds for Michigan Estate Planning
A Lady Bird Deed, recognized in Michigan, transfers property to contingent beneficiaries while retaining control for the grantor during their lifetime, bypassing probate upon their death. It provides several advantages including lower cost compared to trusts, avoidance of probate, and retaining tax exemptions. However, it may have drawbacks including potential implications for Medicaid eligibility, complications…
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How to Avoid Spoiling Your Kids With Your Estate Plan
“[The] perfect inheritance is enough money so that [children] feel they can do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.” -Warren Buffett A good estate planning attorney is part accountant, part attorney, and part therapist. You need to possess a high degree of empathy and be an expert listener. One of the