Experience and knowledge make all the difference in crafting an estate plan.
Estate planning is commonly thought of as the plan for how your assets will transfer to your heirs after you pass away. That preconception is deceptively simple, and “I need a simple estate plan” is a common refrain we hear from prospective clients. Sometimes they’re right, but most often, once a client sits down with us during a free consultation we unearth issues and potential hazards of great importance to the client. Estate plans are usually composed of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, deeds, and beneficiary designations. Depending upon what you own, who you want to inherit, your tolerance for risk, your aversion to taxation, different vehicles will be suitable for your situation. After drafting several hundred estate plans, we can say that no client’s estate is the same as another.
Estate planning has been our focus since the beginning. Since 2011, our attorneys have drafted several hundred estate plans for clients with net worth ranging from $100k-$100 million. We believe that the greatest value an attorney can provide is their counsel, which is only valuable if the advice is gained through experience and continual study of the evolving law and practice of estate planning. Brandon S. Dornbusch is an active member of the Estate Planning and Probate Section of the State Bar of Michigan where he served on a committee for advancing community property trust legislation in the Michigan legislature. He is also a member of the Estate Planning Council of the Grand Traverse Area and holds a Certificate in Probate and Estate Planning from the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Brandon speaks on estate planning topics to non-profit and advocacy groups, attorneys, financial planners, and the public.
Estate planning is our “bread and butter”, not something we do to pay overhead while waiting for settlement checks or big litigation files. Our office’s most significant expense is our library of estate planning research materials and the specialized software for estate plan drafting, estate and gift tax planning, and trust administration. We regularly attend the most respected symposia of estate planning practitioners to stay on the cutting-edge of our craft. We may not have the fanciest office in town, but we don’t cut corners when it comes to making sure you get the best plan for your family.
Begin your estate plan today
Tell us a little about you and we will send you our estate planning worksheet and schedule a consultation.
Estate planning is more that just a one-off exercise. You are creating “living documents” that should change as your circumstances change. No two estate plans are alike, just as no two families are alike. A prepackaged form, or an attorney who relies on forms, is unlikely to serve the client well.
I begin the estate planning process with an initial meeting to see whether I can properly serve the client and to determine whether the client is comfortable with me. You will be sharing the most important details about your life, finances, and family, so it’s very important that the attorney-client relationship be friendly, non-judgmental. and open, and that I establish trust in the soundness of my advice.
Brandon S. Dornbusch – Founding Partner
Estate Planning Focus Area
In addition to many other estate planning vehicles and methods that might suit your situation, we have extensive experience in the following estate planning techniques:
Wills
Revocable Living Trusts
Powers of Attorney
Lady Bird Deeds
Powers of Attorney
Special Needs Trusts
Pet Trusts
Dynasty Trusts
Planning for Cottages and other Recreational Property
QTIP Trusts and Lifetime QTIP trusts, Bypass Trusts, and Marital Deduction Planning
QDOT Trusts for Non-US Domiciliary and Non-Citizen Spouses
International Estate Planning
Sophisticated Irrevocable Trusts for Gift and Estate Tax Planning: SLAT’s, QPRT’s, GRAT’s, IDGT’s, SCIN’s, CRAT’s and CRUT’s
Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (LLC’s)
Conservation Easements
Charitable Planning
Trust Modification, Termination, and Decanting