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Probate & Trusts
Compassionate, practical guidance through probate, trust administration, litigation, and fiduciary matters.
Services
Estate & Risk approaches each matter with a risk-management mindset: understand the objective, identify the pressure points, and build a practical path forward.
Helping a personal representative move an estate from appointment to closing.
Helping trustees understand and carry out the responsibilities of administering a trust.
Representation when an estate proceeding involves a contested issue.
Guidance when disagreements arise over trust administration or trustee conduct.
When responsibility becomes real
Probate and trust matters can involve deadlines, fiduciary duties, family dynamics, asset questions and court procedure. The work should be organized around the next required decision.
The first question is often whether the matter can move through an orderly administration or whether a contested issue needs to be addressed before the estate or trust can move forward.
Probate and court matters are billed at the firm's standard rate of $350 per hour unless a flat fee can be set. See court-matter fees.
Guardianship & conservatorship
When an adult can no longer safely manage important personal or financial matters, Michigan probate court proceedings may be necessary. Estate & Risk assists families and interested persons with guardianship and conservatorship matters, including contested proceedings when disputes arise.
A guardianship concerns the care and supervision of an incapacitated individual. Michigan law requires the court to determine that guardianship is necessary and limits a guardian's powers to the demonstrated need.
A conservatorship focuses on management and protection of a person's property and financial affairs when court protection is necessary.
Disputes can arise over whether a guardian or conservator is needed, who should serve, the scope of authority, or how a fiduciary is carrying out court-appointed responsibilities.
Estate planning tools such as durable powers of attorney and patient advocate designations may provide important alternatives or reduce the authority a court-appointed fiduciary needs to exercise.
Elder law & financial exploitation
Aging brings legal questions that reach beyond a will: who can step in, how decisions are made, and what to do when someone takes advantage of a parent or relative.
Durable powers of attorney, patient advocate designations and trusts that name who can act, and when, if a person can no longer manage alone.
Reviewing what an agent has done with an older adult's money or property, and the legal options when authority has been abused.
Counsel for families who suspect that a relative, caregiver, new acquaintance or scammer is taking an older adult's money, home or other assets, including protective court proceedings where appropriate.
Court protection when planning documents are missing, inadequate or being ignored, and representation when a proposed arrangement is contested.
Paying for nursing home or in-home care raises questions about Medicaid eligibility, the home, a spouse who remains in the community, and estate recovery. The firm can help families understand the rules and plan ahead as part of a broader estate plan.
Joseph is a 2026 recipient of ICLE's Elder Law Certificate and spent more than 25 years in law enforcement and investigations before practicing law, which informs how the firm gathers facts and documents in these matters. If you believe an adult is being abused, neglected or exploited, you can also report it to Michigan Adult Protective Services. In an emergency, call 911.
Common questions
Estate & Risk helps a personal representative move an estate from appointment to closing: opening the estate and identifying interested persons, handling court notices, inventories and applicable deadlines, reviewing creditor claims and estate obligations, and completing the accounting, distributions and closing.
A guardianship concerns the care and supervision of an incapacitated individual. A conservatorship focuses on management and protection of a person's property and financial affairs when court protection is necessary.
Estate planning tools such as durable powers of attorney and patient advocate designations may provide important alternatives or reduce the authority a court-appointed fiduciary needs to exercise.
Estate & Risk uses transparent hourly pricing of $350 per hour for matters that cannot responsibly be reduced to a fixed fee. When a matter is sufficiently predictable for a flat-fee or limited-scope arrangement, that option may be identified before engagement. Court costs, filing fees and other third-party expenses are separate unless the written engagement agreement states otherwise.
Ready to talk?
The goal is not just to complete a document or respond to today's issue. It is to understand what the decision changes tomorrow, for your family, career, business or legacy.
3310 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 265, Troy, MI 48084 · Serving Troy, Oakland County and clients across Michigan