Estate planning for West Bloomfield families.

Lakefront property and high-value real estate

West Bloomfield Township is defined by its lakes. Cass Lake, Pine Lake, Walnut Lake, Middle Straits Lake, Upper Straits Lake — these waterfront properties represent some of the highest residential values in Oakland County, with homes on Cass Lake alone reaching well into the millions. When a significant share of a family's wealth sits in a single lakefront parcel, the estate plan needs to account for that concentration.

We draft trust structures for West Bloomfield property owners that address the specific issues waterfront real estate creates: proper titling of the property into the trust so it avoids probate without disrupting homestead or riparian rights, coordination with any LLC or land trust used for liability protection, clear successor trustee provisions so a surviving spouse or adult child can manage or sell the property without court involvement, and — where the family wants to keep the lake house in the family — provisions that govern shared ownership, maintenance obligations, and the right of any beneficiary to buy out the others.

The goal is to avoid the situation we see too often in our practice: a family home on the lake that becomes a probate asset, a court proceeding, and eventually a lawsuit between siblings who each have a different idea of what should happen to it.

Business owners and succession planning

West Bloomfield has a high concentration of business owners — medical practices, professional services firms, retail operations, and real estate investors. For these clients, the estate plan and the business plan are the same plan, and they need to work together. A trust that does not account for the operating agreement is incomplete. A buy-sell agreement that contradicts the trust is worse than having neither.

We work with West Bloomfield business owners on succession structures that address the realistic scenarios: children who are active in the business and children who are not, key employees who may need to be retained through a transition, the difference between voting and economic interests, life insurance funding for buyout obligations, and the tax consequences of each path. Where needed, we coordinate with corporate counsel and the client's CPA so the operating agreement, the trust, the will, and any buy-sell provisions are pulling in the same direction.

Blended families and second-marriage planning

West Bloomfield is a community where many families are on their second chapter. Second marriages with children from prior relationships create estate planning issues that a standard template cannot handle. The default approach — everything to the surviving spouse, then to the kids — works when there is one set of children. When there are two, it almost always produces an outcome nobody actually intended.

For West Bloomfield families navigating these dynamics, we design plans that protect the surviving spouse's financial security without disinheriting children from a prior marriage. That typically involves QTIP trusts, separate property agreements, and carefully drafted powers of appointment. The objective is not legal cleverness. It is making sure that when the plan is eventually used, the family is still intact.

Oakland County Probate Court

West Bloomfield Township falls within the jurisdiction of the Oakland County Probate Court, located at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac. We regularly appear before the Oakland County probate judges and are familiar with the court's current procedures — including the move to mandatory e-filing for most documents.

A well-drafted estate plan is designed to keep your family out of that courthouse entirely. But when probate is unavoidable — because a decedent had assets titled in their own name, or because a dispute arises — it matters that your attorney knows the local court, its expectations, and its timelines. We handle both estate administration and probate litigation in Oakland County on a regular basis.

Trusts, wills, and incapacity planning

For most West Bloomfield families with meaningful assets — and the median household income in the township exceeds $120,000, with property values well above state averages — the right foundation is a revocable living trust paired with a pour-over will, durable power of attorney, and patient advocate designation. This structure keeps the estate out of probate, preserves privacy, handles incapacity without court intervention, and gives the people you trust clear authority to act.

We also draft special needs trusts for families with a child or dependent who receives public benefits, ensuring an inheritance supplements rather than disqualifies. And our durable powers of attorney and patient advocate designations are drafted to work when presented to a bank or a hospital — which is to say, they look the way the compliance department expects them to look.

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Tax-aware wealth transfer

For deaths in 2026, the federal estate tax exclusion is $15 million per person, indexed for inflation under current law — so most West Bloomfield families will never owe federal estate tax. But for households whose net worth includes appreciated lakefront real estate, closely-held business interests, concentrated stock positions, or significant retirement accounts, meaningful planning opportunities remain around income-tax basis, retirement-account distributions, and how assets are titled and transferred.

Working with our clients' CPAs and financial advisors, we evaluate tools including:

• Lifetime gifting and the use of the federal exemption before any future reduction
• Irrevocable trusts — SLATs, ILITs, and GST-exempt structures — where they fit the family's goals
• Coordination of beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance with the overall plan
• Step-up in basis planning for jointly held and trust-held assets, including lakefront property
• Disclaimer planning for spouses and adult children

We are not your tax advisor or your investment advisor. We are the lawyer who makes the documents do what the team has decided they should do. For a deeper look at how trusts and wills compare in Michigan, see our guide: Do I need a will or a trust?

Fifteen minutes from West Bloomfield

Our office is at 24361 Greenfield Road, Suite 310, in Southfield — roughly fifteen minutes from most of West Bloomfield Township via Northwestern Highway or Orchard Lake Road. We serve clients throughout Oakland County and the State of Michigan, but the proximity to West Bloomfield means we understand the community, the property values, and the court system your family will interact with.

Most engagements begin one of two ways: a complimentary 20-minute screening call, or a $500 in-depth working session where we review existing documents, talk through realistic options, and leave you with concrete next steps. The fee is credited toward your engagement if you retain us.

To learn more about avoiding probate in Michigan, see: How to avoid probate in Michigan.

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