On the Brink
By Doug Chalgian on December 9, 2020
NOTE: THE LEGISLATION DISCUSSED BELOW DID NOT MAKE IT OUT OF THE SENATE AND DID NOT BECOME LAW. Michigan might be on the brink of allowing for...
Burned by the Boilerplate
By Doug Chalgian on August 2, 2020
A rainy Sunday morning. No better time to write. And since it appears to be raining pretty much everywhere in Michigan this morning, maybe a longish ramble about...
Six Month Discovery Rule Protects EP Attorney in Malpractice Action
By Doug Chalgian on February 27, 2020
As any estate planning attorney knows, representing both parties to a marriage in the estate planning process is dicey enough; and when it comes to second marriages, especially...
Phone App “document” is a Valid Will in Michigan
By Doug Chalgian on July 18, 2018
It happened and it’s published. The Michigan Court of Appeals held, in a published decision, that a paragraph posted by a decedent on his phone is a...
The Fix Is In
By Doug Chalgian on May 11, 2018
In the process of probate administration, there are certain “allowances” that are paid “off the top” before creditors and beneficiaries get what they have coming. Among those is...
Lost Wills – A Tough Row to Hoe
By Doug Chalgian on February 17, 2018
This juicy little soap opera out of Battle Creek starts where so many of such tales begin: Dad is married but his children are from a prior relationship. ...
Share and Share Alike
By Doug Chalgian on October 19, 2017
This is an unpublished will construction case. To read In Re Estate of Eugenie Dietrich, click on the name. In other posts (see for instance Who Gets the...
Lame Duck Legislature Lays Golden Egg – BIG TIME
By Doug Chalgian on December 3, 2016
DAPT – learn it and love it. Soon it will be all the talk. Domestic asset protection trusts. The news is that the Michigan legislature has approved a...
Section 2503 Grows Up
By Doug Chalgian on November 12, 2016
This just in – pretty big news - and pretty interesting – the Michigan Court of Appeals holds, in a published opinion, that a draft of a...
Who Gets the Grow Lamps?
By Doug Chalgian on September 28, 2016
Thoughts on Plain English and Terms of Art In recent years, lawyers – or at least legal academics – have pushed the concept that lawyers need to write...
- All
- Aging Issues
- Appeals Michigan Court of Appeals
- Asset Protection
- care giving
- Cases, Statutes and Court Rules
- Estate Administration
- Estate Planning
- Government Benefits
- Hospice
- Household Goods Medicaid
- Litigation and Financial Exploitation
- Ambiguity
- Attorney – Client Relationship
- Attorneys Fees
- Beneficiary Designation
- breach of fiduciary duty
- Capacity
- Capacity to Retain Counsel
- Construction of Will or Trust
- Constructive Trust
- Discovery
- End of Life
- Estoppel
- Expert Witness
- Fiduciaries
- Financial Exploitation
- forgery
- Guardianship and Protected Persons
- Joint Accounts
- laches
- Marriage
- Mediation
- Mistake
- Power of Attorneys
- probate court jurisdiction
- Sanctions
- Settlement Agreements
- Standing
- statute of frauds
- statute of limitations
- stepchild
- Summary Disposition
- Tortious Interference with Inheritance
- Trust Termination
- Unconscionable
- Undue Influence
- Wills and Trusts
- wrongful death
- Long Term Care Insurance
- mental illness
- Minor Guardianship
- Nursing Homes
- Real Property
- Special Needs Planning
- Uncategorized
- Vulnerable Adults
- writing