Welcome to The Law Offices of Sean Patrick Cox – Experts at Elder Law in Grand Rapids MI.

Estate Planning

Life is unpredictable. As such, you must prepare for the worst and take measures to secure the future of your loved ones in case something happens to you. We will help you achieve this through efficient Estate Planning.

At The Law Offices of Sean Patrick Cox, you will find a team consisting of the best Grand Rapids Estate Planning attorneys. These attorneys will help you with the following:
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Trusts: We tailor trust planning for our clients to meet their specific needs at various times of their lives. We typically use Revocable Trusts to assist our clients in getting their first or foundational needs addressed. A trust allows us to protect our clients from three important “invaders,” that a last will and testament can’t. We can avoid probate, avoid paying more taxes and shelter tens of thousands of dollars of retirement savings as long as we get the client’s house into the name of their Revocable Trust. We make sure that the clients never have to see a probate court on death, they have more tax sheltering opportunities in a trust, and trust planning also allows us to shelter more of your assets from a nursing home. We also offer a host of Special Needs Trusts and planning strategies for our clients with disabilities.

Wills: are an important part of planning as well. Although making a will does not protect against the three invaders mentioned above, it is still a very important document. Clients designate specific personal property items like jewelry or coins for distribution to their specific children or loved ones. They also can point out specific burial or cremation instructions in the Will, as well as planning for the funeral or a wake as part of a celebration of life. Clients with minor children can designate who the guardians of their minor children should be in the will as well. When our clients complete their Trust with our office the Will is also provided but it is called a pour over Will because all the assets of the estate still pour over to the Trust and are distributed pursuant to how the Trust tells us where and to whom the assets are distributed to.

Durable Power of Attorney or financial power of attorney: Allows our clients to designate spouses, children, or other trusted loved ones to handle their financial household in the event of a short term or long-term disability. Clients can rest assured that the person they trusted to be their power attorney will have full authority to pay bills, transfer real property and manage any and all the clients financial needs when they are not mentally able to care for their own finances.

Patient Advocate (Advanced Directives or Living Wills): All of these terms mean the same thing and modern version of what is really a medical power of attorney. Clients can rest assured that whoever they designate to make their medical decisions upon their incapacity, will be able to carry out the medical directives and instructions specifically as the client wants them. We tailor our documents so that those specific objectives are met and that the client lives out their last days in dignity and free of pain.

HIPAA Authorizations: We provide clients with an unlimited amount of HIPAA authorizations so that the intended loved ones have access to their medical records and get the information they need about the client without being barred by HIPAA.

Deeds: We draft all the deeds required to protect our client’s real property. We make sure that the family home, cottages, or rental properties are dealt with by drafting and recording the appropriate deeds. We also provide Lady Bird Deeds to our clients who choose not to do a Trust when owning real property.

Change to Nursing Home Medicaid (Long -Term Care Planning)

Our firm helps our clients plan for the devastating costs of nursing home care. With the right advanced planning, none of our clients must worry about losing their life savings to a nursing home.

At our law firm, you’ll find compassionate lawyers who will put your mind at ease while navigating elder care law in Grand Rapids. Here’s how they help you:

Medicaid Eligibility: We help you qualify for Medicaid while protecting your assets from being used to finance your care. We can implement the use of an irrevocable trust or a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust that is used to start the 5 year look back or 5 year clock planning with an irrevocable trust to shelter financial assets and even real estate in some cases. We can also use gifting strategies, care contracts, special needs trusts, revocable trusts, and asset protection plans to protect clients from the overwhelming stress of long-term care planning. Clients can rest assured that we will protect as much of their income and assets as possible, while still getting approved for nursing home Medicaid. The Medicaid rules allow us more sheltering strategies for our married clients, but we are still able to save up to half of the assets of our single clients will still get them approved for Nursing Home Medicaid.

Probate and Trust Administration.

Sometimes the inheritance of an estate comes with a rather frustrating complication. You might have to deal with a very time-consuming and complex probate procedure. This can make the process of inheritance way more complicated than it has to be. Fortunately, this is a burden you don’t have to shoulder by yourself. We have attorneys here who know how to streamline the entire procedure. We are the first name that pops up when you Google – best probate estate lawyers near me. Here’s how we help:

Trust Administration: We guide you through the complex process to ensure everything is settled as per your wishes.

Trust Administration: We represent clients for Trust Administration when their loved ones pass away with an existing Trust. We ensure that the Trust maker’s wishes are followed, and we assist the Trustee in making sure that the Trust assets are protected and distributed correctly. We also make certain that the Trustee meets all of their obligations in the Trust code to close out the Trust smoothly.

Probate Litigation: We offer effective representation in resolving conflicts that may arise during the administration of your estate.

Probate Assistance: We provide people with representation in all aspects of Probate. Probate typically consists of opening a Probate Estate when someone has died with a will or intestate (without a will). We also help with Trust and Will contests. We also assist in the filing of Guardianships and Conservatorships for minors and adults, as well as developmentally disabled adults. Some of our clients will object to the appointment of a guardian or conservator and we can take that issue to a hearing to argue that the client or another loved one may be a better guardian for the person we are trying to protect.

Guardianship, Conservatorship and Special Needs Trust matters.

Guardianship and/or Conservatorship: We represent clients in Guardianship and Conservatorship cases. We assist family members who have taken custody of a child or children in cases where the children have struggling parents who may have trouble with the legal system or perhaps a drug or alcohol problem. We work to protect the rights of those grandparents, or aunts, uncles, or family friends who have agreed to care for and raise the children, sometimes on a temporary basis. The Guardian can apply for adoption after being guardians for 2 years. We also represent adults with dementia or other cognitive or physical challenges who may need a guardian and or conservator.

Special Needs Planning: We represent clients with special needs planning. We design Special Needs Trusts to ensure that our disabled clients can receive inheritances or lawsuit settlements into the Trust and not have to worry about losing their social security benefits or Medicaid health insurance.

Call our office or fill out the contact form to get in touch with our elder law attorneys at The Law Offices of Sean Patrick Cox in Grand Rapids, Michigan to know more.