Probate Litigation

Based in Southeast Michigan, Estate Planning & Elder Law Services has experience handling a variety of probate litigation matters, including:

• Matters relating to the validity and construction of wills, codicils, and trust agreements, including claims of undue influence, fraud, duress, and mental capacity.
• Disputes over the ownership of real property and the reformation of deeds.
• Matters relating to the validity of "death bed" transfers.
• All matters involving a person's probate estate.
• Matters relating to a fiduciary, including a trustee or personal representative, such as the review or allowance of the fiduciary's fees, reviews of the fiduciary's performance of his or her duties, the allowance of a fiduciary's accounting, etc.
• Disputes regarding Guardianships, Conservatorships, and Mental Health Commitments.
• Matters relating to changes made to a vulnerable person's estate plan.
• Matters involving the recovery of an elderly or incapacitated person's assets that were improperly converted during lifetime.

These matters are complex because they require extensive litigation experience, together with a thorough understanding of probate law, real property law, contract law, elder law, consumer protection law, tort law, and personal injury law. We have the experience necessary to bring all civil and criminal remedies to bear upon the offending party. As a result, many of these matters are resolved and recoveries are obtained by way of settlement, without necessity of a trial.

Even though someone has been wronged, often times the cost to pursue such litigation can be a natural barrier to going forward. In certain situations, we can structure our firm's fee in a way that allows us to share in the risk of recovery, such as handling matters on a contingent basis, which allows us to get paid only if you obtain a recovery.

Here are just a few of the positive results that we have achieved for our clients:

• A $125,000 judgment against a trustee for improper management of the beneficiaries' trust assets
• Settlement for increased share of $400,000, relating to dispute between beneficiaries of an improperly prepared trust
• Arbitration award of over $250,000 in estate assets and the invalidation of a will and several real property transfers of an elderly man
• Settlement for $150,000 in assets involving a dispute between step children and a surviving spouse

Contact Our Michigan Probate Litigation Team

For almost 20 years, the probate attorneys of Estate Planning & Elder Law Services have practiced in the Probate Courts of Michigan counties including Livingston, Washtenaw, Oakland and Wayne. If you need assistance with a dispute, we invite you to contact us for a complimentary consultation by completing our online information form or calling (888) PLAN-050.