Overview

Born and raised in Lansing, Mark joined Foster Swift in 2015. He is a member of the firm's Trust and Estates Practice Group. Mark advises and counsels clients in the following areas of law:

• Estate Planning — Works with clients to understand their unique goals and implement planning to achieve these goals, with a specific focus on the avoidance or reduction of federal income tax and federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax.  Regularly drafts estate planning documents for clients, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and patient advocate documents.
• Estate and Trust Administration — Represents trustees in the administration of trust estates and personal representatives in the administration of probate estates, providing counsel to clients on their rights and duties under Michigan law when serving as a fiduciary. Additionally, Mark  provides income tax planning and income tax compliance services to clients serving as a fiduciary.
• Business Organization and Planning —  Assists business owners with entity formation (LLCs, corporations, partnerships, etc.), negotiates and drafts business contracts (lease agreements, buy-sell agreements, etc.), and counsels clients on a variety of business issues, including tax planning and business succession planning.
• Estate and Trust Litigation — Represents trustees, personal representatives, and beneficiaries in probate court litigation, including will and trust contests, actions brought against a trustee or personal representative, and the construction of wills and trusts.

Prior to attending law school, Mark obtained his Certified Public Accountant license and practiced public accounting in the Detroit office of KPMG LLP.

Honors & Recognitions

Affiliations

Memberships & Affiliations

Legal Affiliations:

• American Bar Association
• Ingham County Bar Association
  • Young Lawyers Section, Board Member and President
• State Bar of Michigan
  • Taxation Section 
    • Young Tax Lawyers Committee, Member
  • Business Section
  • Probate & Estate Section
    • Tax Committee, Member
    • Presented at Probate and Estate Planning Institute

Industry & Professional Associations:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
• Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA)
• American Academy of Attorney- CPAs
• Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council, Board Member and Vice President
• Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Probate and Estate Planning Advisory Board

Community Activities:

• Highfields, Inc.,
  • Board of Directors
  • Planned Giving Committee
• Sparrow Foundation
  • Board of Directors
• Capital Region Community Foundation
  • Board of Trustees

Communications

Publications

• Drafting the Michigan Trust (Chapter Two: Trustees), Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), July 15, 2020
• It's Not Always Sunny in Private Equity: Analysis and Impact of the First Circuit's Sun Capital Decision, Arizona State Law Journal, 2014

News & Events

Speaking Engagements

• Attorney’s Perspective – Probate Litigation, Guardianship, and Conservatorship, Get Your Affairs Together: The Nuts & Bolts, Davis Dunnings Bar Association, February 4, 2023
• Model Trust Accounting 101, 62nd Annual Probate and Estate Planning Institute, State Bar of Michigan, Probate and Estate Planning Section, June 16, 2022
• New Lawyers, You Have the Floor, 61st Annual Probate and Estate Planning Institute, State Bar of Michigan, Probate and Estate Planning Section, May 21, 2021
• Federal Fiduciary Income Tax Workshop, HalfMoon Education Inc.,, December 9, 2019
• Advance Directives for Health Care, Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council, September 2016

News

• Foster Swift Best Lawyers® 2023 "Ones to Watch", Best Lawyers in America, August 18, 2022
• Foster Swift Elects Four Shareholders, January 10, 2022
• Foster Swift Best Lawyers® 2022 "Ones to Watch", August 19, 2021
• Foster Swift Attorneys Named Best Lawyers® 2021 "Ones to Watch", August 20, 2020
• Collins, DeLuca Named to ICBA's Top 5 under 35 Attorneys, Lansing Regional Chamber, March 22, 2019
• Foster Swift Welcomes Four New Attorneys, December 7, 2015