Engaging an attorney to help protect and preserve wealth during your lifetime and provide for the appropriate distribution of assets after your death is an important and personal decision. Each person has different financial, family and philanthropic goals that need to be considered in the process.
The Trust and Estate attorneys at Foster Swift have the skill, knowledge and experience necessary to develop and implement an estate plan to achieve your objectives. Foster Swift's reputation for excellence in the area of Trusts and Estates has attracted clients to the firm for multiple generations.
Foster Swift’s trust and estate attorneys have been recognized as exemplary. One member of our trust and estates group has been honored as one of the top 100 attorneys in Michigan. Two members of our trusts and estates group have been honored as Best Lawyers for the past 20 years or more and three have been elected to the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Foster Swift has also been named a Tier 1 firm in Trust and Estates Law in Lansing by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2023.
The size and focus of the Trusts and Estates group provides clients access to practical, results-oriented counsel for virtually every kind of estate planning, trust and administration needed.
The range of services offered by Foster Swift's Trusts and Estates practice includes:
- Business Succession Planning
- Family Business Planning
- Charitable Planned Giving
- Estate Planning
- Gift Tax Planning
- Marital Agreements
- Medicaid & Elder Law Planning
- Trust & Estate Administration
- Trust & Estate Litigation
Families, family businesses, corporate and individual fiduciaries, trusts and individuals throughout Michigan rely on the members of the firm’s Trusts and Estates Group, many for several generations.
Why? Because clients value the one-on-one time and personal attention our attorneys invest in getting to know their needs and vision.
Foster Swift has been named a Tier 1 firm in Trusts & Estates Law in Lansing by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Recent Blog Posts
- Using Estate Planning to Secure Your Business' Legacy
- Parents: The Three Essential Legal Documents Your Child Should Have Before Leaving For College
- Executing Estate Planning Documents Outside of Attorney's Office
- When It Comes To Estate Planning, Coordination Is Key
- Survivor's Checklist: What to do When a Loved One Passes Away
- Estate Planning for New and Aging Parents
- A Look at Conservatorships in Wake of Britney Spears Case
- Estate Planning Isn’t Just for the Wealthy. Start Preparing Now.
- How to Have “The Talk” with Your Aging Parents
- Top Two Concerns for Your Estate
Publications & Alerts
- Changes to Income Tax May Make for Favorable Roth IRA Conversions, Foster Swift Trust & Estates Law News, February 3, 2021
- Decrease in Federal Gift and Estate Tax Exclusion Amount: No Time To Wait, Foster Swift Trust & Estates Law News, February 2, 2021
- Charitable Planning and Gifting in the Biden Era, Foster Swift Trust & Estates Law News, January 30, 2021
- MDHHS Director Updates and Expands Emergency Order, Foster Swift Legal Update E-blast, October 9, 2020
- MDHHS Revives Face Mask Requirement, Gathering Limits, and Bar Restrictions through Emergency Order, Foster Swift Coronavirus Resource Page and Eblast, October 5, 2020
- Michigan Supreme Court Upends Governor Whitmer's Authority to Issue Executive Orders, Foster Swift Eblast & Coronavirus Resource Page, October 2, 2020
Events
- Creating a Legacy & Maintaining Family Harmony with Effective Planning, Foster Swift Legal Strategies for Women Leaders, October 4, 2022
- Estate Planning Essentials for Agriculture, Farm Bureau, February 18, 2022
- Your College-Bound Child and the Law, Foster Swift 2nd Wednesday Morning Break, August 11, 2021
- Trusts 101: Estate Planning for the Disabled, November 14, 2018
- Foster Swift Attorneys Present Trusts Seminars, National Business Institute (NBI), November 14 and 15, 2018
- Trusts 101: Grantor Trusts and Ethics, National Business Institute (NBI), November 14, 2018
- ADMINISTERING THE ESTATE EFFECTIVELY and MAINTAINING AN ETHICAL BALANCE IN PROBATE PRACTICE, Probate Process from Start to Finish (NBI), October 16, 2018
News
- David & Vredenburg Named to Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America, August 17, 2023
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2024 Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America, August 17, 2023
- Four Lansing Attorneys Named Best Lawyers® 2024 "Lawyer of the Year", Best Lawyers in America, August 17, 2023
- Estate Planning Attorney Rachael Kuilema Klein Joins Foster Swift, Grand Rapids Legal News, August 15, 2023
- Foster Swift Elects Officers for 2023, Ingham County Legal News, February 15, 2023
- Foster Swift Listed in "Best Law Firms" 2023, Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms", November 3, 2022
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2023 Best Lawyers in America©, Best Lawyers in America, August 18, 2022