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® in 2016-2018, 2020 and 2023-2024.
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® in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025 and in Grand Rapids in 2025.
Recent Blog Posts
- Legal-Ease: What Happens to Assets If I Do No Estate Planning at All?
- Legal-Ease: Common Questions Surrounding Durable Powers of Attorney
- Legal-Ease: Are There Ways to Avoid Probate After Death?
- Legal-Ease: What Happens When You Are Sole Beneficiary of a Trust?
- Legal-Ease: Steps for When a Loved One Passes Away - Part Three
- Legal-Ease: Steps for When a Loved One Passes Away - Part Two
- Legal-Ease: Steps for When a Loved One Passes Away - Part One
- Legal-Ease: What are my Responsibilities as Fiduciary of an Estate?
- Parents: The Three Essential Legal Documents Your Child Should Have Before Leaving For College
- Executing Estate Planning Documents Outside of Attorney's Office
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 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
- 642(c) Pooled Income Funds: Unique Advantages to new Charitable Compensation Plans-Part One, Foster Swift Business & Tax Law News, October 9, 2018
Events
- Modifying Trusts, ICLE’s 64th Annual Probate and Estate Planning Institute, May 18, 2024
- 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
News
- Foster Swift Listed in "Best Law Firms" 2025, Best Lawyers in America, November 7, 2024
- Five Attorneys Named Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" 2025, Best Lawyers in America, August 15, 2024
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America, August 15, 2024
- Foster Swift Elects EC Officers for 2024, Ingham County Legal News, February 21, 2024
- Foster Swift Swears in Four New Associates in Lansing, November 16, 2023
- Foster Swift to Welcome Attorneys and Staff from Loomis Law Firm, EIN Newswire, November 7, 2023
- Foster Swift Listed in "Best Law Firms" 2024, Best Lawyers in America, November 2, 2023
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Tax Adjustments 2025
On October 22, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service released the annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2025. Relevant adjustments regarding estate and gift planning, the transfer tax exemption levels for 2025 are:
- Estate tax credits. Estates of decedents who die during 2025 have a basic exclusion amount of $13,990,000, increased from $13,610,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2024.
- Annual exclusion for gifts increases to $19,000 for calendar year 2025, rising from $18,000 for calendar year 2024.
More information is available here: IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2025 | Internal Revenue Service
The scheduled sunset for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act remains in place. The current lifetime transfer tax exemption levels will be reduced to ½ of their amount as of January 1, 2026, absent legislative action.
Practice Contact
- 517.371.8236