Cooley Law School’s Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic, an estate planning clinic, is partnering with the Ingham County Treasurer, Ingham County Probate Court, and Ingham County Register of Deeds to host an estate planning seminars throughout the county. The seminars began in August and will continue throughout the rest of 2023.
The free seminars provide opportunities for attendees to learn and discuss how to navigate probate court, plan for future needs, and protect their property for their family in the future.
Cooley student attorneys, who are accepted to work in the Sixty Plus clinic, interview, counsel, represent, and draft estate planning documents for clients age 60 and older. They are closely supervised by the clinic faculty and proceed on behalf of clients drafting a variety of estate planning documents, including wills, power of attorney for health care, durable power of attorney for finances, and enhanced life estate deeds.
During a media briefing on October 5, Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox said that often individuals build wealth through homeownership, which leads to intergenerational wealth. He noted that often properties end up in foreclosure because homeowners have not put an estate plan in place.
“None of us think we're going to die and we all think we'll put our estate planning needs off until a later date,” said Fox. “It is something that's a critical problem in a lot of foreclosures and this is why our office, in cooperation with the probate court, the registered deeds office, and Cooley’s Elderlaw Clinic, has put together a program that is aimed at getting people to take care of these sorts of issues.”
Dustin Foster, Director of Cooley’s Sixty Plus Inc., Elderlaw Clinic, notes that the law school’s clinic focuses on succession planning. He says that it is important for individuals to create a plan while they are capable of doing.
“An estate plan includes designating someone to have legal authority to deal with your real property to ensure it's going to be handled in the way you want,” said Foster. These plans include instructions or how to pass your property either through the probate process or outside of that probate process to the intended individuals.”
Expressing pride in the county-wide effort of raising awareness for the need of educating the public on estate planning, Chief Probate Judge Shauna Dunnings said that it is important to create a program where our community’s senior citizens can receive legal advice without jumping through hoops.
“These events are an opportunity for Ingham County agencies to break down the silos, come together collaboratively and to demystify the process of ensuring that your real estate and property your most valuable asset transfers the way you like to have it transfer upon your passing or incapacitation.”
With estate planning documents being registered with the county’s Register of Deeds office, often probate court issues can be avoided.
“We at the Register of Deeds office, we want to encourage folks to register your documents, so that the transition of secession is much smoother than what it currently is right now and you don’t have to go through the probate process,” said Derrick Quinney, Ingham County Register of Deeds, “We look forward to working with the residents of Ingham County to take advantage of this opportunities being presented during the estate planning seminars.”
Photo (left to right) is Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox, Sixty Plus Inc. Director Professor Dustin Foster, Honorable Shauna Dunnings, and Ingham County Register of Deeds Derrick Quinney