PRACTICE AREAS

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Best Lawyers compiles lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. In the U.S., Best Lawyers publishes an annual referral guide, The Best Lawyers in America, which includes 29,575 attorneys in 78 specialties, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Chambers just ranked ours as one of the country’s leading business law firms.

Awards aren’t everything in the legal profession. Still, when you have been selected as one of the country’s leading business law firms - as Dickinson Wright has - it tells you something. Especially when you consider that Chambers does such extensive research in every state to determine the best business lawyers in the country.

And when you consider that 11 of our lawyers achieved individual recognition in five featured practice areas, it just substantiates everything we have been known for since 1878 - credibility, creativity, depth of experience and intellectual firepower. Put our reputation to work for you and let us add value to your enterprise.

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Estate Planning & Administration

Expanded Description

Wealth Transfer Planning
  • Analyze options to minimize taxes and maximize transfers
    to beneficiaries

  • Wills and Revocable Living Trusts, implementing "reduce to zero" tax planning

  • Tax efficient beneficiary designations for life insurance, qualified retirement plans, IRAs, and other employee benefits (qualified and non-qualified)

  • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts

  • Gifts to minors, in trust or otherwise

  • Family limited partnerships

  • Family limited liability companies

  • Grantor retained annuity trusts

  • Grantor retained unitrusts

  • Qualified personal residence trusts

  • Generation-skipping planning for grandchildren and younger generations, including "dynasty trusts"

  • Intentionally defective grantor trusts

  • Installment sales

  • Transfer of collectibles


    • Planning for Business Ownership, Succession, and Transfer
  • Choice of entity

  • Buy-Sell agreements

  • Recapitalizations

  • Split dollar insurance arrangements

  • Stock bonus agreements

  • Stock option agreements

  • Deferred compensation arrangements

  • Employee stock ownership plans

  • Intentionally defective grantor trusts

  • Installment sales

  • Like-kind exchanges

  • Tax-free distributions


    • Personal Financial and Family Needs
  • Durable Powers of Attorney

  • Medical Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, and other medical directives

  • Designation of guardian for minor children

  • Special needs trusts for persons with disabilities

  • Incentive planning for younger generations

  • Discretionary trusts to protect beneficiaries from themselves

  • Court-supervised guardianships for legally incapacitated persons

  • Court-supervised conservatorships for persons needing assistance with financial matters

  • Counsel about the tax consequences of marriage and divorce

  • Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

  • Divorce, post judgment and custody

  • Planning for unmarried couples and alternative families

  • Provision for incontestability

  • Asset protection planning


    • Estate and Trust Administration
  • Probate and trust administration

  • Post mortem tax advice to fiduciaries and beneficiaries

  • Disclaimers

  • Planning for tax-savings elections and credits

  • Counsel to the fiduciary

  • Probate court litigation


    • Tax Compliance
  • Federal estate tax returns

  • State death tax returns

  • Gift tax returns

  • Individual income tax returns

  • Trust and estate income tax returns

  • Tax returns for family and closely-held businesses

  • Reports and returns for tax-exempt organizations


    • Charitable Planning
  • Optimizing outright gifts

  • Charitable remainder trusts

  • Charitable lead trusts

  • Pooled income funds

  • Public charities

  • Supporting organizations

  • Donor advised funds

  • Charitable gift annuities

  • Conservation easements


    • For more information, please contact:
    Henry M. Grix
    248-433-7548 or hgrix@dickinsonwright.com

    In Western Michigan, please contact:
    David A. Malson Jr.
    616-336-1030 or dmalson@dickinsonwrightcom