John A. McDermott, Attorney at Law

Mr. McDermott is licensed to practice law in Michigan and New York. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and New York State as well as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Elder Law Advocacy and Probate/Estate Planning Sections of the State Bar of Michigan and the Washtenaw County Bar Association. Locally Mr. McDermott is a member of the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce and provides services pro bono to the Chelsea Senior Citizens Activities Center Inc.

In 1992 Mr. McDermott entered into the private practice of law. He has concentrated his law practice in the areas of Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. Mr. McDermott is a columnist for “Origination News” which is a nationally published trade paper covering the mortgage industry.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

ELDER LAW/ELDER PLANNING: Solutions and answers for long term care planning.

♦ Consultations regarding paying for long term health care (home care and nursing home care), asset protection/asset transfers (divestment) and qualifying for Medicaid. Preparation of Medicaid Applications and Medicaid Recertification Applications. Representation at DHS case conferences and Administrative Hearings. Representation at Administrative Hearings to increase the community spouse’s income allowance.

♦ Preparation of Irrevocable Medicaid Trusts.

♦ Consultations regarding advanced directives for medical decision making and preparation of a Medical Durable Power of Attorney and/or a Do Not Resuscitate Order. Preparation of HIPAA planning documents to allow loved ones access to protected health information.

♦ Consultations regarding advanced directives for financial affairs planning. Preparation of a Durable Power of Attorney with expanded provisions for asset protection and long term care planning.

♦ Petitions for Guardianships and Conservatorships.

♦ Evaluate and review Long Term Care (LTC) insurance policies prior to purchase. My review will enable a client to decide whether a LTC policy’s proposed coverage is adequate for their future home care and/or nursing home care.

♦ Preparation of Gift Tax Returns.

WILLS/TRUSTS/ESTATE PLANNING/PROBATE OF ESTATES

♦ Preparation of simple and complex Wills, Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts.

♦ For people with significant net worth, estate planning to minimize or eliminate estate taxes through the use of credit shelter and marital deduction trusts, disclaimers, grantor retained annuity trusts,irrevocable life insurance trusts and qulaified personal residence trusts.

♦ Probate of Estates including preparation of Fiduciary Income Tax Returns and Estate Tax Returns. Post death planning to minimize Estate and Trust Income Taxes.

♦ Review existing Revocable Trusts to ensure costly estate tax planning is not mandatory at death. Many Trusts created before 2001 required two Trusts (Marital/Family) be set up upon the first spouse's death to minimize estate taxes. However today's unified credit for estate taxes allows $1.5 million dollar estates to pass estate tax free. This increases to 2 million in 2006. If a married couples net worth is currently below these amounts then the mandatory creation of two Trusts upon the first spouse's death is costly and unnecessary. This can be cured with a Trust Amendment.

♦ Consultations regarding planning when a retirement plan participant dies prior to the required beginning date. Calculation of minimum required distributions.

OFFICE FEATURES

The office is located in the historic Chelsea Clocktower building at 310 North Main Street, Suite 130, Chelsea, Michigan. The office complies with the ADA’s accessibility requirements and free parking is available. The staff is experienced and helpful ensuring prompt, economical delivery of services.

A comprehensive law library is maintained which can be supplemented with access to the University of Michigan Law Library and computer assisted information searching services.

Mr. McDermott regularly attends continuing legal education and reviews Elder law updates from three professional sources on a weekly basis.

The firm is committed to the Chelsea area.

About John A. McDermott, Attorney at Law