State Bar sections to explore LGBTQ+ family issues April 5
The State Bar of Michigan Family Law Section and LGBTQA Section will present a “Roundtable Discussion on LGBTQ+ Family Creation, Dissolution, and Parentage Issues” online Wednesday, April 5, from 12:30 to 01:30 p.m.
The webinar’s panel will navigate through the current legal challenges and complexities for LGBTQ+ families and explore what is on the horizon on marriage rights, parental rights, parental orders, and confirmatory second parent and step parent adoptions.
Speaking at the webinar will be Jay Kaplan, staff attorney, ACLU of Michigan; Corinne Rockoff, associate, Maddin, Hauser, Roth, & Heller PC; Angie Martell, partner, Iglesia Martell Law Firm PLLC; and moderator Kerene Moore, judicial attorney and referee, Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
To register for the webinar, email sbmlgbtq@gmail.com or attorneywilling @gmail.com.
For additional information, visit https://connect.michbar.org/lgbtqa/home.
Nessel intervenes to stop attorney from charging excessive fees
The Department of Attorney General recently intervened in the Estate of Loyal Ray. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that the department successfully obtained orders reducing the personal representative fee charged by attorney William Benz, 74, Adrian, from $200 an hour to $75 an hour, requiring him to pay approximately $23,800 back to the estate’s beneficiaries.
A personal representative is a person that administers the estate of a deceased individual – martials the assets of the estate, prepares an inventory and accounts, provides notice to creditors, distributes gifts, appears in court, and takes other actions necessary to pay the estate’s creditors and distribute its assets to the decedent’s family or devisees. In administering the estate, they are entitled to reasonable compensation for their services.
While a personal representative acting reasonably for the benefit of the estate may hire an attorney to advise or assist in the administration of the estate, or to provide necessary legal services, it is often unnecessary and unreasonable for an experienced personal representative to do so. By charging an unreasonable hourly rate for personal representative services, Benz was able to syphon thousands of dollars off the estate to the detriment of the beneficiaries including Planned Parenthood of Michigan, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the American Red Cross, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
For a detailed explanation of fiduciary and attorney compensation, see the Department of Attorney General Charitable Trust Compensation Resource at www.michigan.gov/ag/about/charitable-trust.
The Department of Attorney General Charitable Trust Section, P.O. Box 30214, Lansing, Michigan 48909, 517-335-7571, represents the interests of the people of the State of Michigan in the administration, operation, and disposition of charitable assets and may represent those interests in court.
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