A Clear Plan When Life Feels Uncertain
Estate, tax, and probate guidance from a Plymouth attorney who helps you sort things out and move forward.
Estate Planning Attorney in Plymouth, MI, Work Directly With Andrew L. Bemish
You’re here because something in your life is asking for a plan. A new baby. A retirement on the horizon. A business decision that can’t wait. A letter from the IRS you didn’t expect. Whatever brought you, you deserve real answers from the person who’ll actually handle your case.
At Andrew L. Bemish, Attorney-at-Law, that person is Andy. He’s a solo estate planning, tax, and probate attorney in Plymouth, Michigan, serving individuals, families, and business owners across western Wayne and Washtenaw County. Andy has practiced law since 1991, holds a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Florida Levin School of Law, and personally handles every matter.
A More Personal Approach to Legal Planning.
From your first call to the final step, Andy leads the way. He stays involved throughout, with a friendly team helping keep everything on track.
Andy holds a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Florida, one of the few Plymouth-area attorneys credentialed to handle estate planning and complex tax matters under one roof.
The firm serves Plymouth, Canton, Northville, Novi, Livonia, Walled Lake, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti.
The initial consultation leaves you with a concrete, actionable plan, not a general overview.
Core services include estate planning, business law, trust and probate administration, and tax planning, compliance, and preparation for individuals, businesses, trusts, and estates.
Get a Clear Plan and Real Peace of Mind
Partner with Andy to protect what matters most.
You Reach Out. Andy Responds.
Most firms route you to a paralegal. Andy doesn’t work that way.
When you hire Andrew L. Bemish, Attorney-at-Law, you work directly with Andy, from your first consultation through implementation. He reviews your documents. He answers your questions. He makes the call. That direct line matters more than people expect. The decisions you make at a major milestone, a new child, an approaching retirement, a business transition, need careful, expert judgment, not a summary passed down from an associate.
Andy has practiced law since 1991. He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1987 and holds a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Florida Levin School of Law. Other Michigan attorneys turn to him when a tax question gets difficult. His approach is simple: listen closely, filter out the noise, and give you clear recommendations you can act on. His goal isn’t to keep you tangled in a legal problem. It’s to get things resolved and keep your life on track.
Credentials at a Glance
1987
Admitted to the Bar
1991
1989
Degree: Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.), University of Florida Levin School of Law
1987
J.D.: Detroit College of Law, cum laude
1982
B.A.: German Language and Literature / International Trade, Eastern Michigan University
Languages: English and German
Court Admissions: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. U.S. Tax Court. Eligible to practice before the IRS
Core Services
Andy provides tailored guidance across three primary areas, with additional practice areas ready for clients who need them.
Estate Planning
Estate planning is how you decide, in advance, who receives your assets, who makes decisions for you if you can’t, and how your wishes are carried out when you’re gone.
Whether your situation is simple or complicated, a plan built around your needs protects the people who depend on you. The birth of a child, an approaching retirement, or a change in your family are all good reasons to start a plan or update the one you have.
Andy can help you create:
- Revocable living trusts, a legal arrangement that holds your assets and avoids the public, court-supervised process known as probate.
- Last wills and testaments.
- Durable powers of attorney, which let a trusted person handle your finances if you become incapacitated.
- Health care directives and patient advocate designations.
- Lady Bird deeds, a Michigan-specific tool that transfers real property to your heirs at death without probate, while you keep full control during your lifetime.
- Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, which help couples clarify property rights, financial expectations, and planning decisions before or during marriage.
Trust and Probate Administration
When someone passes away, their estate has to be settled. If there’s a trust, that work starts with funding the trust and filing the death claim. If there’s no trust, the estate usually goes through probate, a court-supervised process that in Michigan can take months and involves court filing fees, inventory fees, and other costs.
Andy guides executors, trustees, and beneficiaries through every step, so nothing slips through the cracks.
A note on trusts: a trust only works if it’s properly funded, meaning your assets have to be formally re-titled into the trust. An unfunded trust leaves those assets exposed to probate, which defeats the point of having a trust at all. Andy makes sure the implementation is done right.
Tax Planning, Tax Compliance, and Tax Preparation
Andy holds one of the most specialized credentials in law: a Master of Laws in Taxation. He’s eligible to practice before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court, and he’s often the attorney other attorneys call when a tax question gets tough.
Tax services include:
- Tax planning: structuring transactions, estates, and business arrangements to reduce your tax exposure legally.
- Tax compliance: helping individuals, businesses, trusts, and estates meet their obligations under federal and Michigan tax law.
- Tax preparation: preparing returns for individuals, businesses, trusts, and estates.
- IRS audit representation: working through audit procedures and resolving disputes with the IRS directly.
Whether you got an audit notice, missed a payment, or want to plan ahead before a big financial event, Andy can help you sort it out.
Additional Ways We Support Clients.
Get a Clear Plan and Real Peace of Mind
Partner with Andy to protect what matters most.
From First Conversation To Final Steps.
Listen First
Andy takes the time to understand your full picture: your family, your assets, your goals, and your worries. No assumptions.
Cut Through the Complexity
He sets aside what doesn’t apply to you and focuses on what matters. You get clear, actionable recommendations, not an overwhelming list of options.
See It Through
Andy doesn’t hand your file to someone else. He works through the implementation with you, making sure the plan actually does what it’s meant to do.
Ready to Protect What Matters Most? Take the First Step Today.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. One conversation with Andy can turn a stack of worries into a clear plan.
Serving Wayne, Washtenaw, and Oakland Counties
Andy serves clients across the greater Plymouth area and nearby communities, including:
Plymouth | Canton | Northville | Novi | Livonia | Walled Lake | Ann Arbor | Ypsilanti
The office is located at 9380 N Lilley Rd, Plymouth, MI 48170.
Office Hours
Monday through Thursday: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. to noon
Weekends: by appointment only
Phone: (734) 459-7990
Email: albemishpc@yahoo.com
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
No, the initial consultation with Andrew L. Bemish, Attorney-at-Law isn't free. It is an investment in resolving your situation. You get a substantive, one-on-one meeting with Andy, where he reviews the real details of your circumstances and gives you specific recommendations you can act on right away. Plenty of firms offer "free" consultations that amount to a general overview and a brochure. Andy's consultations are working meetings, with sound legal advice and clear direction from the start.
No. A revocable living trust has to be properly funded to work, meaning your assets, real estate, bank accounts, and investment accounts, have to be formally re-titled into the trust's name. Step one is funding the trust. Step two, when a death occurs, is administering the trust so assets can be distributed according to its terms. Andy walks you through both steps so nothing gets missed.
No. If documents from an online legal service contain errors, the liability for relying on them shifts to Andy, and that's a risk he won't take with your legal matters. He recommends creating your legal documents directly with the firm so they're properly drafted, executed, and tailored to your circumstances under Michigan law.
You get something that's hard to find in this market: direct, one-on-one access to a senior attorney with multiple decades of experience and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida. Andy handles complex tax and estate matters that many solo and boutique firms refer out, and he does it all under one roof, working with you personally from start to finish.
Probate is the court-supervised process for validating and distributing a deceased person's assets. In Michigan, it involves court filing fees, letters-of-authority fees, and an inventory fee scaled to the value of the estate. It's also public, which means the contents of a probated estate become part of the public record. A properly funded revocable living trust avoids probate entirely, preserving privacy and often saving your family significant time and cost.
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 and older. It covers medical care but not most long-term nursing home costs. Medicaid is a separate government program that does cover long-term care, but eligibility depends on strict asset and income tests run by Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services. Advance Medicaid planning, ideally done years before care is needed, lets families structure assets to preserve what they've built without losing eligibility.