The Detroit Public Library is hosting free estate planning workshops throughout the spring and summer for Detroiters who need help ensuring their homes get passed down to the next generation.
The workshops, which kick off May 17, cover estate planning tools such as wills, deeds and trust agreements. Attendees can also connect with an attorney to draft and execute documents.
The push to educate Detroiters on estate planning is key because as many as 5,525 intergenerational properties in Detroit — worth more than $268 million — had unclear ownership, according to a 2024 analysis from the think tank Detroit Future City, which emphasized the importance of estate planning. Title problems can hurt Detroiters' financial well being, barring them from getting into assistance programs and building generational wealth through their homes.
Detroit City Council Member Scott Benson is leading the effort. He chairs the city's Wealth Generation Task Force, which identified a lack of estate planning among Detroiters that undermines Black families' ability to build wealth, according to a news release.
The Detroit Future City report cautioned that homes that haven't gone through estate planning are at risk of becoming "heirs' property." That situation arises when a person dies and leaves behind a property without formal legal documents, like a will, to prove who owns it. Researchers found thousands of such properties, worth tens of millions of dollars, and pointed to education and outreach around wills and estate planning as one solution to prevent future heirs' properties.
"The Detroit Public Library is pleased to facilitate these free informational workshops on estate planning to help people make important decisions about what will happen to their homes and other assets after they're gone. An estate plan is a gift that makes things easier for the loved ones left behind," said Margaret Bruni, director for public services at the Detroit Public Library, in a news release.
The Detroit Public Library is partnering with the city of Detroit and the Elder Law & Advocacy Center, a division of the nonprofit Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan. The programming is an extension of free estate planning and legal services that began last year with funding from the city's share of American Rescue Plan Act dollars and the Gilbert Family Foundation.
Here are where and when the workshops will take place:
- Main Library: 5201 Woodward Ave., 2 p.m., May 17
- Chase Branch: 17731 West Seven Mile Road, 6 p.m., May 20
- Jefferson Branch: 12350 E. Outer Drive, 5:30 p.m., May 21
- Conely Branch: 4600 Martin St., 6 p.m. May 29
- Jefferson Branch: 12350 E. Outer Drive, 3 p.m., June 6
- Hubbard Branch: 12929 W. McNichols Road, 6 p.m., June 9
- Lincoln Branch: 1221 E. 7 Mile Road, 2 p.m., June 10
- Wilder Branch: 7140 E. 7 Mile Road, 4 p.m., June 17
- Franklin Branch: 13651 E. McNichols Road, 6 p.m., June 24
- Chandler Park Branch: 12800 Harper Ave., 4 p.m., June 25
- Edison Branch: 18400 Joy Road, 4 p.m., July 2
- Bowen Branch: 3648 Vernor Hwy., 6 p.m., July 8
- Knapp Branch: 13330 Conant, 6 p.m., July 15
- Redford Branch: 21200 Grand River Ave., 6 p.m., July 21
- Elmwood Park Branch: 550 Chene St., 5 p.m., July. 22
- Duffield Branch: 2507 W. Grand Blvd., 11 a.m., Aug. 4
- Chaney Branch: 16101 Grand River Ave., 6 p.m., Aug. 5
- Parkman Branch: 1766 Oakman Blvd., 6 p.m., Aug. 6
- Douglass Branch: 3666 Grand River Ave., 2 p.m., Aug. 21
- Campbell Branch: 8733 W. Vernor Hwy., 5 p.m., Aug. 27
To register, go to bit.ly/DetroitEstatePlanningWorkshops.
Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X:@NushratR.
