Growing up with a passion for
becoming a lawyer, Arab-American
attorney, Hameed Dakroub, pursued his legal
education with a vision to help
people and to give back
to his community. He was inspired
by his grandfather who
advised him to become a lawyer
which kept him motivated
to reach his goal. Hameed is a hardworking individual
who faced many challenges, but
never gave up, making
his dream a reality. We had a
wonderful press meeting
with him.
Why did you become lawyer?
What drew you to this filed?
Could you please tell us your
story?
My grandfather, the late Haj Hameed Dakroub, was a senator
in Lebanon for over twenty years.
Before he became senator, he went to law school and was on scholarship but the scholarship funds ran out before his final semester and the sponsors of the scholarship were not able to provide him with the finances he needed to finish. He was not able to afford paying the final tuition balance at the time, so he had to forego his graduation. When I was young, he told me that it was his dream that I become a lawyer and finish the path that he started. When I got older, I realized that law was what I wanted to do and his story was always in the back of my mind as motivation and inspiration.
He is one of the main reasons I became a lawyer
Could you please tell us about the
legal services that your
law firm, Dakroub Group, offers?
Our firm, Dakroub Group, specializes in estate planning, probate and business transactions.
Our primary focus is on estate planning and probate, although we have serviced many business clienteles. For the estate planning aspect of our practice, we offer services such as: Wills, Trusts, different types of powers of attorney, specialized deeds and more. For the probate aspect of our practice, we offer services such as representation with guardianship, conservatorship, and decedent estate cases where people are either not able to make their own decisions because of incapacity issues or when individuals pass away with and without a Will, and how to advise family members through the probate court system to help administer their estate and receive their inheritance.
Why is it important to establish
an estate plan and could you
please tell us more about estate
planning?
Many people are not aware of the
consequences of what happens
if you do not have an estate plan.
If you do not have estate planning
documents, your family members
would usually have to go through the probate court system which can be
time-consuming, stressful and costly in order to inherit your assets. The court system (under Michigan law) will tell you who gets what of your assets and how much the individuals receive regardless of how you feel about that individual. The courts will also appoint an individual to administer your estate and distribute assets to your family members after your passing. Additionally, the courts will also appoint an individual or even a professional company to watch over your minor or incapacitated children Also, people are not aware
that if they do not have durable health care or financial powers of attorney and something happens to them, their family members will likely have to go through the probate court system to be appointed guardian and/or conservator in order
to make health care and financial decisions for that person.
A reason behind this is that hospitals, medical facilities, banking institutions and more do not want the liability so they would prefer seeing documents from the courts giving someone authority to make that person’s decision. Spouses, adult children and other family members do not have the automatic right to make your decisions for you. Properly drafted durable powers of attorney can help avoid your family having to go through probate court.
Furthermore, many people like to
avoid probate court by putting their
family members on the assets they
own. The issue then becomes what
if a family member gets sued? The
entire asset might be sold to satisfy
the debt. People do not realize that if you own property with someone else, your property may be lost due to the other owner’s creditors. Proper estate planning can help you avoid losing your assets and having your family go through probate court.
Which is the better estate planning
document a will or trust?
A Trust is definitely a much better
estate planning vehicle than a Will.
You can have creditor protection ina Trust, you can provide flexibility in a Trust, you can have your family avoid probate court with a Trust.
AlthoughWills are cheaper than
Trusts initially, they do not provide
for protection, flexibility, and they do not prevent your family from going through probate court which will cost your family members from your estate court filing fees, court inventory fees (where the court will charge your estate a percentage of the assets you own) and attorney fees upon your passing which will be taken out of the beneficiaries’ inheritance. A Trustbased estate
plan is usually the better route than a Will-based estate plan and it is not as expensive as people may think.
What benefits can a special needs
trust provide if the beneficiary is
receiving government benefits?
A Special Needs Trust acts like a supplement to government benefits.
Government benefits do not provide
for all of the needs of an individual
needing special needs. A Special
Needs Trust can allow an individual to keep receiving government benefits while receiving benefits from a Special Needs Trust. If a person with special needs receives government benefits and then inherits assets from someone passing away or as a gift, that inheritance/gift could disqualify the individual from receiving those
government benefits Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni of the Islamic Center of America offered the invocation at Thursday’s meeting of the Wayne County Commission as the commission observed the beginning of Ramadan.Imam Kazerooni left his native Iraq as a young man in the 1970s to escape after being imprisoned by the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein. He is a Martin
Luther King Award honoree for his
work promoting peace and is an
adjunct faculty member at Wayne
State University. Commissioner Sam Baydoun (D-Dearborn) introduced Imam Kazerooni.Ramadan, the holy month of prayer and fasting, was also recognized in a resolution presented by Commissioners Baydoun and Al Haidous (D-Wayne).
“Today more than ever, it is important to recognize that Islam stands for peace, justice, family and community and acknowledge that our Muslim brothers and sisters are critical parts of the
diverse fabric that make up the Wayne County multicultural community,” the resolution states.
Source: Wayne County Commission Wayne County Commission honors
start of Ramadan immediately. A Special Needs Trust will prevent the disqualification from occurring.
You obviously enjoyed your job right
from the beginning,
but you must have met challenges
along the way. Do you have
any advice to our youth facing
challenges?
Yes. Many people choose career paths based upon job market, income and prestige. Although those factors play a role, my advice is to choose a career that you want to be in and that you enjoy. I know
that what I said is cliché but if you become good at something you want to do, the money will
eventually come and you can build that prestige through your reputation of hard-work, integrity and honesty.
You will have ups and downs, but it is important that you manage to persevere through it and constantly educate yourself along the way. I always tell people not to be a statistic. If you want to do something, go ahead and do it, regardless of
the statistics or job market involved.
Please feel free to reach out
to Hameed Dakroub’s firm for all of
your legal service
needs at 313-315-6300 (Office), 313-
401-4488 (Direct) or
at www.dakroublaw.com
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