Carol J. Karr is a Member of the firm and has been practicing law since 1978. She specializes in estate, probate, and estate, gift and fiduciary taxation.
Estate Planning Ms. Karr works with a wide variety of individuals of all ages and circumstances to help them with their estate planning, from successful business owners to young families, from single people to non-traditional couples. She prepares wills, revocable and irrevocable trust agreements, durable powers of attorney for financial decisions, and designations of patient advocates and assists clients meet goals of protecting minor children, avoiding probate and reducing taxes.
Ms. Karr also works with clients to plan their beneficiary designations on retirement plans, IRAs and other tax-deferred investments to avoid common income tax traps. She also helps clients select appropriate vehicles for gifts to children and grandchildren, advising them on Uniform Transfers to Minor gifts and Section 529 Plans and creating statutory 2503 (c) trusts, Crummey Trusts and qualified personal residence trusts. When working with business owners, she helps with succession planning and tax planning, including family limited partnerships, limited liability companies and GRATs. For families with a special needs child, she can help protect the child’s benefits.
Ms. Karr has a particular expertise in charitable planning and assists clients in setting up private family foundations and utilizing charitable techniques, such as charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts, to accomplish their charitable goals while benefiting their families.
Clients appreciate the summaries and flow charts that Ms. Karr uses to help them understand their plans. Many people dread and delay estate planning. Ms. Karr’s goal is to demystify the process.
Probate In addition to estate planning, Ms. Karr works with families after a death to help with the probate or trust administration process. That may include representing the estate or trust in the probate court (in any county in Michigan), counseling the personal representative or trustee, or advising on tax elections.
Ms. Karr also assists clients in having a guardian or conservator appointed through the probate court for a minor or incapacitated family member and in obtaining protective orders from the probate court to assist in the planning for such individuals. She also has experience in modifying irrevocable trusts through the probate court.
Tax Preparation
Unlike many estate planning and probate lawyers, Ms. Karr prepares significant numbers of federal estate tax returns, gift tax returns and fiduciary (estate and trust) income tax returns. Doing both the planning and the tax returns allows Ms. Karr to take full advantage of tax planning and tax elections that may otherwise be overlooked.
Professional Affiliations and Activities Ms. Karr is the chair of Miller Johnson’s Probate and Estate Planning Practice Group and serves on the Firm’s management committee. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Counsel. She was the first woman to chair the State Bar of Michigan’s Taxation Council and has chaired the Michigan Annual Tax Conference and the After Hours Tax Series. She has also served on the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Council and the Board of Directors for the Western Michigan Estate Planning Council. She was also on the Advisory Board of the Seidman School of Business Master of Science in Taxation Program at Grand Valley State University. Ms. Karr is also a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation.
Articles and Presentations Ms. Karr has lectured for the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), the Annual Notre Dame Institute of Tax and Estate Planning, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Regional Meeting, the Lake Michigan Estate Planning Council, the Western Michigan Estate Planning Council, and the Michigan State Bar Taxation Section’s After Hours Tax Series. She is also a frequent speaker on various estate planning and tax topics to community groups, professional organizations, and employees at company-sponsored retirement planning seminars.
Ms. Karr is the Co-Editor and a Contributing Author of “Taxation of Estates and Trusts: a Michigan Practitioner’s Guide to Post-Death Administration” published by ICLE in 1994 (and supplemented in 1998) and is currently acting as the editor of the “Michigan Estate Planning Handbook” which is being updated by ICLE. She has also had articles published in the
Grand Rapids Business Journal and the other organization’s newsletters.
Honors Ms. Karr is one of the 20 women honored to be on Michigan Lawyers Weekly inaugural list in 2010 of “Women in the Law.” This honors and recognizes her commitment to excellence in the practice of law , accomplished leadership, successful mentorship, and significant contributions to volunteerism. She was named as one of the “50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan 2010” by the Grand Rapids Business Journal in recognition of her professional achievements and community contributions. Business Review recognized her as a 2009 “Thought Leader in the Law” for advancing her profession, practice area and the western Michigan region. She has been honored for her professional leadership and community involvement with a YWCA Tribute! Award. She has been active in Quota International (a service organization) and received the Quotarian of the Year Award for the Grand Rapids Club and for District 20 (covering Michigan and neighboring states).
Ms. Karr is listed in “The Best Lawyers in America®” for both tax law and trusts and estates. She has been named a Michigan “Super Lawyer” for estate planning and probate and also appears on the Super Lawyer Top 50 Women list since it’s inception and the Top 100 list in 2006.
Community Activities Ms. Karr is on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan YMCA, where she is Chair of the Heritage Club Committee and recently served on the Executive Committee. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Grand Rapids Community Foundation as Vice Chair as well as their Professional Advisory Committee. She is on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Metro Health Hospital Foundation where she is the Chair of the Grants Committee. She is a long-time member of Quota International where she has served on the Board of Directors and as recording secretary. She participates in the Pro Bono Program of Legal Aid of Western Michigan.
Ms. Karr was on the Van Andel Institute Planned Giving Council. She was on the Board of Directors of the Hugh Michael Beahan Foundation and is past President of Indian Trails Camp and past Vice-President and Recording Secretary of the Black Educational Excellence Program. She has also served on the Ryerson Library Foundation Endowment Committee and Planned Giving Advisory Councils for Saint Mary’s Health Care and the American Red Cross.
Education Ms. Karr received her law degree in 1978 from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree in 1975 from the University of Michigan. She is admitted to practice in Michigan.