In her insightful and informative book A Matter of Life and Death: How to Handle Family Affairs During Illness and Death and Keep Probate Court Out of Your Business, attorney Jehan Crump-Gibson offers comprehensive and invaluable insights on the importance of estate planning, particularly focusing on the African American experience. She addresses common misconceptions about estate planning, highlighting that anyone — not just the wealthy — needs a plan. The asset and property probate expert emphasizes the critical role of real estate in wealth transmission and the need for proper documentation to avoid disputes, which too often foster disturbing and disruptive family interactions upon the death of loved ones.
Recently, Crump-Gibson, the co-founder and managing partner at Great Lakes Legal Group PLLC, hosted a compelling discussion in Atlanta to guide attendees in managing matters that affect successful estate planning, navigating the legal hurdles of asset and property administration, and overcoming the emotional barriers many families grapple with in discussing estate matters and property disposition. Essentially, The Legacy Blueprint event provided a critical platform for for participants to foster intentional networking and engage in discussions regarding legacy planning.
Crump-Gibson emphasizes that every living person – regardless of the size of the estate or the perceived value of their assets – needs to plan for current and future quality of life for themselves and upcoming generations.
“People tell me all the time, ‘I’ll come see you when I get something. And my [response] is, if you had time to count in some clothes you need, you need a plan,” Crump-Gibson asserts. “You don’t need a large real estate portfolio and have investments and all this other stuff. But everybody has to start somewhere. So that is a misconception, particularly with our people,” she continues. “People love to tell me I don’t have an estate, and I think it’s the connotation associated with the word estate. But an estate is whatever you have … that includes Chime accounts, paychecks, bank accounts, insurance policies … you have money there,” says the impassioned professional. “As a matter of fact, I say that we people who aren’t rich can’t afford not to plan,” she adds enthusiastically.
Now a nationally recognized legal analyst who regularly works with families on the preparation of important estate planning documents and legal issues concerning estate administration, Crump-Gibson explained that her fervor for assisting community members stems from a stint she did working with Comerica while in law school, admitting that before that experience, wills and trusts were a relatively abstract notion.
“At the bank is where I really got exposed to how this stuff comes off the paper,” she recalls. “That’s where you get to see the crazy stuff that goes on. What happens when people can’t access accounts because somebody didn’t do their estate plan. They got to pay mom’s bills while she’s in ICU or rehab or [incapacitated] and they can’t get access because mom didn’t do her documents right, or, you know, this wasn’t designated properly. So I saw a lot of those issues come up at the bank, and that’s where my interest beats.”
Crump-Gibson has served as Faculty for the National Business Institute and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education concerning business, nonprofit, probate and estate planning matters. She is adamantly committed to ethics and professionalism in practice, and has been recognized eight times by the Michigan Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star. The widely respected attorney has received several Martindale Hubbell ® Client Distinction Awards and Martindale Hubbell ® Client Champion Awards.
In 2017, she was appointed by United States Senator Gary Peters to serve on the Michigan Senate Judicial Advisory Committee, formed to assist in making recommendations to the President to fill vacancies on the federal bench. In 2022, she was selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Class of Leaders in the Law.
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