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Ann Arbor - Washtenaw
(734) 994-3000
Bloomfield Hills - Oakland
(248) 594-5776
Brighton - Livingston
(810) 227-3800
Probate and Estate Planning Certificate, Institute of Continuing Legal Education
Elder Law Certificate, Institute of Continuing Legal Education
Co-Chair Estate Planning and Probate Section, Washtenaw County Bar Association
Member, Probate and Estate Planning, Tax Law, Elder Law, and Business Law sections, Michigan State Bar
Member, National Association of Charitable Gift Planners
Member, The Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeast Michigan
Presenter, Ann Arbor Cable TV "Leave A Legacy" Campaign 2019
Presenter, "End of Life Care and Treatment," Institute of Continuing Legal Education 2019
“I am privileged to help people plan for and deal with life’s most important and challenging events and provide for generations to come. Nothing is more satisfying professionally than to earn a client’s trust and have them recommend me to their friends and family.”
Mara Kent prides herself on compassionate, prompt, and thorough legal service to her clients. A licensed attorney for more than 21 years, she is experienced in planning, negotiation, mediation, and court representation. At NSSS&B, her practice includes estate plans, wills, trusts and trust administration, probate, prenuptial planning, adoption, powers of attorney, elder law and long-term care planning, and business and contract law.
Mara believes that a solid estate plan is a priceless gift to one’s family and future generations. To that end, Mara helps families plan for major life events, anticipating problems before they arise to minimize court involvement, expense, and stress. She helps clients avoid potential family conflicts over their future care, care of loved ones, or distribution of their estate.
She is skilled in complex planning issues involving children and adults with special needs.
Mara received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she was second in her class. While in law school, she worked in the office of general counsel for Ford Motor Company and went on to distinction as a law clerk for former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh. From 2000–14, Mara was a tenured professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and continues to teach as a Senior Professor Emerita.
In the Ann Arbor area, Mara volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and Alpha House, a family homeless shelter. She and her husband Tom are both U-M graduates and natives of Ann Arbor, where they raise two daughters who attend the University of Michigan
A MESSAGE FROM AAML and AFCC
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Leaders from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and AFCC have released guidelines for coparenting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seven Guidelines for Parents Who Are Divorce/Separated and Sharing Custody of Children During the COVID19 Pandemic
From the leaders of groups that deal with families in crisis:
Susan Myres, President of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML)
Dr. Matt Sullivan, President of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC)
Annette Burns, AAML and Former President of AFCC
Yasmine Mehmet, AAML
Kim Bonuomo, AAML
Nancy Kellman, AAML
Dr. Leslie Drozd, AFCC
Dr. Robin Deutsch, AFCC
Jill Peña, Executive Director of AAML
Peter Salem, Executive Director of AFCC
1. BE HEALTHY.
Comply with all CDC and local and state guidelines and model good behavior for your children with intensive hand washing, wiping down surfaces and other objects that are frequently touched, and maintaining social distancing. This also means BE INFORMED. Stay in touch with the most reliable media sources and avoid the rumor mill on social media.
2. BE MINDFUL.
Be honest about the seriousness of the pandemic but maintain a calm attitude and convey to your children your belief that everything will return to normal in time. Avoid making careless comments in front of the children and exposing them to endless media coverage intended for adults. Don’t leave the news on 24/7, for instance. But, at the same time, encourage your children to ask questions and express their concerns and answer them truthfully at a level that is age-appropriate.
3. BE COMPLIANT with court orders and custody agreements.
As much as possible, try to avoid reinventing the wheel despite the unusual circumstances. The custody agreement or court order exists to prevent endless haggling over the details of timesharing. In some jurisdictions there are even standing orders mandating that, if schools are closed, custody agreements should remain in force as though school were still in session.
4. BE CREATIVE.
At the same time, it would be foolish to expect that nothing will change when people are being advised not to fly and vacation attractions such as amusement parks, museums and entertainment venues are closing all over the US and the world. In addition, some parents will have to work extra hours to help deal with the crisis and other parents may be out of work or working reduced hours for a time. Plans will inevitably have to change. Encourage closeness with the parent who is not going to see the child through shared books, movies, games and FaceTime or Skype.
5. BE TRANSPARENT.
Provide honest information to your co-parent about any suspected or confirmed exposure to the virus, and try to agree on what steps each of you will take to protect the child from exposure. Certainly both parents should be informed at once if the child is exhibiting any possible symptoms of the virus.
6. BE GENEROUS.
Try to provide makeup time to the parent who missed out, if at all possible. Family law judges expect reasonable accommodations when they can be made and will take seriously concerns raised in later filings about parents who are inflexible in highly unusual circumstances.
7. BE UNDERSTANDING.
There is no doubt that the pandemic will pose an economic hardship and lead to lost earnings for many, many parents, both those who are paying child support and those who are receiving child support. The parent who is paying should try to provide something, even if it can’t be the full amount. The parent who is receiving payments should try to be accommodating under these challenging and temporary circumstances.
Adversity can become an opportunity for parents to come together and focus on what is best for the child. For many children, the strange days of the pandemic will leave vivid memories. It’s important for every child to know and remember that both parents did everything they could to explain what was happening and to keep their child safe.
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See more Coronavirus Resources and Information for family law professionals.
Nichols, Sacks, Slank, Sendelbach, Buiteweg & Solomon (NSSS&B), a family law and estate planning firm based in Ann Arbor, recently added two new associate attorneys.
Miriam Saffo earned her law degree from Michigan State University and her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago. During her law studies, she worked for Ingham County courts in many roles, including Friend of the Court cases involving child custody, support, and parenting time.
Erin C. Flynn worked for a Northville family law firm before joining NSSS&B. Her experience includes internships with the Family Law Division of Macomb Circuit Court and with the Family Law Assistance Project in Auburn Hills, which provides legal services to low-income clients.
Founded in 1994, NSSS&B serves clients in Washtenaw, Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Livingston and Lenawee counties. The firm has long been an advocate for mediation and other non-adversarial approaches to resolving family matters. Specialty practice areas include divorce, child custody/support, spousal support, property settlement, same sex marriage, prenuptial agreements, estate planning, and probate and trust administration.
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