Attorney Profile

Alan A. May

Shareholder

Phone: 248 740 5670

Practice Areas - Estate and Trust Litigation, Estate Planning, Pooled Trust Accounts, Probate Law and Trust Administration, Tax Planning

Alan May is a shareholder who is sought after for his experience in guardianships and conservatorships. He has written and lectured extensively and has taught classes at Wayne State University and Oakland University on these topics.

He was selected for inclusion in the 2007-2020 issues of Michigan Super Lawyers magazine featuring the top 5% of attorneys in Michigan and has been called by courts as an expert witness on issues of fees and by both plaintiffs and defendants as an expert witness in the area of probate and trust law. Mr. May maintains an “AV” peer review rating with Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest peer review rating for attorneys and he is listed in the area of Probate Law among Martindale-Hubbell’s Preeminent Lawyers. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2022 in the fields of Trusts and Estates as well as Litigation – Trusts & Estates (Copyright 2021 by Woodward/White, Inc., of SC) and was named the Best Lawyers® 2019 Litigation – Trusts and Estates “Lawyer of the Year” in Troy. He has been included in the Best Lawyers listing since 2011. Additionally, Mr. May was selected by a vote of his peers to be included in DBusiness magazine’s list of 2017 Top Lawyers in the practice area of Trusts and Estates. Additionally, he has been designated a “Leading Lawyer” in Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law for the years 2013 to the present (a distinction granted to the top 1% of attorneys in Michigan).

Mr. May was acting public administrator in Wayne County from 1979 to 1980 and has been a Wayne County public administrator since 1980. He has been a mediator in Oakland County Circuit Court since 1981, a court appointed referee in Wayne and Oakland County Probate Courts since 1969, and Special Assistant Attorney General in Michigan since 1971.

In addition, Mr. May was a commissioner of the Michigan Civil Services Commission from 1985 to 1990 and chairperson of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in 1984. He has been a member and president of the board of directors and executive board of the Detroit Regional National Conference for Community and Justice since 1979 and is a life member of the N.A.A.C.P.

Education

J.D., cum laude, University of Michigan Law School, 1966
B.A., University of Michigan, 1963

Bar and Court Admissions

State Bar of Michigan, 1967
District of Columbia Bar, 1976

Memberships

State Bar of Michigan (member, Probate and Trust Law Section)b
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
Oakland County Bar Association
Wayne County Probate Bar Association

Other Activities

The National Conference for Community and Justice (trustee and member of the executive board and vice chair; past president of the national organization); Michigan Health Maintenance Organization (member 1979-1981); licensed nursing home administrator in Michigan (1975-1980); president of Medical-Legal Seminars, Inc.; Founders Society, Detroit Institute of Arts (member since 1970); L. S. Charfoos Charitable Foundation (trustee); May Family Foundation (trustee); National Conference of Christians and Jews (trustee at large 1981-1983); American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (member of the Detroit executive committee 1982-1983); Temple Beth El (past president).

Articles

“Multiple Damage Claims in Probate Court,”co-authored with Ronald S. Nixon, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 37, Winter 2017
“Two Matters Improperly Decided By the Michigan Court of Appeals: In Re Estate of Sabry Mohammad Attia and In Re Estate of James V Ward,” Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Winter 2016
“Nothing New Under the Sun: Present Contemproary Laws of Inheritance and the Talmud and Torah”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Spring 2016
“Binding Third Parties in Probate Court: ‘Proceedings’ Versus ‘Civil Actions’”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 34, Summer 2015, No. 3
“First Party Benefits and Conservator and Guardian Fees”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 33, Winter 2013, No. 1
“Who Can Represent a Minor, Where and How?”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 31, Spring 2012, No. 2
“Litigation Under New Trust Code – Probable Cause as Defense”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 31, Winter 2011, No. 1
“Deviation From The Norm Post Mortem Powers Not Reserved to a Personal Representative”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 30, Summer 2011, No. 3
“Determination of Paternity for a Child of Unwed Parents Born Subsequent to the Father’s Death”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 29, Spring 2010, No. 2
“The Enforcing of a ‘No Gifts’ Policy by Voiding a Will”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 28, Summer 2009, No. 3
“The Doctrine of Equitable Deviation”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 27, Summer 2008, No. 3
“Appeals from the Probate Court – Stay of Proceeding”, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 27, Winter 2007, No. 1
“The Slayer’s Statute and Slayer’s Rule” [with contributors’ acknowledgements], Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 25, Spring 2006, No. 2
“Guardian Ad Litem Immunity Revisited: Recent History”, co-authored with Lawrence G. Snyder, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 24, Summer 2005, No. 3
“The Causal Nexus Between the Laws of Inheritance and Wrongful Death”, co-authored with Debra Nance, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 24, Spring 2005, No. 2
“Determination of Heirs”, co-authored with Barbara P. Andruccioli, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 24, Winter 2004, No. 1
“Termination of Parental Rights, Adoption, and Inheritance”, co-authored with Shannon N. Scheloske, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 23, Summer 2004, No. 3
“Tortious Interference with the Right of Inheritance”, co-authored with Shannon N. Scheloske, Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Journal, Vol. 22, Summer 2003, No. 4
“The Prophylactic Will”, Commentator, Summer 2002
“Geneve 89, A Collector’s Reflection,” NAWCC Bulletin, February 1990
“The Impact of Crystal v. Hubbard,” Michigan Bar Journal, August 1984
“1982 Annual Survey of Michigan Law – Trusts and Succession”, Wayne Law Review, August 1983
“1980 Annual Survey of Michigan Law – Trusts and Succession”, Wayne Law Review, August 1981
“Divestment of Property to Achieve Social Services Indigency”, Michigan Bar Journal, September 1980
“1978 Annual Survey of Michigan Law – Trusts and Succession”, Wayne Law Review, January 1979
“Proof of Paternity”, The Detroit Lawyer, January 1979
“The Right to Marry”, Michigan Bar Journal, April 1977