This is a one lawyer firm limited to Probate Administration and Litigation, Estate Planning, Real Estate, Business and related matters.
This firm is committed to providing clients with competent and practiced legal services assisting them with Estates, Guardianships, Conservatorships, and Trust Administration, Real Estate, and Business Transfers with Interim Business Maintenance, with litigation support where necessary. Litigation services are limited to probate matters and real estate titling
Nearly 20 years as a business lawyer and commercial litigator have led to a more full understand the problems that poor writing can cause in court. The writing and financial skills developed during those years, and an acquired understanding of the trials and tribulations of the small business owner serve well in the estate planning and probate areas. An understanding of compounding growth and the value of one's legacy to surviving family members are key ingredients to effective assistance in planning for the future.
Mr. Holder is active in the Trust and Estates Section of the Colorado Bar Association, and for three years was the chairman of the Probate Rules & Forms Committee, which drafted then required forms used in probate courts statewide. As a member of that section's Statutory Revisions Committee he is chair its sub-committee responsible for review of the proposed Uniform Powers of Attorney Act. For fiscal year 2008 - 2009, and serves as chair of the committee responsible for drafting and revising the Estate Planning Forms Book (also commonly known as the "Orange Book"), a publication of Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc.
Publications include:
"Drafting Effective Contingent Remainders -or- Divorce My Kid and You're Out!," Colorado Bar Association, Trust and Estate Section Council Notes, December 2003; "Medical Secrecy, Powers of Attorney and the Web," El Paso County Bar Newsletter, February 2004; "How Charitable Trusts Work," "New Unintended Results of Living Trusts -or- Divorce My Kid and You Win" The Origin of Modern Day Trusts," "Are Estate Taxes Really a Dying Breed?" "How to Beat Estate Taxes," "Non-Tax Uses of Trusts," "Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?" "Legislature Gets Tainted View of Proposed Uniform Trust Code," "The Great Financial Turf War: Bankers v. Brokers, Part I," "The Great Financial Turf War: Bankers v. Brokers, Part II," Daily Transcript Newspaper, January - March 2004. Member: El Paso County (Member, Probate Section) and The Colorado Bar Associations (Member: Trusts and Estates Section; Chair, 2004, 2005, 2006 Rules and Forms Committee). Practice Areas: Estate Planning; Ancillary Probate; Wills; Probate; Real Estate; Commercial Law; Trusts and Estates; Guardianship and Conservatorship; Charitable Giving.
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Because of his long experience in commercial litigation, Mike Holder well equipped to lend advice concerning the "bottom line" or real value of a case, given the expenses of estate administration, costs of litigation, and realistic values of estate assets such as businesses, real estate, and personal property. Clients with both large and small interests and claims have benefited from this real world approach.
The primary goal of Mike Holder's law practice is to always act honorably. I have always believed that in order to be the "good guy," I have to be a good guy myself. This does not mean being weak or timid.
Honor lends credibility to one's arguments, it encourages opposing counsel to play fewer games and to be more direct, and it gives meaning to what we do.
Our legal system is built upon foundations of honor and justice, and too often the frailties of human nature tear them down. With honor one earns respect. With respect one's arguments are more meaningful. Through meaningful arguments, justice is served.