Imke Lathrop
Special needs and guardianship
Imke plans for families with a member who has a disability, and guides guardianships through the court.
Imke worked as a special education case manager before law school and still sits in on school meetings with families who ask her to. She writes trusts that sit comfortably beside benefits, and she is careful about when guardianship is truly needed.
She keeps a short list of local service providers and care coordinators and shares it with every family she meets.
Focus
- Special needs trusts
- Guardianship and conservatorship
- Planning at eighteen
- Letters of intent
Credentials
Bar admissions
State Bar of Michigan
2009
Courts
Probate courts in Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Benzie counties
Michigan Court of Appeals
Education
J.D., University of Michigan Law School
2009
B.S., Central Michigan University
2004
Languages
English
German
Memberships
Special needs section of the state bar
How Imke works
She starts with the person, not the paperwork: what a good day looks like, who helps, what would change if a benefit stopped.
Before recommending guardianship she goes through every lighter option with the family, and writes down why each one will or won't work.
Ask for Imke by name
Say which of us you'd like to meet when you book, and we'll set up the first meeting with Imke.