Firm Overview
Firm Philosophy
Prior to forming her own firm, Ms. Gross practiced in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration in one of the highest volume estate planning firms in the state. During her tenure there, she served as the Director of Compliance, where she formulated and implemented the standard of care for the estate planning department which is still utilized today. Her practice expanded to include probate and trust administration which enabled her to work with her deceased client’s fiduciaries to implement the plans created by many of her clients. Ms. Gross has cultivated long term relationships with her clients over her many years of practice often working with generations of family members in formulating and administering their plans. Ms. Gross provides high quality counseling and legal services to each client irrespective of their net worth or individual circumstances.
Profile
As a counselor and attorney, Ms. Gross listens to her clients’ needs and provides creative solutions to achieve their objectives.
Kristen R. Gross is the founding member and owner of the Law Offices of Kristen R. Gross, P.C. Her practice focuses on the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration and litigation in those same areas. At her former firm, Ms. Gross was the Director of Compliance of the Estate Planning Department and Director of the Probate and Trust Administration Department.
Ms. Gross graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Political Science and French. She received her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 1995. She served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Avern L. Cohn in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan and for the Honorable Hilda R. Gage in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Ms. Gross presents frequently at estate planning seminars, including presentations on behalf of the American Heart Association, Institute of Continuing Legal Education, as well as numerous other large corporations. She enjoys educating both “experts” such as financial advisors, CPAs and insurance agents and “non-experts” on estate planning, dispelling myths and clearing up misconceptions about what happens when one becomes incapacitated or pass away. In an ongoing effort to inform the public about estate planning, Ms. Gross authored an article on the importance of preparing estate planning documents that was published in the Spring 2006 edition of Police Report “News and Views” the Official Publication of the Michigan Association of Police. She has appeared as an estate planning expert on the radio show, Ken Stern’s “Your Money” on WJR. She is the recipient of the Friend of the Heart Award from the American Heart Association for her role in contributing to the success of their planned giving program. A member of both the Probate and Estate Planning section and the Elder Law section of the State Bar of Michigan, Ms. Gross served on the State Bar Committee to review the Uniform Power of Attorney Act and is a recipient of the Probate and Estate Planning Certificate co-sponsored by the State Bar of Michigan and the Institute for Continuing Legal Education. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Jewish Vocational Services, a human service agency that helps people realize life's potential through career development and employment services, programs for individuals with disabilities, senior adult services, financial literacy and homebuyer education, homeless services and youth programs.
Additionally she serves on the Planned Giving Council of Advisors for Henry Ford Health Systems. As a leader in her community, in 2010, she was invited to travel to Poland and Israel with the Grosfeld Leadership Mission through the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. Ms. Gross was selected to lead that same mission in November, 2015.
Through her passion for estate planning, probate and trust administration and litigation, Ms. Gross is able to assist clients in planning their affairs and counsel families after a loss so that their objectives are achieved with as little stress as possible. She brings a great deal of compassion to these processes and cares deeply about her clients and what they are enduring. It is her wish that her clients leave the estate planning process with a greater sense of control over their affairs, have peace of mind that their loved ones will be protected in the event of a tragedy and know who to call in the event that a tragedy should occur. As a wife and mother of three children, she understands the importance of taking care of one’s family and has created a firm in which her clients are able to accomplish these goals.