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Debra Nance provides legal assistance and counsel to clients facing family related issues in the areas of Estate Planning, Probate Law, Litigation, Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology Law.
As an Estate Planner she drafts Wills, designs Revocable, Irrevocable and Special Needs Trusts, and creates Financial Powers of Attorney and Medical Powers of Attorney for her clients. As a Probate Attorney she administers deceased estates and provides counsel as to the many legal issues and contested matters that arise in adult/minor guardianship and conservatorship estates. She has also provided assistance to hundreds of mentally/emotionally impaired individuals under public guardianship.
In her Litigation practice she handles complex will/trust disputes in Probate Court and civil/commercial litigation in the Circuit Court. She also acts as Attorney/Guardian Ad Litem for children in cases involving the termination of parental rights, divorce, or child custody litigation in the Family Division of the Circuit Court. In service to the community, Ms. Nance has worked as an Attorney Volunteer in the Small Claims Mediation Program handling civil complaints and landlord/tenant disputes for a local District Court. She has also provided Pro Bono representation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
In the area of Adoption Law, Ms. Nance has developed a practice which includes direct placement, interstate, stepparent and family/relative adoptions. In the cutting-edge practice of Assisted Reproductive Technology Law she represents Intended Parents or Surrogates. She has successfully obtained Declarations of Parentage in various surrogacy arrangements using in vitro fertilization.
Prior to joining Kemp Klein Law Firm Ms. Nance worked on assignment to the Ford Motor Company Office of the General Counsel (OGC). In the OGC Litigation Division, under the direction of corporate counsel, she led a team specifically designed to gather field information responsive to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) investigation. In the OGC International Division she performed due diligence for the mergers and acquisitions group.
While attending Wayne State University Law School, Ms. Nance won both the Donald Barris Civil Trial Advocacy Competition and the Donald Barris Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition. She also interned in the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Domestic Violence Unit and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Child and Family Abuse Bureau.
Before entering the legal profession, Ms. Nance enjoyed a long career as a business professional and Human Resource Manager. Ms. Nance is currently a candidate for 46th District Court Judge in the November 2, 2010 General Election.
Education:
J.D., Wayne State University, 1999
B.A., University of Detroit, 1978
Bar and Court Admissions:
State Bar of Michigan, 2000
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 2000
Memberships:
State Bar of Michigan
Oakland County Bar Association
D. Augustus Straker Bar Association
Wolverine Bar Association
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Articles:
Assisted Reproductive Technology Law – Obtaining legal parentage when your child is born to a surrogate; Commentator, Summer 2008
The Causal Nexus Between the Laws of Inheritance and Wrongful Death;
co-authored with Alan May, Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal,
Vol. 24, Spring, 2005, No. 2
Child Custody in Michigan: An Overview; Commentator, Fall 2004
The Adoption Expense Tax Credit: New and Improved;
Commentator, Spring 2004
The Adoption Option: A Michigan Overview; Commentator, Winter 2003
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