Kenneth V Zichi

Helping Livingston County residents navigate the legal system for 30 years. I focus on Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning and Probate, with a significant portion of my practice also concerning Real Estate and general civil litigation. If you have questions or issues with your home, a cabin up north, or want to insure your family is cared for after you are gone, I'd be happy to meet with you, perhaps bust some myths, and certainly insure YOUR and your family's needs are met. Call for an appointment today!

• Free Consultation
  Telephone [(810) 299-5222] or office conferences, 20 minutes or less. Longer conferences may incur a minimal fee.
• Contingent Fees

Michigan

Since 1986

Owner

Kenneth V . Zichi J.D.

1991 - Current

Mayor

City of Williamston (Michigan)

2000 - 2010

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

J.D.

1983 - 1986

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

A.B. | History / Communications

1977 - 1981

Honors: LS&A Honors College 1977-1979

State Bar of Michigan

Member

1986 - Current

estate and probate section Michigan bar

member

1986 - Current

Law and Media committee - State Bar of Michigan

member

2010 - 2015

Newsroom Seminar, WNEM TV/AM - Saginaw MI

March 15, 2013

State Bar of Michigan - Law & Media committee

An hour-long seminar addressing some of the common practical and substantive difficulties journalists encounter in covering the legal system in Michigan.

Q. Do I have to pay rent after my lease expired and moved out?

May 29, 2025

A: If your lease expired, you moved out and returned the keys and gave them WRITTEN NOTICE (not a phone call or text message!) of your forwarding address to get your security deposit within 4 days of move out, then you have no obligation to do anything more (including paying rent!) but the LANDLORD has an obligation to contact you with the status of your security deposit promptly (usually within 30 days) .

If you didn't 'hold over' and have returned the keys then your obligations have ended. If they continue to persist, I'd recommend you contact a local landlord tenant attorney in the city where your place was located to follow up. Good luck.

Q. House purchase: Neighbor's dock encroachment hindering renovations - need steps to resolve moving dock.

May 29, 2025

A: My short-hand answer is that a verbal agreement is worth the paper it is written on. Text messages doubly so.

If you completed the purchase BEFORE the encroachment was addressed that tells me you didn't really care about it, and apparently, your neighbor thinks the same thing.

How do you no address the problem? Get out that survey, take photos of the stakes (what, there aren't stakes? It isn't a good enough survey so you need a new one with stakes placed in the ground and perhaps some 'permanent markers' too if those aren't already there) and THEN proceed to the next step of hiring a local attorney to address the problem. If you're lucky, the survey and a letter from the attorney will be all that is needed. If not, you may need to contact the Michigan authorities who deal with docks for your lake/river and / or start a trespass lawsuit. You could have avoided this by delaying the closing until the seller and neighbor straightened out the dock situation, but now you're stuck being the one who bears the expense and hassle of doing so. ... Read More

Q. Seeking advice on filing uncontested divorce and requesting spouse to leave marital home in Michigan.

May 13, 2025

A: An uncontested divorce without children CAN be something "DIYable" but when you have property such as retirement plans and real estate to divide the phrase 'penny wise and dollar foolish' comes to mind if you're doing this to 'save money'.

Making a mistake in either of these things can create long term EXPENSIVE issues.

You can certainly look at the 'SCAO' forms available on line to get the legally minimum forms needed but trying to quit claim property or create QDROs to 'waive' the claims on pensions without legal advice is asking for issues.

So yes, go to the Michigan self help page for divorce (https://michiganlegalhelp.org/resources/family/filing-divorce-without-children) but use that as a STARTING POINT to interview local divorce attorneys who can also do deeds and help you work with a QDRO drafting service appropriate to your pensions .... ... Read More