About Us

OUR TEAM

Christopher T. Lindsay

Christopher T. Lindsay is the founder of the Estate Planning & Elder Law Services law firm. For almost 20 years, Mr. Lindsay has practiced exclusively in the areas of estate planning, elder law, and probate and trust administration. With extensive experience, he has built a reputation for his expertise and commitment to his clients.

Lisa H. Beatty

Lisa H. Beatty is an experienced attorney, having practiced over 25 years primarily in the areas of Estate Planning, Elder Law, and Medicaid Planning. She is committed to creating a relationship-based practice in which her clients feel comfortable and understood, with their goals and priorities taking the highest importance.

James E. Bobcik

James is a member of the Elder Law & Disability Rights, Real Estate, and Probate & Estate Planning sections of the State Bar of Michigan. He holds an Elder Law Certificate from the Institute for Continuing Legal Education and participated as a student attorney with the Wayne State Disability Law Clinic.

Shelly A. Morell

Shelly joined Estate Planning & Elder Law Services in July 2016 as a Paralegal. She brings a broad depth of experience specializing in Trust, Estate, Medicaid, and Probate law. With over 20 years of knowledge and expertise, Shelly supports the firm in providing the best service possible to clients.

Melanie L. Walker

Melanie is a recent graduate from Eastern Michigan University’s paralegal program. She graduated with a 3.80 GPA in her paralegal major and was voted paralegal student of the year in 2022. During her time at EMU, Melanie gained valuable experience at the Legal Clinic.

Ruxandra Oprescu

Ruxandra brings over a decade of specialized experience in estate planning, elder law, Medicaid planning, and trust and probate administration. Her extensive knowledge allows her to provide comprehensive services to clients in these areas.

Kaitlyn Cwiertak

Brenda Culcasi

Brenda is the welcoming face and voice of our law firm. With a warm and professional demeanor, she plays a vital role in creating the first impression for our clients.

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Reviews

Great people to work with! Took the time to hear what was important to us and our needs. Made everything very easy and understandable.

Jordan J.

My mom had her trust set up by Mr. Lindsey several years ago, and she recently updated it. Mr. Lindsey is a very nice person, as is his staff. More importantly, they are all very knowledgeable, efficient, and explai(...)

Fire F.

Ruxandra is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive of her clients. Anyone working with her is in good hands!

Aubree K.

I am attorney that worked with Ruxandra for a number of years before she took this position, and let me just say she is the best. The best with clients, the best knowledge base for elder law in general (including wi(...)

Eric M.

Lisa Beatty Is the most professional , knowledgeable and caring person in her profession I have ever encountered. She helped me when I was in a very stressful time in my life. I wholeheartedly recommend Lisa for all(...)

Marjorie B.

Shelly's professionalism is exceptional and truly inspiring. She consistently sets a gold standard for expertise, integrity, and dedication in her field. Every interaction has reflected your meticulous attention to (...)

Mike G.

Shelley Morell is a conscientious, organized and efficient employee. She is always professional and puts the clients of law firm at ease.

Susan W.

Everyone who works here is super friendly and makes sure you feel comfortable and at home while working with them! They do extraordinary work with excellent service!

Brendan M.

If you are looking for attention to detail with a personal touch, I recommend you reach out to Shelly Morell at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services. Shelly is a master at details and planning and she does this all (...)

Cathy W.

I have had the privilege of networking with Lisa Beatty for many years, and I am continually impressed by her expertise and dedication to her clients. Her deep knowledge of elder law and estate planning combined wit(...)

Debbie J.

I have known Brenda both personally and professionally for many years now. She takes extreme pride in everything that she does. Brenda is one of the most hardworking, dedicated and responsible people that I have had(...)

Renee R.

The team at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services are filled with compassion and professionalism and I highly recommend them to assist in your needs.

Melanie at this office is very knowledgeable, and kind hearted.

Emily W.

Melanie is a very knowledgeable and helpful person, and she communicates in a clear and timely manner. She is attentive to detail and is always striving to make every person feel comfortable.

Clay M.

Melanie is incredibly organized and professional.

Alex M.

Melanie is very professional and great to work with. I would highly recommend her.

John K.

Melanie is incredibly kind, attentive, and always goes the extra mile to ensure everything runs smoothly. Her organization and dedication make every interaction with her seamless and enjoyable.

Robin W.

I have worked with Brenda in the past and can strongly attest to her work ethic, attention to detail, and pride she takes in a job well done. You’re in good hands with her, I promise.

Jessica S.

I've known Lisa Beatty for roughly 20 years, give or take a few. She speaks the truth. Period. Lisa acts with absolute integrity and I have absolutely NO doubt of her abilities to handle legal cases. In addition to (...)

C.B.

Brenda is knowledgable and professional. Her attention to detail and communications are top notch! Thank you for all your expertise and excellent customer service.

Cesca I.

Lisa Beatty was fantastic at answering my questions. Knowledgeable, kind, empathetic, and just fun. I live out of town and called late one afternoon. The office gave me a phone appointment with her first thing the n(...)

D.H.

Melanie always brings a positive attitude to any team and has a truly admirable work ethic. She always listens intently and lends a helping hand. Keep doing what you do :)

McKenzie S.

I can’t say enough good things about the team at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services! From the moment I walked into their Novi, MI office, I felt welcomed by their friendly, compassionate, and professional staff. E(...)

Rob D.

Ruxandra Oprescu is our family “go to” person regarding our estate plans. Ruxandra is not only extremely knowledgeable, but she is also kind, considerate, and very easy to work with. Simply put, a great person! We h(...)

Todd D.

My husband and I hired Estate Planning & Elder Law Services, P.C. to create an Estate Plan for us. We have been extremely satisfied with the service that they have provided. Our time spend was used wisely and effici(...)

Lynn M.

Margaret is very informative and educational .. she met our urgent needs!!! Margaret is compassionate about her work!!! Kim was very attentive to our urgent needs … always returned calls, emails.. reminders and kept(...)

Marcela L.

Caring, kind professionals who are truly there to help with whatever is needed.

Martha K.

Chris and the entire staff were great to deal with!

Dominic L.

Excellent services. Very thorough and helpful in all of our planning.

Jessica G.

They took there time to ensure I understood what they were talking about.

Paul C.

Very professional and thorough. A much better experience than I had with a previous lawyer that set up our initial trust.

Mark K.

Working with Chris and his team was really quite easy. I had thought the process to get a trust and all the other applicable document would have been much worse.

Dave W.

We were very pleased with the whole experience. Everyone we dealt with made what isn't a desirable task a pleasant experience. Made me wonder why I procrastinated for 3 years.

Thomas P.

Nothing but top notch service. Shelly was especially helpful, and patient, knowledgeable. Chris, our attorney was very helpful. I would have given 10 stars if I could. Have the clients best interests in mind.

Brad S.

Chris Lindsay is very knowledgeable and took the time to walk us through all the steps of our estate plan. Excellent service!

Jeanne J.

We contacted EPEL to help us with our living trust. From the minute we began the process to the final signing we encountered friendly, knowlegable and professional staff every step of the way. We would highly recomm(...)

Cathy S.

I attended the initial meeting with my parents to set up a Trust. The process went very smoothly and I am glad I got to experience it because now I know what I need to do. We only met with Christopher Lindsay 1 time(...)

Char B.

We had our trust and estate planning documents restated. Very pleased, would definitely recommend.

Kris A.

Lisa Beatty went above and beyond during our initial phone consultation. She took the time to ensure my understanding of complex matters. She was honest regarding the services that would be helpful for my mother wit(...)

Toni S.

Very knowledgeable on estate planning in Michigan, and very easy to deal with. I would recommend with no reservations.

Jim B.

We had an initial consultation with Lisa Beatty for our mother in law. Though we live in Georgia, our mother in law is a Michigan resident and Lisa set up a Zoom/phone call to explain our options for Estate Planning(...)

Bob J.

Beginning in 2002 with a referral from a lawyer friend of ours, my wife and I did our trusts. Since then, we have revised them, arranged for him to do my in-laws' trusts and recently had my mother's done. Mr. Lindsa(...)

Marcel S.

We felt very comfortable working with the folks at Estate Planning & Elder Care. Good solid advice, no pressure to sign up for unnecessary services. All Good!

Jack H.

For most people, working on a will or trust is a scary experience. For my husband and I, it was a thoughtful and pleasant event. The pre-visit questionnaire helped us focus on what we wanted our trust to look like. (...)

Sandra V.

Chris and his staff has assisted us with two estate planning matters in the past year. Always prepared, efficient and professional. Highly recommended.

Thomas Z.

The whole team was very knowledgeable they explained options including all the pluses an minuses helping us decide what fit us best. There was never any sales pressure. Very pleased with our results.

Harry A.

This is an excellent firm to work with. They are all very professional and informative. I really appreciate the kindness that they showed my wife who had major communication problems and how wonderful they were to m(...)

T Barylski

This spring Christopher Lindsay and his team helped my dad create a trust. I accompanied my dad in the process, and it was smooth and straightforward. I highly recommend Christopher Lindsay as he has the years of ex(...)

Elise B.

Thanks again Chris for preparing our Ladybird deed and related documents. We really appreciated your knowledge, expertise, and professionalism. I will happily refer you to those who require estate planning services.

Jeffrey B.

I was not very organized with my estate planning. Chris and his team provided a nice checklist of documents to get me started.Meeting with Chris and Shelly went very well as both were well prepared and able to easi(...)

Bill E.

We looked into 3 other Legal Estate Planning firms before we decide on Estate Planning & Elder Law. The people there have been very responsive, friendly and great to work with. We felt that they listened to us and a(...)

Pat A.

Chris was extremely knowlegable, and a wonderful communicator about setting up an estate plan. He was well organized, and presented the materials in a straight forward manner, devoid of legalese. He answered our que(...)

Ralph K.

I highly recommend working with Estate Planning and Elder Law Services. They helped me throughout the complicated process of preparing these important papers, and explained everything to me in language that I could (...)

Meta M.

Chris was very knowledgeable and experienced, an expert in his field. His staff was friendly and efficient...so glad we decided to find a specialist vs. a general attorney.

Amanda F.

My husband and I are growing older and wanted to be prepared if anything were to happen to one or both of us. We attended an estate planning class taught by Christopher Lindsey and found it so informative and helpfu(...)

Kathleen F.

Chris and his staff were attentive to our needs and took the time to explain each step in the process. If your looking for honesty, expertise and a personalized recommendations, I highly recommend Estate Planning an(...)

Will B.

I have used Chris Lindsay for several years to establish plans for myself, my husband and my mother. I find Chris to be extremely knowledgeable and when faced with an issue he does not handle, he has always referred(...)

Judy L.

Christopher reviewed our current wills and power of attorney and patient advocate documents .He also addressed a number of questions we had. His recommendation was to draft new wills and a trust document which we ha(...)

Mitch M.