Attorney

Practice Areas

Charitable Planning

Estate and Trust Administration

Estate Planning

Probate and Asset Protection

Tax

Education

B.A., The University of Michigan, 1972

J.D., cum laude, Detroit College of Law, 1975

Dennis M. Mitzel was an estate and gift tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service in Detroit, Michigan from 1977 to 1981. He was then an Assistant Vice President with Comerica Bank in Detroit, where he headed the Estate Tax Division of the Trust Tax Department. Mr. Mitzel is the principal of the Mitzel Law Group PLC law firm and former partner with the Berry Moorman P.C. law firm.

Mr. Mitzel was the Co-Chairman of the Tax Committee of the Detroit Bar Association from 1986 to 1988; he is a member of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan, where he was Chairman of the Estates and Trusts Sub-Committee from 1986 to 1988, a Council Member from 1988 to 1995, and Chairman from 1993 to 1994.  Dennis is also a member of the Christian Legal Society, where he served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Metropolitan Detroit Chapter from 1981 to 1982. Mr. Mitzel is also a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

Dennis M. Mitzel was a member of the ad hoc committee of the Taxation Section and Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan, which successfully introduced legislation repealing the Michigan inheritance tax in 1993. He testified before the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan regarding the proposed Internal Revenue Service Regulations on the Generation Skipping Tax issued in December, 1992.

Mr. Mitzel was a member of the Board of Directors of Huron Valley Grade School in Washtenaw County, Michigan from 1991 to 1996, where he served as Chairman during the 1992-93 and 1995-96 school years. Dennis is a former member of the Development Committee of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the T.H.A.W. Fund from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Mitzel is a Board Member and Past President of the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeastern Michigan where he currently serves as chairman of the Program Committee.  Mr. Mitzel is also a member and Past President of the Washtenaw Estate Planning Council. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Clarence and Grace Chambelin Foundation and the Herbert and Elsa Ponting Foundation.

Dennis M. Mitzel is a church youth group leader and for many years coached youth hockey. He was named the Ann Arbor Hockey Association Coach of the Year for the 1990-1991 and the 1992-1993 seasons. Mr. Mitzel was the recipient of the Sharon V. Abbott Scholarship Award at The Detroit College of Law in 1974.  He currently serves on the Finance committee of Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor.

Mr. Mitzel is a frequent lecturer on estate tax, the generation skipping tax, and charitable giving topics, and has been selected as one of Michigan’s Super Lawyers for the years 2006 through 2011 for his expertise in the category of estate planning and probate.