Your son or daughter is in an exciting chapter in their life—college! You may still see the little girl with pigtails or the little boy with mud on his face, but your college student is a legal adult. We know you’re still guiding and protecting y…
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Estate planning is the process of creating a strategy for the care and management of your property if you become incapacitated or upon your death. A common motivation of estate planning is to simplify the estate administration process and protect you…
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If tragedy strikes your family and your children need someone to take care of them because you cannot, then a judge will choose who steps in to care for them. You can have a voice in that selection, however, if you’ve taken the steps to nominat…
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If you have minor children, you need to make sure that your estate plan addresses their specific needs. One of these is making sure that if something happens to you, their inheritance won’t get caught up in a Guardianship of the Estate. What is a &…
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You have a minor child or children, and you want to make an estate plan. Why is it important to create a trust for them? Go through this quick exercise to answer this question based on your own circumstances. Write the total gross value of your asset…
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Download our free “Estate Planning Checklist: The Essential Guide for Making your Best Estate Plan in Ohio.” The checklist walks you through the steps you need to address to have the plan that is right for you and your loved ones.
Put in its most simple terms, estate planning involves putting your affairs in order so as to maximize the benefits that your assets can provide to you during your life and to those you desire to benefit from it after your death. Estate pla… Read More
What Does a Proper Estate Plan Include?
A proper estate plan to provide for the needs of your family may include:
An adequate Will or Trust
A written agreement concerning the status of your assets
If you already have an estate plan, it should not be considered permanent. Conditions, as well as your desires, may change. Estate plans should be reviewed at least every two-three years but, additionally, any important change in your life demands… Read More
What Happens if You Don't Have a Will or Trust?
If you do not have a Will or a Trust and have not used other probate-avoiding techniques, upon your death your assets will pass according to the laws of the state which has jurisdiction over your assets. The “state plan” may not provide for th… Read More
What Other Probate Avoiding Techniques Are There In Addition to Living Trusts?
The following methods are often used to avoid probate: joint tenancy title, community property title, bank account trusts, pay on death accounts, life insurance proceeds, retirement proceeds (IRA’S, TSA’S, 401K’s, etc.), retirement pla… Read More
What Should I Bring to My First Meeting?
People often ask what they should bring with them to their initial estate planning consultation (we call this “the Discovery Meeting”) with one of our attorneys.
As we discuss in Our Planning Process, the Discovery Meeting is our oppor… Read More
I Already Have an Estate Plan. Why Should I Think About Changing It?
We find that many people already have an estate plan, but it does not meet their current planning needs. They may have a Will that was prepared many, many years ago, or they may have a trust that prepared more recently, but those plans may not be… Read More
What Does an Estate Plan Cost?
As you might imagine, we get that question all the time. It is a difficult question to answer because fees are determined by the type of plan we put together, and that is determined by your goals, objectives and asset mix. The planning fees can ra… Read More
How Much of an Estate Do I Need to Have In Order to Set Up a Trust?
There is no “bright line rule” for determining whether a person needs a trust as a part of their planning. The answer for any particular person will depend on their own planning needs and planning goals.