A well designed estate plan at death passes assets to those we love, in a manner that best fits the life circumstances of our intended beneficiaries.  And, it reduces or eliminates the associated costs, such as estate and income taxes, probate court expense, and legal fees.  Our office regularly deals with revocable and irrevocable trusts, wills, powers-of-attoney, the U.S. and Ohio estate ("inheritance") taxes, income taxes, and the rules of the local probate courts, to accomplish the objectives of our clients.

A thoughtful estate plan takes into acount not only the expected "size" of our net worth upon our demise, but also considers the unique needs of those who will be our beneficiaries.  Could an heir be too young to receive an inheritance?  Should the inheritance be "phased in" at certain ages?  Does an heir have a disability or special needs?  Is the intended beneficary in a difficult marriage with the possibility of a later divorce?  Do we have children from a prior marriage?  Should we protect the inheritance from the heir's potential creditors?  Are there taxes that can be avoided? Do we wish to avoid the probate court rules, delays, and expenses?  Every plan is different...every life is unique.

Implementing an estate plan requires more than just properly crafted documents.  How assets are owned (i.e. joint, in a trust, individually?) is equally important. Careful selection of the primary and contingent beneficiaries (spouse? children? trust?) for those assets that have their own beneficiaries (e.g. life insurance, IRA's, 401K's, annuities) is also critical.  Signing a will or trust without attending to these considerations will insure that the plan fails.  We see serious failures like these regularly, only because a person did not understand some basic legal principles before he or she died.