Ohio Trusts Legal Questions

Hello Natalie, Myself and many other attorneys who practice in estate planning do this on a regular basis.  However, lawyers are prohibited from reaching out to solicit your business via an answer to a question on this forum.  You need to be the one to reach out and initiate contact with an attorney of your choosing.  You can use the Find a Lawyer tab on this webpage, check with the local bar associations, or ask friends or others you know in related professions for a referral. Best of luck.... Read More

It sounds like you have some basic misconceptions about how a trust functions.  When someone sets up a revocable living trust (RLT) the person in charge of the trust (Trustee), is normally you.  The attorney is usually only involved in setting up the trust, or modifying it.  If you would like a professional fiduciary to manage the trust, you are certainly free to do that, but there are ongoing costs.  Additionally, many national companies have a trust department that can handle this.  Overall, you may benefit from an inperson consultation with an estate planning attorney who can clearly explain everything and even discuss if a trust is worth it for you. Best of luck.... Read More

Here in Ohio, your father had the option to file his will with the county where he lived.  Additionally, if he ever petitioned the probate court for his county to rule on the validity of his will or trust, a copy may be on file in the Court file.  If you know what attorney drafted his documents, you can check with him or her.  Check safety deposit boxes, safes, or other places where he kept important docs. An old will is likely not going to do anything as each new will typically revokes any prior ones executed.  You may be able to contact the County Bar association where he lived and see if they can inquire. Best of luck.... Read More

Hello Linda, The cost of a trust can vary significantly from attorney to attorney.  I would caution you not to choose your attorney based on cost alone.  When dealing with an estate mistakes can be very costly and it's important to ensure you work with someone who understands estate planning and implications to other areas of law, such as taxes. As to your question about a Will v. Trust, this will require a more detailed analysis of your family's situation and goals.  Trust can be a great tool to help an estate avoid probate, remain private and be administered easier and more quickly.  However, not everyone needs a Trust.  I suggest sitting down with an estate planning attorney to go through your situation and give you some advice.... Read More

Hello Scott.  The answer really depends on what you're concerns are, and the status of any outstanding obligations.  Generally speaking, a living trust does not protect assets, however, there may be other options available to you, including the use of an irrevocable trust. You also need to take into consideration the Ohio fraudulent transfer Act. (Ohio Revised Code Ch. 1336).  I suggest you meet with an elder law attorney locally to take a closer look at your situation. ... Read More

This question is really really trust language-specific. I would need to know who the trustee is, whether it is a revocable or irrevocable trust, and what the terms are. If your grandmother is trustee and unable to speak or respond, then a guardianship can be set in place for her to run the trust which may help. If the lawyers are the duly appointed trustees, and not just the trustees agents, then it will be much harder to remove them absent showing a breach of fiduciary duty.   If you're willing to send the trust document over I can have a look. If you don't have a copy, you are entitled to one as a beneficiary of the trust. Make a request to the attorneys for one.... Read More

The Ohio Attorney Directory lists him as active. His contact information is listed as follows:   6469 Heritage Park Blvd. Dayton, OH 45424  Montgomery County 4192118 You can check the status of any attorney in Ohio through the Ohio Supreme Court at https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/AttorneySearch/#/search.  ... Read More

This will depend on whether the trust is revocable, irrevocable, and whether your spouse is the grantor. If the trust is an irrevocable trust, then the beneficiary designations remain the same and the house remains property of the Trust.    You may have to seek to have the trust dissolved as part of the divorce in order to obtain any of the assets in it. This will be a difficult fight to convince the court that the Trust property should be considered marital property, as frequently it is placed in trust in order to avoid the property being considered marital property.... Read More

I'm sorry for your loss.  Regarding the appraisal, it depends on what it will be used for.  If estate taxes are an issue or you plan to hold on to some valuable items and want to document their value at the time of your father's death for tax basis purposes, or if there is another heir who will question the value of the estate, then hiring a professional appraiser is worth the cost.  There should be estate appraisal businesses in the area who will provide appraisals and even handle the sale and disposal of items.  In other cases, simply doing some research online of similar items to your father's property should be suffiicent.  If you are truly the only heir, then there is no one to question the appraisal and an estimate for the probate court should be enough.   You can serve as administrator from out of state, unless there is some specific law in Ohio that you cannot.  You may need to hire local people to handle certain tasks, but much can be done by mail or phone.  You also could hire a local attorney to do the court filing for you and provide you with specific information about the probate process.   Yes, you can move into the house.  I would advise getting appointed as the administrator first.  If you are not the only heir, or if there are substantial creditors, I would advise writing a lease between the estate and yourself that spells out who pays what expenses.  Be sure to continue the insurance and inform them that your father has died.  ... Read More

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.  It sounds like your son's daughter was appointed the executor of his estate, so she is the one who would need to represent his estate in any law suit.  If you want to represent his estate instead, you would need to petition the court that appointed his daughter to remove her and appoint you as executor.  If she does not file the wrongful death for the estate, that may be sufficient grounds for the court to remove her.  Please note that there is a two year time limit for wrongful death actions so any law suite needs to be filed by Sept 7, 2018.  Also, it is not unusual that she was appointed to represent the estate without a hearing.  If she was named in his Will as executor she had priority to be appointed.  Otherwise all heirs and beneficiaries have equal priority.  It depends on the specifics of your situation with your son, but parents can receive part of a wrongful death award.  This is determined by the court as part of the lawsuit.   ... Read More

You should discuss this with them. How would i know if you were cut out of their will. if they die without a will, chances are you will inherit the entire estate if you are the only child. Whether your parents would make the neighbor an agent on their POA is something you need to discuss with them also.... Read More

What you can do depends on the terms of the trust. Schedule an appointment with the attorney that you know and trust. Take a copy of the trust with you to the appointment. The attorney can read the trust to determine if the transfer is permitted. If the trust does not say what happens in the event that a beneficiary wants to change trustees (I'm assuming that the attorney is acting as the trustee), then Ohio law will determine what is permitted. Tonya R. Coles Elder Law -- Estate Planning -- Probate www.tonyacoles.com... Read More

Since it appears that the bank account was in your sister's name alone at the time of your sister's passing, only the Executor (person named via last will and testament to manage the estate) or Administrator (term used when the decedent doesn't have a last will or testament) may access the account.  Therefore, an estate needs to be opened in the state/county in which your sister lived at her passing in order for an Executor or Administrator to be appointed who can then have legal access to the account.  The good news is that depending on the value of all of your sister's assets, the responsible party may be able to expedite the probate process through an Application to Relieve the Estate from Administration (R.C. 2113.03; Form 5.0) or Application for Summary Release from Administration (R.C. 2113.031; Form 5.10).  Assuming your sister was a resident of Ohio, you can go to the county probate court for these forms or visit the website if the county has one. It is possible that there is a payable on death (POD) or transferrable on death (TOD) beneficiary on the account, which means the beneficiary would have access to the account and the account would not be an estate asset under the control of the Executor/Administrator.  Unfortunately, though, unless you are the named POD or TOD, the bank will probably require you to be appointed Executor or Administrator for the bank to disclose the name of the POD or TOD beneficiary.   You do need to keep in mind that you cannot use your sister's estate assets to pay your mother's bills, unless your sister is joint owner or beneficiary of the home and would be legally responsible for its upkeep if your sister was living.  You actually have two potential estates here: one for assets owned solely by your mother (possibly the house) and one for assets owned solely by your sister (possibly the bank account that became your sister's as the last living joint owner).  There are a lot of details here and it may be appropriate for you to seek advice of a probate attorney.  Best wishes. This response is general in nature and is not legal advice. No attorney client relationship is formed by it. Further, the response does not represent the opinions or views of LexisNexis or its affiliates companies. You may wish to consult an attorney for specific legal advice.... Read More

It is a legal requirement that notice be "published" to give notice to any unknown creditors of the decedent.  There is a cost to publish this required notice.  In IL, where I practice, the charge for the usual publication used is $190.00 and yes I require the client to pay this amount.  I typically do not charge for preparation of the publication paperwork in addition to the publication costs, but some attorneys bill anything that takes more than 6 minutes.  Hope that helps.... Read More