Estate Planning

Estate planning encompasses a diverse group of client needs and goals, including business succession planning, preparation of wills, advanced health care directives, general and limited powers of attorney, living trusts, charitable trusts, life insurance trusts, gifting trusts, end of life decision making, special needs trusts, estate planning for the disabled, and estate tax planning. Estate planning is not only for the wealthy or the elderly population. Individuals at all stages of life and various incomes benefit from having plans in place to ensure that desires and wishes are put into place after death or at a state of incapacity. If the wishes of an individual regarding financial or health decisions are not clear, the state will make the decisions for the individual or the court will hire a guardian. Proper estate planning ensures that the individual can clearly state financial and health care decisions in advance and the specific wishes of the individual can be followed. Proper estate planning can also assist the individual in avoiding the costly process of probate after death and, in some cases, decreasing the amount of costly estate taxes. Our attorneys are experienced in probate and guardianship practice before the Franklin County Probate Court and other probate courts in Ohio.

Business Succession Planning

In addition to the foregoing, the firm assists small business clients with formation, ownership, and business succession planning. The firm regularly assists clients with buy-sell agreements, close corporation agreements, restrictive shares and stock purchases, and general upkeep of corporate records and resolutions. Addressing these concerns early on enables clients to more easily pass a business, and its assets, to future generations, and achieve the goal of a son or daughter carrying on the family business. The firm assists clients in all aspects of business succession planning for small and family-owned businesses, including establishing provisions for small business ownership and control, stock incentives and transfers to trust or directly to beneficiaries, and protection of business assets from unnecessary exposure. Once a plan is established, it typically requires only occasional monitoring and updating to account for business growth and operations. Our attorneys are experienced in these areas and have appeared before Ohio’s courts and the Franklin County Probate Court.