By Angie Miracle
October 1, 2011 was a pretty big day for me. In one fell swoop I became a wife, a daughter-in-law, and a stepmother. The role as wife and daughter-in-law are pretty smooth, I chose a great family to marry into (I now have an uncle who was once the Key West arm-wrestling champion, and believe me, the stories only get better!). Having never been a mother before, the role as stepmother has been an adjustment, but a rewarding one.
My stepson is 8 years old. He is so creative and intelligent, and can be incredibly focused. Just last month he built a Lego structure that included over 3,000 pieces…all on his own…in two days. He stopped only to eat, sleep, and take his medication, which he takes six different kinds of throughout the day.
Tyler had an intestinal transplant when he was 14 months old, and because of this condition he is completely dependent upon those medications to survive. As you can imagine, healthcare costs are astronomical. Our family is fortunate to have wonderful insurance, however, when Tyler becomes an adult, he will never qualify for his own insurance plan. That is why a Special Needs Trust has been put in place for him. This trust is specifically designed so that Tyler's financial needs will be met as an adult. Without the added stress of financial concerns, he can focus simply on his health, which is the way it should be.
Should your family have special needs, Cooper, Adel & Associates can design such a trust for you. Please call us to learn more about a Special Needs Trust.
By Jessica LoPiccolo
People often think that when they write a Will their estate planning is done. They believe that nothing else is required. Wrong! A Will states who you want your executor and beneficiaries to be, but it does not keep your heirs out of Probate Court. In fact, a Will is the document used by Probate Court to appoint an Executor and to handle your assets – pay your bills, taxes and distribute what’s left – after you pass away.
A Will does not go into effect until the Executor is appointed by the Probate Court. Probate protection requires that you have a beneficiary named to receive assets (your home, your cars, your bank accounts, stocks, bonds, etc.) who is living at your death. There are many ways to accomplish this.
Probating your estate is both costly and time consuming. It will take at least a year in Ohio and can take years to settle up an Estate if there are conflicts.
There are ways to avoid probate, and there are even ways to protect assets from Nursing Home situations. Here at Cooper, Adel & Associates, we specialize in this type of planning. In fact, Elder Law planning is all that we do. Please give us a call to set up a free consultation and to learn how your heirs can avoid the probate process.
By Attorney Keith Stevens
Summit County Probate Court Judge Todd McKenney recently started a campaign that may seem bizarre, given his day job – he wants to help people stay out of probate court. The recently-appointed judge has launched a community project to help people examine and redraft deeds to ensure that homes can be transferred outside of probate when a spouse or parent passes away. Initial reports from the project indicate that 37% of examined deeds for married couples who own a home together would still require a probate estate to be opened when one of them died.
Probate can be costly and time-consuming. Creditors must be given time to take a bite of the estate owed to them and expenses can quickly pile up between attorney's fees and filing fees, but Judge McKenney told The Akron Beacon Journal that “It is not just the money, but the frustration of completing the probate estate shortly after the loss of a loved one.” Losing a loved one is hard enough without having to take their estate through the cumbersome and public process of probate.
Judge McKenney's project is a step in the right direction, but with the proper planning you can do much more than just probate protect your real property. What about your bank accounts, mutual funds, stocks, vehicles, and personal belongings? If you get your deed redrafted to protect your spouse, what happens to your children when you both pass away? The probate and elder law attorneys at Cooper, Adel & Associates can help you address these concerns and more.
Reference: http://www.ohio.com/news/probate-judge-launches-project-to-help-some-avoid-probate-1.257454
By Attorney Ted Brown
In the course of my work in Estate and Trust Administration, I often encounter the misconception that real estate owned jointly among spouses contains a right of survivorship. As a result, I see property end up in probate and the estate burdened with time-consuming and costly hassles that could have been avoided.
A right of survivorship is not conferred automatically to joint owners or joint tenants through a general warranty deed. This right is created only by specific wording on the deed itself and is more commonly seen is what is known as a survivorship deed.
While this nuance of property law is lost on many, it is not lost on a probate judge. Spouses, or other joint owners of property, each own an undivided one-half interest in that property. When one spouse dies, that half interest does not automatically pass to the other spouse unless a right of survivorship is granted within the deed. This means that in order for the surviving spouse to get clear title to the entire property, the deceased spouse’s half must go through probate. This can take months and add thousands in unnecessary expense.
The hassle of probate can easily be avoided by placing the property into a trust or with a properly drafted survivorship deed. It is important to seek the counsel of an Elder Law Attorney to explore these options.
By Attorney Dan Vu
As an Ohio Elder Law Attorney, I am glad to see more and more couples take the necessary steps to avoid the cost and hassle of probate court after their deaths. Most couples avoid probate by owning assets jointly with rights of survivorship. That means the asset is titled so that it will pass automatically to the surviving spouse upon the first death. Although I am glad to see this, I always urge couples to take the next step and finish what they started. Instead of protecting the asset from probate only when one spouse dies, I would urge them to consider taking additional steps to avoid probate if both of them pass away at the same time.
For example, if you own your home or car jointly with your spouse with rights of survivorship and you both pass away at the same time, your home and car will go through probate before being distributed by your Will to your children. A simple way to avoid the cost and hassle of probate for your children, even in this tough-to- imagine scenario, would be to establish a Living Trust. With a Living Trust, even if you both die at the same time, your children will receive the asset without having to endure the delay and cost of the probate process. Further, you have the option to choose a Trust whereby those same assets could be sheltered from applicable federal and state estate taxes, nursing home liens, or even from your children’s creditors. Make sure you see a qualified elder law specialist to see how best to meet your needs.
By Attorney Ted Brown
As an Elder Law attorney, I often advise clients of the many benefits of avoiding probate by placing their assets in a trust. Among these benefits are decreased cost of administration, survivor’s immediate access to trust assets and the ability to keep the details of your estate plan private. When a will is admitted to probate it becomes a matter of public record, including the details of what your assets are and who will be getting them.
Apart from the obvious, this lack of privacy can have many negative consequences. I recently heard of a case where a real estate investor used probate records to find business leads. He would search the records for elderly widows holding the family home and attempt to “make on offer” on the house. He would also contact the executor and the attorney for the estate, whose information is also public record, and attempt to inject himself into their affairs, offering cash up front and help finding the surviving spouse new living arrangements. His offers were always low, and played on the economic uncertainty of both the real estate market and the personal finances of the surviving spouse.
This is just one example of the importance of an estate plan focused on avoiding probate. Under Ohio law, assets placed in a trust automatically pass to survivors and do not become public record. Not only does this protect your privacy and the privacy of your estate, but it also protects our heirs from swindlers in their hour of need.
By Mary C. Roberts
YES, there are probate issues that can come up even with a trust and all assets funded to the trust.
Ohio Law says that if a lawsuit has to be filed on behalf of a decedent for the benefit of his or her heirs, that suit must be filed by a representative of the estate and that Letters of Authority must be issued by the Probate Court of the County in which the decedent held residence.
If the decedent was involved in an auto accident or any type of accident or wrongful act that contributed to their death, Ohio Revised Code Sections 2117.05, 2125.02 and 2125.03 state that a wrongful death action must be filed with the Probate Court in order to pay proceeds of settlement to the proper heirs, and that the Probate Court must determine and approve proper distribution to heirs. One of the most common claims we are finding out there today are Mesothelioma Claims.
If you find yourself in a position where there is any possibility of this situation in your life or have been contacted concerning any possible settlement regarding wrongful death, you must find an attorney who can and will file the appropriate pleadings in Probate Court. Cooper, Adel & Associates has an Estate Administration Department that is seasoned in these matters and anxious to serve your needs.
By Lauren Cooper
It is important to confirm that you have a beneficiary named for all out of state property, even timeshares, to avoid probate. If an out of state property has to go through probate, then your fiduciary will have to handle what is known as an ancillary administration. In an ancillary administration, a probate estate must be opened in both the state of the decedent’s residency as well as the state where the property is located. The probate estate must be opened in the state of the decedent’s residency even if none of their other assets require a probate administration. Regardless of how well you have constructed your estate plan, if you have an out of state property that has to go through probate, then your fiduciary will have to retain two Attorneys in two different states and pay them both the large legal fees that are associated with probate.
You will most likely have to retain an out of state Attorney in order to probate avoid (that is, identify a beneficiary for) your out of state property. In choosing your out of state Attorney, you should choose an elder law attorney that is familiar with how to ensure that your property will not go through probate. Feel free to call our office and we can refer you to an elder law attorney who certified in the state where you real estate is located.
Whatever you do, don’t let that out of state property ruin your estate plan! Taking the initiative to be sure that the property is probate avoided will save your heirs the headache, time, and cost of dealing with it after you are gone.
By Angie Hall
There are many ways to make it easier for your family when you pass away. One is to make sure that you have named beneficiaries on your assets – your real estate, cars, boats, bank accounts, investments, insurance and annuities. But what if you don’t?
1) Your estate is guaranteed to go through the Probate Court (even if you have a will–wills require the probate process to distribute assets without beneficiaries).
(2) With a Probate, your out of pocket cost can be much more than it costs to initially create and administrate a trust or otherwise avoid probate.
(3) Your Probate case can take a lot of time to complete, you are at the mercy of the probate court in your county.
(4) Your Probate case will be open to public inspection. That means that your neighbors and distant family can look at your assets and will know where you wanted the assets to go.
(5) You won’t be able to prevent your minor child from inheriting your assets outright at age 18 (your child could ruin his or her life by inheriting too much too soon: drug abuse, buying an expensive sports car and crashing it, not becoming a productive member of society because of the “I have money, I don’t need to work syndrome”, etc.).
If you want to learn more about the different ways to avoid probate, contact our office.
by: Attorney Thom L. Cooper
When most people go to a lawyer they become involved in “death planning.” After a short meeting with the lawyer the clients are typically sent home with a will (which guarantees going through probate). At their death, a family member is expected to return to the lawyer’s office so that the lawyer may probate the will.
In contrast, at the Thom L. Cooper Company we prefer to focus on “life planning” and probate avoidance. Think about the difference! Most of our seniors that come to us are healthy and vigorous and they expect to live a number of years. Indeed one of the fastest growing segments of our population is between 90 and 100. So we routinely expect to work with our clients for 10-40 years. Traditional death planning just looks at the absolute end of this journey. By contrast life planning looks at the entire journey. Below are some of the things we consider in building a life plan for your family.
- Building a profile of your family situation to identify trouble spots or special needs
- Documenting your assets, including the amounts, types and risk levels associated with the assets
- Determining the vulnerability of particular assets with respect to taxation and catastrophic illness
- Developing and implementing tax and asset protection strategies tailored to your assets
- Developing a plan that allows you to choose who can act on your behalf if you are incapacitated , without court proceedings
- Familiarizing you with critical tripwires that alert you when to come back to review and update your plan
- Providing guidance to avoid probate costs, paperwork and delays
- Counseling your family at your death or disability about steps to take to preserve your wealth
Its just as important to remember that once we set the above plan in place you need to be sensitive that the plan must be revised. We encourage and expect clients to come back during their lifetime so their plans may be revised for changes in their situations. For example, your plan should be revised for:
- Changes in your health. For example, if your spouse becomes incapacitated and your plan leaves everything to your spouse that is probably not a good plan anymore.
- Changes in family. For example, if your children get in an auto accident and are sued then you need to change your plan to avoid creditors attacking inheritances for those children should you die while they are involved in the lawsuit.
- Changes in the law. For example, when the tax laws are changed, they can have significant changes to your life plan.
As most people who are the retirement phase of life know, getting older is the beginning of a new and difficult journey which is likely to last years… and that journey is not for the faint of heart.
If you are interested in seeing what your “life plan” would look like please give us a call at the Thom L. Cooper Co.
