Ohio Probate Lawyer Blog

When planning your estate, one of the most important documents you'll create is your will. This legal document outlines your final wishes and how you want your assets distributed after you pass away. While most people think of a will as a formal document drafted by a lawyer, you might be surprised to learn that a handwritten will, also known as a holographic will, can be legally recognized in some cases. But what about Ohio? Is a handwritten will legal in Ohio, and are handwritten changes to a will legal? Let’s explore the details.

Can You Write Your Own Will in Ohio?

In Ohio, a handwritten will is legal under certain conditions. A handwritten will can be valid as long as it meets specific legal requirements. Ohio law requires all wills (including handwritten ones) to be signed by the testator, and witnessed by two individuals who are not beneficiaries of the will.

While it may seem simple to grab a pen and paper to jot down your final wishes, the state of Ohio takes the validity of wills very seriously. The reason for these strict requirements is to ensure that the will accurately reflect… Read More

Creating a will is one of the most crucial steps in estate planning, as it ensures your final wishes are honored after you pass away. As life changes, however, you’ll likely need to update your will. So, what happens to the old will when you make a new one? Does your new will invalidate your old one? Let’s explore how this process works and what steps to take to ensure your new will is valid and effective.

Understanding Will Revocation

When you create a new will, you generally intend for it to replace any previous wills. In legal terms, this is called "revocation." But does your new will automatically invalidate your old one, or is there something specific you need to do to make sure the old will is no longer valid?

Does Your New Will Invalidate Your Old One?

Yes, a new will typically invalidates an old one. When you create a new will, it usually includes a clause that explicitly states that all previous wills are revoked. This clause is important because it clearly indicates your intention to cancel any former wills. Without this revocation clause, confusion or legal challenges can arise regarding which will is the valid one.

Is an O… Read More

We all hope that when our children marry, their spouses will become a part of the family forever. Of course, experience tells us that that is not always the case. Sometimes there is friction between a person’s parents and their new spouse. Sometimes even marriages that seemed promising don’t work out. Many parents, especially those with significant wealth, want to ensure that their child’s inheritance is protected from their spouse.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself about a son- or daughter-in-law, “They’ll get my money over my dead body,” you might actually be right. Let’s talk about child inheritance protection, whether or not your child divorces their spouse.

How Can Your Child’s Spouse Get Their Inheritance?

There are three ways that your child’s spouse might get their hands on your child’s inheritance: during their marriage, in a divorce, or in the unfortunate event of your child’s death. Before talking about how to avoid those outcomes, let’s examine how they might come about.

In Ohio, inherited assets are generally considered the property of the person who inherited them, not of the spouse. That’s the good news:… Read More

Creating a trust as part of your estate plan is often a wise choice—if you understand how to choose a trustee. In addition to avoiding probate, a trust can provide a host of other benefits, such as increased flexibility and control. A trust can also provide protection for assets—including beneficiaries who may not have the wisdom or impulse control to responsibly manage an inheritance on their own.

Why Choosing a Trustee Matters

A living trust is one of the most popular options among various types of trusts. With a living trust, the person creating it (called the grantor, settlor, or trustmaker) also serves as the trustee (manager of the trust) and beneficiary (person who receives distributions from the trust). What this means if you create a trust is that during your lifetime, you can use, enjoy, and transfer trust assets just as if they were in your own name.

Should you become incapacitated,… Read More

It might seem like an unlikely scenario: someone learns that they are entitled to an inheritance, and they decide not to accept it. Can you not accept an inheritance if you are named in a will or you are an heir under the law? The answer is yes, and the process is referred to in legal terms as “disclaiming an inheritance.”

While it may not be a terribly common occurrence, disclaiming an inheritance happens more often than you might think. And if you someday find yourself in a situation where you decide to not accept an inheritance, you need to understand the legal and tax implications of your decision.

Why Would Someone Not Accept an Inheritance?

Most people, of course, are grateful to receive an inheritance from the estate of a loved one. The decision to not accept an inheritance is rarely due to a rejection of the person who has died. There are many reasons to disclaim an inheritance that make perfect sense once you think about them:

To Avoid Estate, Gift, or Income Tax Consequences

Managing tax consequences is probably the most common reason to not accept an inheritance. An inheritance, particularly a large one, can have negative… Read More

Thinking about your own funeral can be kind of uncomfortable, but most of us have at least a general idea of what we would want: burial or cremation, funeral or memorial service, religious or secular. Some of us have highly specific funeral wishes. For instance, one older woman we knew wanted the church at her funeral decorated with her large collection of decorative birdhouses; at the end of the services, mourners were instructed to take a birdhouse they liked to remember her by.

Whether you have imagined every detail of your send-off, or whether this is the first time you’ve thought of it, one thing is for certain: you won’t be there to carry out your own wishes. If you want the funeral you have envisioned, you will have to communicate your preferences to someone else. But what is the best way to do that? The logical way to convey your funeral wishes might seem to be a will. Read on to learn why putting your funeral preferences in a will is probably a bad idea—and to get some better ones.

Does a Will Include Funeral Wishes?

Technically, a will can include funeral wishes, but that doesn’t mean those wishes are legally binding. But there’s ano… Read More

Being named as the executor of a will is both a great honor and a great responsibility. It means that someone trusted you to wrap up their final affairs and distribute their earthly goods according to their last wishes. However, an executor, also referred to as the personal representative of the estate, has a number of duties to carry out between the time the probate estate is opened and the distribution of assets. For various reasons, not everyone feels up to the task. What do you do when you realize, “I don’t want to be an executor of someone’s will?”

Why Would Someone Decline to Be Executor?

There are many reasons you might not want to be the executor of a deceased person’s (decedent’s) estate.

• You have a demanding job or young family that needs your attention, and simply feel that you don’t have time.
• You lived near the decedent when the will was made, but have since moved… Read More

One of the responsibilities of the personal representative of an estate is the final distribution of estate assets to the heirs or beneficiaries of the deceased. Before a final distribution of estate assets can happen, however, there are many other steps that must be taken. If you are serving as the personal representative (also known as the executor or administrator) of a decedent’s estate, it is critical to fulfill those other responsibilities before making an estate distribution.

The probate/estate administration process can be a difficult one. Typically, the person appointed as personal representative is grieving the deceased, as are the heirs or beneficiaries. Many personal representatives have never served in that role before, and may be confused and frustrated by probate court requirements. In addition, heirs may not understand why it is taking so long to settle the estate, and in some cases, may unfairly suspect the personal representative of wrongdoing.

For many estates, it is a good idea for the personal representative… Read More