Following a person's death in Ohio, the probate court will appoint an executor or administrator to administer the decedent's estate and help settle their final affairs. Executors have a fiduciary duty to perform their expected responsibilities ethically and ensure a successful probate and estate administration.
Although guardianship and adoption are two different legal arrangements, there remains some confusion surrounding these two processes. As an attorney who assists individuals and families with both guardianship and adoption, I’m often asked about the differences between them.
According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 46% of Americans currently have a will that describes how they would like their estate to be administered after their death. Unfortunately, this low number means that many families in America will be left with the complicated problem of settling their loved one’s estate after their passing without knowing their wishes.
Establishing a will is one key step in your estate planning process, but it’s not the only one. It is important to be knowledgeable about the best route for your family when it comes to your estate.
Starting a conversation with aging parents about estate planning is a difficult but necessary task. No one likes to think about their own passing, but the longer these discussions are put off, the harder they become. This is becoming even more important since fewer and fewer seniors report having an estate plan.
A lengthy study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimated that a dementia-free male aged 65 had a 14.3 percent probability of developing dementia at some point in his life. For 65-year-old dementia-free females, the comparable percentage was 21.7.
Probate is the legal process for settling the estates of those who die. Probate can be a confusing concept for those embarking on estate planning and certainly for those who’ve lost a loved one and now must face the prospect of nine months or more of court proceedings before their loved one’s assets can be distributed to heirs.
According to an annual survey conducted by the website Caring.com, in 2021, awareness of the need for estate planning grew among the 18-to-34 age group due to the pandemic and its health scare.
Approximately 50,000 estates are filed each year in the Probate Division of Ohio’s Courts of Common Pleas. The substance of the estates, decedents, and heirs vary widely. However, they all share the need for an executor to administer them.
Despite the continued awareness around planning for life's uncertainties, a lot of people have yet to understand what an estate plan entails and how to make one. According to a 2021 Wills and Estate Planning Study by Caring.com, about 34.2% of American adults who don't have a will (69.1%) "don't know how to get one."
