ESTATE PLANNING
Do you know what would happen legally- to you, your loved ones, your money and everything else you care about – if something unexpected happened to you?
If you have an estate plan and it’s out of date, your assets could be lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property, or to an unnecessary Court process.
If you don’t know exactly what would happen for everyone you love and everything you own, then the first step is to find out exactly what would happen, legally and financially, so that you can decide if the current state of your affairs is okay with you.
KIDS PROTECTION PLANNING
A Kids Protection Plan® is a set of instructions, legal documents and even an ID card for your wallet, which you need to have if you have kids at home who count on you for their well-being and care.
If you are in an accident, your Kids Protection Plan® will make sure your children are never taken into the custody of Child Protective Services, strangers or the care of anyone you wouldn’t want because the authorities don’t have clear instructions from you. And your Kids Protection Plan® will ensure your children are raised by people you choose, not someone chosen by a Judge who doesn’t know you.
GUARDIANSHIPS
If you and your spouse/partner cannot agree on who would be the ideal guardian(s) for your kids, that’s something we can help with. We have special training from the Family Wealth Planning Institute on helping parents work through this critical decision.
If you do nothing, the decision about who would raise your children (if something were to happen to you) would be left up to a judge to decide.
A judge who doesn’t know you, doesn’t know what’s important to you, and doesn’t know your children will make all the decisions about who cares for the people who are most important to you in the world.
We can help!
ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING
Nobody expects to be sued. Just ask the 20 million people involved in lawsuits last year.
Divorce, inheritance, health issues, creditors, employees, theft, changing markets, malpractice suits, sexual harassment claims, natural disasters and disgruntled business partners are just a few issues that can result in devastating lawsuits for unprepared business owners. The highest level of risk falls on those who think they are immune.
Will you be signing loan documents, a personal guaranty or a lease? Do you have rental properties or employees? Are you an attorney or physician? Do you work in construction or perform professional services? Are you getting married and have children from a prior marriage or separate property assets you are bringing into the marriage.
Here’s the thing: all of these activities are activities we want to see you do more of! They are, in many ways, the spice of life. But we don’t want that spice to become too hot and impact your life negatively.
That’s where we come in. We can set up your business and life structures to ensure that you can take maximum risk with minimum worry.
CONSERVATORSHIPS / ADULT GUARDIANSHIP
Whether through illness, injury or mental decline, anyone can require a guardian (also known as a conservator) to care for them if he or she becomes mentally or physically incapacitated. Unless the person has the proper estate planning in place that names a guardian, however, guardianship must be established through the county probate court. At Krugler Law, we can provide you with a guardianship/conservatorship attorney to guide you through this often complex and emotional process.
SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING
Estate planning for families with special needs children comes with a complex set of financial, social, and medical issues that some lawyers are ill-equipped to handle. Krugler Law is dedicated to ensuring your child with special needs will be well taken care of when you are no longer able to serve as the primary caregiver.
We offer a variety of estate planning tools and strategies designed to accommodate the unique circumstances presented by children with special needs and their families in Ohio. We can help you pass on the financial assets needed for your child to live a rich quality of life without jeopardizing their eligibility for government benefits. We’ll also assist you in finding and appointing a trusted guardian and/or trustee to look after them in the event of your death or incapacity. And we’ll help with locating the best residential opportunities—as well as the means to pay for them.
TRUST AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
When a loved one dies it can be a confusing time in which you are in immense grief while also needing to make sure you handle all the technical details of locating assets, paying bills and making sure your loved one’s assets get to the right people, without conflict.
Whether your loved one created a trust to hold their assets, or did not, he or she did have assets (called the estate of the deceased) that must be handled with careful attention and it’s critical that you work with an attorney who can help you to do the right thing, minimize conflict and ensure the smoothest possible transition of assets.
We are here to help.
PROBATE
Probate in Ohio is a court-supervised procedure that helps to ensure the legal transfer of assets from the deceased to the rightful heirs or beneficiaries. Probate courts demands the process to:
Prove the validity of the will
Appoint someone to manage the estate (The “administrator” if there is no will or the “executor” if there is one)
Inventory and appraise the estate property
Pay any debts or taxes (including estate taxes)
Distribute the property as direct by the will—or by the state law if there is no will
