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Your Guide to Understanding the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax  I.  Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax 101 Many people are familiar with the existence and some aspects of estate and gift taxes. If you are part of an ultra-high-net-worth family, it is important to also understand the generat...

What Is a Dynasty Trust and Why Should You Consider One?  If you have significant wealth, one of the best ways to protect your family and transfer your wealth is through a dynasty trust. However, setting one up requires considerable financial and estate planning knowledge. As experienced es...

I. Ways to Provide Money to Care for Your Beloved Pet As of 2023, 66 percent of US households own a pet.[1] A Forbes Advisor survey of more than 5,000 dog owners found that 41 percent of dog owners spend between $500 and $1,999 a year on their dogs and 8 percent spend more than $2,000 annually.[...

On the 3rd Monday of February, we celebrate several US presidents who made noteworthy contributions to our country. As with any discussion that involves politics, a discussion about US presidents risks generating a variety of opinions about which reasonable minds can disagree. However, politics i...

The Countdown Begins: Will We Keep the $10 Million Exemption? The year 2026 is quickly approaching, bringing substantial changes that may affect your estate tax situation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017 significantly increased the federal estate tax exemption to $10 million adjusted fo...

If You Own Any of These Assets, You Need to Watch Their Value As we begin 2024, it is crucial to review estate planning goals and strategies that may be affected by changes in the federal estate tax exemption law. At the end of 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) the estate tax exemption, whi...

If you have significant wealth, you may be exposed to future estate tax burdens that must be acted on before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the estate tax exemption in 2026. Developing and implementing the right estate planning and tax strategies takes time. You may need to prepare regardless ...

How Do You Want to Live On After Death?  In the words of physicist and My Big TOE author, Thomas Campbell, ‘To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.' When we lose someone dear, memories of special moments, the support they offered, and their unique qualities linger in our hearts. An e...

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0 Act). The previous SECURE Act in 2020 made several changes to retirement planning: It increased the required beginning date (RBD) for required minimum distributions (RMDs)...

Although we live in a world where information is easily accessible through the internet, there are still many misconceptions surrounding estate planning. Most of us do not dedicate our time to learning more about topics like estate planning, because we may not know that we need an estate plan or ...

When a person dies, what happens next depends on whether the deceased person had any foundational estate planning documents such as a Last Will and Testament (otherwise known as a Will) or trust, who the living relatives are, and their relationship to the person who died. If the deceased person d...

Obtaining a probate bond is a fundamental aspect of the probate process in Ohio, ensuring the protection of an estate's assets and the interests of beneficiaries. Whether you are an executor (someone nominated in a will to administer the estate), or an administrator (an applicant to administer an...

It is hard to lose a loved one.  While you are trying to cope with grief and other difficult emotions, a probate administration to address their legal and financial affairs can add additional stress and anxiety.  A lengthy probate administration often keeps the feeling of grief fresh for longer p...

An often misunderstood but common estate planning tool that can appear in estate planning documents is the power of appointment. Not to be confused with a power of attorney (the document that allows you to delegate certain powers to an agent to act on your behalf while you are still living), a po...

What is Probate? Probate is the legal process in which a deceased person's will is validated, their assets are identified, debts are paid off, and the remaining property is distributed to their beneficiaries. What is an Executor? An executor, also known as a personal representative in many states...

We associate March with St. Patrick's Day and Irish traditions such as searching for four-leaf clovers, which are thought to bring good luck. One thing that parents should never leave to luck is providing for their minor children. Young parents work hard to create a wonderful life for their child...

What? You didn't know that March 14 (3/14) is National Pi Day? We didn't either until recently, but now we know this celebratory day was established (you guessed it!) by a physicist (Larry Shaw) to recognize the mathematical constant (𝛑) whose first three digits are 3.14—probably as an excuse to ...

In 1987, Congress passed a law recognizing March as Women's History Month—a time to honor the contributions and achievements of women throughout American history in a variety of fields. Women have played a vital role in building the United States into a strong and prosperous nation. Likewise, wom...

Probate Estate administrations can easily turn into puzzles that can be difficult to unravel.  The Executor, the person nominated in the Will to administer the Estate, has a fiduciary duty to ensure that the assets are distributed to the correct beneficiaries.  If they fail in this duty, they can...

Spring Break Checklist After a long, odd Ohio winter, many of us—from the young and to the more mature—are ready to make plans for spring break. Here are a few important reminders, whether you plan to travel to take advantage of warmer weather by traveling or enjoy your spring break at home. Tips...

The Deceased Spouse's Unused Exemption Amount: a Spouse's Final Gift Spouses often work together to build wealth for themselves and their children. Congress recognized this by enacting the gift and estate tax portability election as part of the 2010 Taxpayer Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reautho...

Retirement Planning Update Although we are still in the midst of an erratic Ohio winter, spring is on its way. It is important to remember upcoming April deadlines for retirement contributions and required minimum distributions (RMDs), but there have also been some recent developments that may im...

Addressing A Few Common Probate Misconceptions Some of the most common questions that we hear when someone calls our office after losing a loved one are: My brother had a Will, so why do we have to go through probate to divide his property? My brother had a Will prepared leaving everything t...