To avoid probate in Ohio, probate attorneys and estate planning attorneys use a variety of strategies available under probate law to transfer the ownership of assets directly to beneficiaries upon a person's death.

The most efficient and reliable way to avoid probate court is to place all assets into a trust. Because a trust is a legal entity that owns the assets rather than an individual owning them, the assets do not go through probate. Instead, the creator of the trust provides instructions for how the trust's assets are to be handled or distributed after the creator's death. Administration of a trust is handled privately, without interference from a court, and is usually less expensive than the probate process.

"Joint tenancy" and "survivorship" are terms that refer to a particular way that real estate and other assets can be titled. Joint tenancy means that the real estate is titled to two or more people jointly. Each of the owners has an equal share of the real estate and is entitled to occupy the entire premises. Spouses who put their home or other real estate in the names of both spouses usually have joint tenancy with survivorship rights of the house and real estate. However, unless the title specifically says "with survivorship rights," one half of the property will have to be probated at the first death. Worse yet, it may not even go to the surviving joint owner.

Life insurance payouts and financial instruments (including bank accounts, individual retirement accounts, retirement plans and institutional accounts that are "payable at death") avoid probate as long as a beneficiary is named in the policy or contract and that beneficiary is someone other than the deceased or the deceased's estate and who survives the decedent and is not incapacitated. Instead, the money passes directly to the named beneficiaries.

However, if no beneficiary is named or the beneficiary is the deceased's estate, then the insurance payout or funds go to probate court to be distributed according to Ohio probate law. This is why it's extremely important to make sure beneficiaries are named on all insurance policies, bank accounts, retirement accounts and other eligible financial tools.

If you need to probate an estate or want to keep assets out of probate after your death, the Dayton, Ohio, probate attorneys at Gudorf Law Group can help you understand Ohio probate law and create a plan to avoid probate. Call us for a free consultation at 1-877-483-6730.

When going through probate, an estate's real property or real estate is distributed to heirs by the probate court as proscribed by the deceased's will. If there is no will or the will is determined to be invalid, the court will distribute the real estate according to the dictates of Ohio probate law. The Ohio probate attorneys at Gudorf Law Group emphasize that leaving real estate to go through probate runs a significant risk of the property not going to the heirs you intended because someone may contest your will or state law may not grant it to the people you thought would receive it. Moreover, probate subjects the property to the claims of creditors.

There are three ways to likely keep real estate out of probate under Ohio probate law:

Create a revocable trust and title the real estate to the trust — this avoids probate because the real estate is owned by the trust, not the person, and follows the rules of the trust. In essence, the real estate does not get handed down to anyone because it's owned by the trust and therefore does not have to go through probate.

Title the property to two people with rights of survivorship — When two people own real estate jointly with rights of survivorship (known as joint tenancy), the real estate automatically passes to the surviving owner and avoids probate. However, there are many potential pitfalls with joint tenancy that can leave the surviving owner vulnerable to avoidable taxes and other headaches.

Title the property as TOD" or transfer on death. Once again, there are many reasons not to use a TOD designation.

Ohio probate law requires any property owned by the decedent alone at the time of death to go through probate if it is not jointly owned with survivorship rights, titled to a trust, or have a beneficiary designated.

Even if you have a will, property titled to you will go through probate and the estate will be distributed to your heirs according to either your will or state law. Only assets that have a designated beneficiary, are owned jointly with rights of survivorship, or are titled to a trust will avoid probate, according to the Dayton, Ohio probate attorneys at Gudorf Law Group.

Assets that typically go through probate include:

• Real estate titled only to the deceased or jointly titled as tenants in common without rights of survivorship
• Personal possessions, such as cars and jewelry, not protected by a trust
• Business interests not protected by a trust
• Investments and other financial instruments for which no beneficiary is designated or the beneficiary is deceased or is the deceased's estate
• Insurance policies for which no beneficiary is designated or the beneficiary is the deceased or is the deceased's estate

If you need to probate an estate or want to keep assets out of probate after your death, the Dayton, Ohio, probate attorneys at Gudorf Law Group can help you understand Ohio probate law and create a plan to avoid probate. Call us for a free consultation at 1-877-483-6730.

Ohio probate attorneys frequently get asked by clients to explain what 'incapacity' means. This is a common question because many power of attorney documents, living wills and revocable trusts have powers or provisions that become active when the creator is determined to be incapacitated.

Living probate is a court proceeding to determine whether an individual is incompetent of handling their personal care and financial resources and assigning guardianship over the person and/or estate if they are found incompetent. The intent of these proceedings is to protect a person's welfare and financial affairs when they are unable to do so themselves.

In Ohio, probate court commonly appoints a guardian for minors who have no parents and adults who are mentally incompetent or rendered incapacitated by illness or injury.

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Challenging a will usually occurs when a family member of a deceased person believes the will does not reflect the true wishes of its creator or is otherwise invalid. Sometimes the challenger contests the will with a motive for selfish gain, but more often it is because they believe the creator did not have sufficient mental capacity when writing it or was under the undue influence of a selfishly motivated individual.