Gudorf Law Group has announced its free, estate planning seminar schedule for 2012. The firm will be offering two free seminars per month through December 2012. Each seminar is led by the firm’s owner, Attorney Ted Gudorf, and is held at Company 7 Barbecue, located at 1001 South Main Street in Englewood. All seminars include a complimentary dinner.

These seminars are designed for people who have not yet planned for the future of their estate or for people who already have estate plans in place, but are not sure they have made the best decisions to protect their assets.

“These seminars are a critical first step in the estate planning process. The seminars give people a basic understanding of what they should do to protect their assets and help them understand the next step in the estate planning process,” says Gudorf.

Asset protection strategies and estate planning are essential for same-sex couples who want to leave an inheritance for each other or give their partner decision-making power over their healthcare. Ohio laws do not give rights to domestic partners when it comes to wills and healthcare decisions, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Family farms and estate planning in Ohio was a pretty hot topic at a recent Ohio Farm Bureau meeting that I spoke at. About 125 farmers from across the state showed up to hear me and the other speakers.

One thing that struck me was that most of the farmers I spoke to said they’d never met an attorney who could explain why they should do estate planning and elder law planning. In this post I want to solve that issue and explain plainly why estate planning and elder law planning is necessary for farmers.

Done together as a family, estate planning helps everyone feel secure about the future. Starting by discussing living wills, going to an estate planning seminar, or meeting together with a Dayton estate planning attorney can get the ball rolling.

Bringing up estate planning with a loved one, especially a parent, can be uncomfortable for anyone. No one wants to be perceived as chasing after an inheritance. Nor do they want to inadvertently suggest to their parents or other loved one that they aren’t long for this world.

A Limited Power of Attorney, rather than General Power of Attorney, is one of the chief tools I use as an estate planning lawyer to reduce potential conflict between co-agents.

Besides a Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney, it’s a good idea to have a Power of Attorney drawn up to assign someone to handle your financial and business affairs should you become mentally incapacitated. You can assign one person, two people, or more as agents authorized to act on your behalf. You can assign them general authorization (known as General Power of Attorney), which I don’t recommend, or limited authorization (known as limited power of attorney), which defines specifically what the agent(s) is authorized to do.

Setting legal guardianship for your children and making sure you leave enough of an inheritance to support your children are the key objectives to estate planning for young families. Life insurance and a revocable living trust are the primary components for achieving these objectives.

As an Ohio estate planning attorney, I advise young families to plan ahead in case a tragic event, like an automobile accident, occurs and claims the life of both parents. Consider who will care for the children. Will there enough money left behind to care for the kids until they become adults? Or will they be a financial burden on the ones who take them in?

In farm and family business succession planning, permanent life insurance policies play an extremely important role in that they equalize an inheritance between heirs who want to receive and run the farm or business and those who don’t.

Combined with other succession planning tools, like limited liability companies and trusts, permanent life insurance provides properly structured succession plans the means to buy out heirs who aren’t interested in running the farm or business. This allows heirs who are interested in running the farm or business to do so without angering family members or incurring excessive debt to buy out other heirs.

In Ohio, nursing homes and long-term care needs should be the first priorities of estate planning for folks over 65. Wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools that divide your estate amongst your heirs will mean little if your estate is consumed by the costs of long-term health care.

Approximately 75% of people over age 65 have not properly planned for long-term care and are likely to have their estate consumed by care costs or claimed for repayment of those costs under Ohio Medicaid rules.

Family Farm Succession Planning: Gathering Your Team

Family farm succession planning is critical to ensuring that your family’s farm is passed to your heirs quickly, equitably and with minimal arguments or disruption to farm operations.

Farm Property, Trusts & Limited Liability Companies: Preserving Ohio Family Farms for Future Generations

Placing farm property in a trust-owned limited liability company (LLC) is often a key component of protecting a family farm against estate tax laws, creditors, law suits, nursing homes and other risks so it can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. Specifically, the LLC holding your farm property must be owned by an irrevocable trust.