Three Steps You Can Take To Avoid Probate Court 
Clients frequently ask, "How can I avoid probate?" While some of the steps involve preparation of documents that only an attorney should prepare, there are some things that you can do yourself to avoid probate without an attorney's involvement. Following are a few suggestions:
1. We often have estate administrations that must go through probate solely because of how the vehicle is titled. Go to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and obtain Transfer on Death (TOD) Titles from the BMV for the vehicles that would otherwise have to go through probate. For a single person, this would mean all vehicles, unless owned in a trust or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) with another person. For a married couple, this would mean all vehicles that would not *automatically pass to the surviving spouse, unless owned in a trust or JTWROS with another person. (*As a reminder, there is no limit on the number of cars, but the combined value must be under $65,000 to pass outside of probate to a surviving spouse.) Also, Ohio does NOT have automatic rights of survivorship for vehicles titled jointly owned with another person. Thus, if you want to continue owning your vehicles jointly with others, and you want those vehicles to avoid probate when you die, you should re-title those vehicles as JTWROS.
2. If you own life insurance on the life of someone else, you should designate a contingent owner of the policy so that the policy does not have to be probated if you die before the insured person dies. To do this, you will need to process a change of ownership form with the life insurance company. Life insurance companies usually have their own change of ownership forms, so you would need to contact your life insurance company to obtain the form. If you own a second-to-die life insurance policy jointly with another person, call the life insurance company and request that the policy ownership be changed to JTWROS.
3. Go to your bank and verify that the ownership of the account(s) reflects your wishes in your estate planning documents.
You should also confirm that the beneficiary designations on your investment accounts do not contradict your wishes in your estate planning documents.
We want to note that sometimes going through probate can be a good thing, especially if family members do not get along. As always, there is not a "one size fits all" approach to estate planning, so it's always best to consult an estate planning attorney before making decisions that most likely cannot be reversed after you die.
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Although our newsletter goes out only once a quarter, we make posts to our Facebook page once a week. That means liking our page gives you weekly access to what is going on at our firm.
We post everything from pictures of staff members to articles about the latest topics in our area of law.
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News You Can Use
In This Issue:
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Three Steps You Can Take To Avoid Probate Court
- A Reporter's Interview With Roberson Law: The Importance Of Timing When Doing Your Estate Plan
- Quick Tip: Is Your Trust Dated Before 2007?
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Are You Planning to Fail by Failing to Plan? Basic Steps to Avoiding Financial Loss
- Character Really Does Matter
- Elder Care Corner: Attention, Veterans!
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Nancy Roberson Gets Interviewed By The BBB
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Upcoming Widows Grief Support And Resources
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Need A Speaker For Your Next Event?
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Just For Laughs!
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A Reporter's Interview With Roberson Law:
The Importance Of Timing When Doing Your Estate Plan
In 2012, Dayton Daily News contributing editor, Debbie Juniewicz, interviewed Nancy Roberson regarding the role that timing plays in doing effective estate planning. We decided to recycle this article for our newsletter because
but it contains a lot of good information about the essential elements of estate planning.
The article also shares some personal background about Nancy and the events in Nancy's life that caused her to pursue the practice areas of estate planning and probate law and open her own law practice, which later became Roberson Law.
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Strata Leadership is a company that focuses on a character quality each month, with the sole purpose of building character in organizations. Our office has subscribed to the Strata Leadership monthly bulletins for years as a tool to promote character within our law firm.
The character quality highlighted this month is punctuality.
According to Strata Leadership, the definition of punctuality is, "Showing respect for others by doing the right thing at the right time." Principles of punctuality include trying to be early, under-promising and over-delivering, and frequent communication.
The action plan for practicing punctuality is:
1) Know your schedule.
2) Keep track of time.
3) Plan for delays.
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Are You Planning to Fail by Failing to Plan? Basic Steps to Avoiding Financial Loss 
With many Americans struggling to make ends meet, buying insurance is often not a priority. However, working in a law practice that is centered around death and disability often causes us to meet people who are suffering severe financial loss due to the absence of insurance in their lives when a crisis hits. Whether that crises is due to a death, illness, or an accident, many kinds of financial losses can be mitigated or eliminated altogether with insurance and prudent planning.
To reinforce this topic, Nancy Roberson wrote an article titled
"Living Without Loss"
that was published in
Living With Loss Magazine,
a periodical for which Nancy was a contributing author for several years until the magazine went out of publication. The primary theme of the article is
about asset protection planning with various kinds of insurance to avoid additional losses as we journey through life. The article addresses seven types of insurance that are a must-have for most people.
The various emotional losses that we experience can precipitate devastating financial losses. Although emotional loss is often inevitable, financial loss due to inadequate insurance need not emanate from it. If you need a referral to a trusted insurance agent who can steer you in the right direction, please email us at [email protected] for more information. While we will not align ourselves with a specific insurance agent or company, we do have relationships with many trusted advisors to whom we can offer a referral.
To view Nancy's published article titled "Living Without Loss," click here.
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Nancy Roberson Gets Interviewed By The BBB 
Last month, Ken Jarosik from the Dayton Better Business Bureau (BBB) produced a video highlighting some of the features that separate Roberson Law from other businesses, including the factors that have contributed to the firm earning an
A+ rating with the BBB. Nancy's
interview was broadcast in a video that was shared with the Miami Valley on August 21, 2017.
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Quick Tip: Is Your Trust Dated Before 2007?
Ohio Trust Law changed significantly effective January 1, 2007, when the Ohio Trust Code went into effect. Since that date, on numerous occasions, w
e have reminded our clients via snail mail, email, or in-person of this important date and suggested that serious consideration be made to update any trust that was dated before the Ohio Trust Code went into effect.
As a result of the law changes in 2007, we significantly revised our trust templates to comport with the Ohio Trust Code, which provides many benefits to settlors, trustees, and beneficiaries of trusts. In addition, we now draft our trusts in a way that can be easily updated if significant changes like those made to the Ohio Trust Law in 2007 occur in the future.
If it's been awhile since you've reviewed your trust, we suggest that you dust it off and call us for an appointment to review you trust and other estate plan documents. As a reminder, the rule of thumb is to schedule an appointment to review your estate plan every five years to make sure that your documents reflect the current laws and your wishes and estate planning goals.
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| All material in this newsletter is Copyright © 2017 by Nancy A. Roberson. All rights reserved. |
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