Ohio Estate Planning
An Ohio estate plan should connect your family decisions with your home, accounts and business interests. Clear authority and coordinated ownership matter as much as the signed documents.
Start with the people who would manage financial matters, make health-care decisions and administer your estate. A will, financial power of attorney and health-care documents address different roles. Parents should also consider guardian nominations and how a child's inheritance would be managed.
A trust may be useful for incapacity, privacy, property in another state or distributions over time. Its terms and funding should fit the actual property and beneficiaries.
A will does not control every asset. We review deeds, account ownership, insurance and retirement beneficiary forms, and business transfer restrictions alongside the estate documents. An arrangement that suits one asset may be unsuitable for another.
If a trust is part of the plan, the written scope should identify the transfers or beneficiary changes needed and who will complete them. The documents should not leave the family guessing about unfinished implementation.
Ohio's estate tax repeal does not remove every tax question. Federal estate and income tax issues may remain, and property or connections in another state can bring that state's rules into the analysis. We coordinate those questions with the tax advisor.
After a death, the county probate court and the nature of the estate determine the required proceedings. Some assets may pass outside probate, while others need an appointed fiduciary. We establish that distinction before proposing the administration scope.
Sources checked September 7, 2026: Ohio Revised Code section 5731.02, Supreme Court of Ohio: estate forms. Court procedures and tax questions depend on the estate and jurisdiction.
Ohio's estate tax does not apply to deaths on or after January 1, 2013. Federal tax and another state's rules may still be relevant.
A will is one part of the plan. Lifetime decision-making documents, asset ownership and beneficiary designations also need attention. Whether to add a trust depends on the circumstances.
We assess probate and trust-administration needs, confirm whom we would represent, and propose a defined scope. Contested matters may require separate counsel.
Begin with the complimentary fit-and-intake call with Jamee, or book a paid attorney strategy session with Drew.
Drew Jacobs is licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice or an offer to represent you in a jurisdiction in which we are not licensed.