Second marriages always involve more complex and ethically challenging estate planning circumstances for seasoned estate planners. Planning to protect the heirs of the “first to die” is always a challenge and particularly when one of the spouses has been diagnosed …

Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court issued guidelines regarding custody evaluations in family law cases. Not every case involves a custody evaluation (nor should every case). Custody evaluators and guardians ad litem provide the court with custody and parenting time information. …

I have encountered numerous unusual divorce and child custody cases as a family law attorney. But a recent custody dispute resulted in a court-ordered arrangement that took unusual to a new level. The judicial officer in the case ordered “nesting,” …

The recent settlement in the case of Haney, et al. v. Genworth Life Insurance Company, et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, makes clear that Genworth and its long-term care insurance program are failing. …

529 plans continue to be a popular savings tool for the many expenses that come with a college education. Although they’ve been around since the late 1980s in Ohio and a few other states – and have since spread to …

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the historic legislation – FMLA – that gave American workers protected leave for family and medical reasons. With passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, workers  could, for the first …

For those in second marriages where a premarital agreement was not put in place, post- marital agreements are a viable and appropriate tool for purposes of planning their estates. For long-term second marriages where assets have been comingled and family …

Often, it’s the little things that cause the biggest problems, and that’s true in estate planning as well. Not taking care of minor details can add up to big headaches for your survivors, and even cost them big dollars in …

You see and hear the commercials everywhere. “Do you have an insurance policy you no longer need? Now you can sell your policy for an immediate cash payment.” What’s fueling these ads is a viatical settlement, which is an agreement …

Several times a year we get a call from a small business owner asking if we can help them “gift” one of their valued employees an ownership interest in their company. For the business owner, this seems like a straightforward …

1. The guy who created his own will that left everything . . . to himself. This seems obvious, but make sure you have your assets going where you want them to. 2. The parent who deeded property to a …

When an Ohio worker is injured on the job, the usual remedy for them is to file for workers compensation. That’s because Ohio is one of five states known as “monopolistic”, meaning workers compensation insurance is provided by a state …