Virtually everyone over age 18 should have a will. It assures that, upon your death, your property will be distributed as you wish. It also assures that a responsible individual of your choosing will be in charge of settling your estate, paying any debts that you may have, and distributing the balance to whom you choose. It also allows you the opportunity to declare who you wish to act as a guardian to care for your children.

Yes. A trained professional is necessary to ensure that your Will complies with the formal requirements under Ohio law and that your wishes are stated clearly so that they may be properly carried out.

A general durable power of attorney, sometimes referred to as a business or financial power of attorney, appoints an individual to carry out your financial and legal affairs if, during your lifetime, you are unable or do not wish to handle them yourself.

A living trust is a document that allows you to pass on your assets to your beneficiaries, at death, outside of the probate process. Depending on the situation, a living trust may save estate taxes but not necessarily. A person may be able to accomplish the same goal without a living trust, by using beneficiary designations on assets or holding them in joint ownership with rights of survivorship. There is no one estate plan that is appropriate for everyone and a trained professional should be consulted when setting up an estate plan.

All assets owned by an individual at death or to which the individual has control at death are subject to federal and Ohio estate taxes. All assets passing to a surviving spouse are exempt from any estate tax. Those not passing to a surviving spouse are subject to taxation. For the year 2008, the first $2,000,000 of assets is exempt from federal estate tax and the first $338,000 of assets is exempt from Ohio estate tax. All assets above those amounts are subject to taxation at an amount based upon federal and state tax tables.

A living will is a document that declares your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment if you are ever terminally ill or permanently unconscious.

A durable power of attorney for health care is a document appointing an individual to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so in the future.

Yes. Sixteen (16) attorneys in the Dayton area are currently certified by the Ohio Bar Association as a specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law. Certification requires training in advanced estate planning, trust and probate law courses, numerous positive recommendations by other estate planning, trust and probate law attorneys and a passing grade on a written examination administered by the Ohio State Bar Association.

Our firm has over 65 consecutive years of providing estate planning and probate services for our clients, their children, their grandchildren and other family members largely due to their satisfaction with the service and treatment they receive. As indicated above, we offer advice by an estate planning expert, Joe Balmer. Mr. Balmer is one of only 16 such specialists certified by the Ohio State Bar in the Dayton area. Our firm has received the highest rating for both ethical standards and legal ability from Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review.

At HCM&M, we gladly visit clients at their homes, local hospitals, nursing homes and other retirement facilities to ensure that they have the estate planning documents necessary when they need them most.

A proper estate plan consists of, at minimum, a last will and testament, a general durable power of attorney and appropriate health care documents. A will eliminates the necessity of the costs of a court-appointed administrator at death as well as other benefits discussed above. Proper power of attorney documents eliminate the necessity of a court-appointed guardian during one's life. Guardianship proceedings can be both humiliating and costly. A proper estate plan minimizes the risk, time and expenses involved during lifetime and at death and ensures that an individual's wishes and affairs are carried out properly.

Probate administration is the process of locating a decedent's assets, paying his or her last expenses and distributing the remaining property in accordance with the decedent's wishes. The executor appointed in the decedent's will carries out these duties.

Yes, most definitely. Certain assets, although taxable for estate tax purposes, are not subject to probate administration. Assets with payable on death or transfer on death beneficiary designations are transferred directly to those individuals and do not require the assistance of an executor. We can help most people implement an estate plan that avoids probate administration.

Your estate planning documents should be reviewed any time you have life changes in your family, such as marriage, divorce, birth of children or grandchildren or death of family members. They should also be reviewed upon the death or incapacitation of other intended beneficiaries or those appointed as executor, power of attorney, trustee or guardian. In addition, they should be reviewed every few years to ensure that your wishes have not changed, that there have not been any significant changes in the law and that the federal and Ohio estate tax exemptions have not changed. This is particularly relevant because currently there is a great deal of potential change and uncertainty being discussed by lawmakers with respect to estate taxes on both the federal and state level.