Every person, every family and every situation are unique. Your priorities may include providing for your family and yourself, making sure a beloved pet is cared for, properly handling a deceased loved one’s estate, planning for future nursing home or long-term care needs, protecting a family member with special needs, or preserving a small business or family farm for the next generation. Whatever your priorities, you need and deserve personalized planning and solutions that address what matters most to you.
One of the things I love best about being a lawyer is learning about my clients and then tailoring solutions to your individual circumstances, goals and needs. I will listen to your concerns, help you prioritize your objectives, and identify potential problems. I can answer your questions, simplify complex legal issues, and help you understand your options. We will work together to understand and solve your problems and meet your personal planning goals.
Keep reading and you will find that many of my most influential life experiences shaped not only my decision to become a lawyer, but also the areas of law I choose to practice and devote myself to. I focus exclusively on these areas of law because I’ve been where you are, I understand your concerns, and I can help.
Pet Planning is estate planning for animals and the people who love them. It is the process of planning and preparing in advance to maintain your own relationship with your pets as long as possible, and to provide for and protect your animals if you are unable to continue caring for them.
Pet Planning is estate planning for animals and the people who love them. It is the process of planning and preparing in advance to maintain your own relationship with your pets as long as possible, and to provide for and protect your animals if you are unable to continue caring for them. Planning in advance will help to ensure that someone will be available and have the means to care for your companion animals if you can’t do so yourself. Pet Planning usually involves adding pet-specific terms to routine estate planning documents such as your Will, powers of attorney, or estate planning trust, and may involve more specific or complex documents like Pet Powers of Attorney or Pet Trusts. For more information on Pet Planning click here.
A Trust is a legal relationship where one person (known as the trustee) manages and distributes money and other property for the benefit of a trust beneficiary or to fulfill a trust purpose. The trust relationship is created by agreement between the trust’s creator (known as the settlor or grantor) and the trustee regarding how the trust property will be managed and distributed for the benefit of a trust beneficiary or to fulfill a trust purpose. A Trust is like a contract between the trust creator or settlor and the trustee that controls how trust property will be managed, used, and distributed to benefit a trust beneficiary or fulfill a trust purpose in the future. Trusts can be used for a nearly endless variety of purposes, including general estate planning, avoiding probate, exerting post-death control over your property, tax savings, planning for a special needs beneficiary, Medicaid planning, creditor protection for trust beneficiaries, general asset protection, family farm or business succession planning, maintaining a family vacation property, providing for pets, and more. For more information on Trusts click here.
You can protect your home from Medicaid spend down during your lifetime and Medicaid Estate Recovery following your death by creating a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT). The most common asset people choose to transfer into a MAPT Trust is their home. If you transfer your home into a MAPT Trust, you may continue living in your home rent-free. If you decide to move or downsize in the future, you may direct the trustee to sell your home and purchase an alternate residence. When you die or become a permanent long-term care resident, the value of your home will pass to your beneficiaries. However, you cannot be a beneficiary of the principal of your own MAPT Trust. This means that you will not be able to sell or borrow against the equity of your home and then use those funds to supplement your income or personal assets. For more information about Medicaid Asset Protection Trust planning click here.
Under Ohio law, I am required to advise you that this website IS AN ADVERTISEMENT. The information and materials contained on this website are for general information and educational purposes only. Although I hope you find the information and materials provided helpful, everyone's facts and circumstances are unique and the general information provided on this website may not apply to your particular situation or may be insufficient to address your specific concerns. The information and materials contained on this website should not be construed as legal advice and you should not act or decline to act based on the content of this website without seeking legal advice from an attorney of your choice. The law changes and evolves constantly and the contents of this website may not accurately reflect the current state of the law. Nothing contained on this website predicts or guarantees particular or favorable results. Laura J. Martin and Wright & Schulte, LLC are not liable for any damages resulting from the interpretation or use of information contained on this website. Viewing this website content or communicating with Laura J. Martin through this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. The express agreement of the attorney and client are required to form an attorney-client relationship.
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