Not Having a Trust is Bad. Not Having a Will is Even Worse.

Cleveland, Ohio, Akron, Ohio, Hudson Ohio will lawyerEvery adult should have a will!  Most adults should have a Trust, too!

Wills and Trusts are important estate planning tools that every adult should consider.  As a Will and Trust lawyer I see firsthand the pitfalls of not planning ahead for your health and wealth.  Not having a Will or a Trust is one of the biggest estate planning mistakes you can make.

If You Don’t Have a Will?

If you don’t have a Will you are leaving many important decisions to be made by complete strangers.  With a Will you can do all of the following:

  • Nominate a Guardian to Take Care of Your Minor Children
  • Nominate a Caretaker for Your Pets
  • Decide Who is in Charge of Handling Your Personal Affairs
  • Decide Who is to Get Your Assets

If you don’t have a Will, all of these important decisions will be made  by a stranger in a Courthouse following a set of rules made by the Ohio legislature.  Make sure you are the one making these important decisions through your Will.

If You Don’t Have a Trust?

Not having a Trust is not as bad as not having a Will, and in some cases, a Trust might not be necessary. But for most established adults, not having a Trust is a big mistake!  If you don’t have a Trust, all of your personal assets that don’t have death beneficiaries will have to get processed through the Probate Court.  Probate Court is stressful, time consuming, totally public and very expensive.  Probate fees for the first $100,000 are normally about $8,000.  Talk about a waste of time and money!  Luckily with a Trust, none of the Trust assets go through Probate Court, so your beneficiaries aren’t forced through this frustrating, expensive process.  For more information on avoiding Probate Court through a Trust check out  our Probate Court avoidance page, and call us to help you!

Cleveland, Ohio Will, Trust & Estate Planning Lawyer

As a local Cleveland, Ohio, Akron, Ohio lawyer practicing estate planning law with Wills and Trusts, I am helping clients all over the Cuyahoga County, Medina County, Summit County, and surrounding areas make sure their estate planning is up to date with Wills and Trusts.  If you want to take a deeper look at estate planning in general, check out our main main Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning Page here.  Be sure to take advantage of our limited time offer of free consultations for new clients and call us at (330) 665-5000 to set up your appointment now!

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