Wood + Lamping - Estate Planning / Elder Law Podcast Por Joe Strecker Productions arte de portada

Wood + Lamping - Estate Planning / Elder Law

Wood + Lamping - Estate Planning / Elder Law

De: Joe Strecker Productions
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 Mark Reckman has been with Wood + Lamping since 1979 and has served as the head of the Real Estate and Probate Practice Areas as well as managing partner of the firm.

Currently, Mark’s practice spans Medicaid, estate planning, probate, real estate, and small business. Mark is a founding member of TriState Care Partners, which is a referral network of Cincinnati health care providers dedicated to enabling seniors to age in the place they call home.

Since 2006, Mark has been selected annually for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers®. Mark was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2014. He has been named one of Cincinnati's "Leading Lawyers" by Cincinnati Magazine annually since 2007. Mark was also a member of Class XI of Leadership Cincinnati. In 2017, Mark received an award from the PLAN Southwest Ohio committee. PLAN is a non-profit whose mission is to serve those with serious disabilities. Mark has been involved in their initiative since their inception.

Mark appears biweekly on the 55KRC radio show Simply Money and enjoys travel, tennis, and scuba diving.Copyright Joe Strecker Productions Economía Finanzas Personales
Episodios
  • Dan Perry - What is Probate and Should I Avoid It?

    Dan Perry - What is Probate and Should I Avoid It?
    May 21 2025
    I. Have you ever wondered what happens to your assets and property after you pass away? · After you pass away all the property that you own and the debts that you have must be administered through a public court process called probate. · The word probate actually comes from the Latin word, as us lawyers always have to use Latin phrases, “to prove.” · You see, for the title to your property (whether that is real estate, your car, your bank accounts, etc.) to change to your heirs and family, a probate process must occur. II. What is probate? · As I mentioned, before title to property can change to your family, that property must be administered through a process called probate. · Probate is a public court proceeding in which all of your assets, property, and debts are listed in public court documents. · There are a number of public court pleadings (i.e., inventory of assets, accounting, etc) which are filed with the court, as well as a number of court hearings that occur. · At the end of the court proceeding, the assets which remain are distributed to your family members either according to the will or according to state law, after all valid debts have been paid. · Example: o Imagine for a minute Jane, who passed away with a house and bank accounts. In order for Jane’s children to receive the house and bank accounts, Jane’s children had to go through probate before those assets could be transferred. · Many people think that if you have a will you do not go through probate. However, that is not true. Whether you have a will or not, your property will need to be administered through the probate court process. III. Why does probate exist? · Probate Court to ensure debts are paid and assets are distributed either according to law or according to a person’s last will and testament.Probate court is there to make sure that if a person leaves a last will and testament, that the will is determined to be valid according to law. Remember the word probate I mentioned early is Latin for the phrase “to prove.” Well, the will needs to be proven to be legally valid. · Probate court is also there to settle any disputes and disagreements among the heirs or beneficiaries IV. “I hear probate is bad?” · Probate is time-consuming. This means that there will be delays for asset distribution to heirs or beneficiaries of the estate. · The average probate case can last anywhere from 6 months (more likely a year) to two years or more. · Even if you have a will, the will must be admitted to probate. · The executor that you name in your will has no power until the will is admitted to probate and the executor is given authority by the court to act on behalf of the estate. · Probate is also costly. Court costs, attorney fees, and executor fees can add up quickly ($15,000 or more even for simple estates is not unheard of). · Probate is also a public process. Every asset you own and debt that you have will be listed on a public court document than anyone can look up regarding your probate estate. V. Should you avoid probate? · Having practiced as an attorney since 2011, I have seen both simple estates and complex estates go through the probate court process. In nearly every case, my clients have said:o This took a long timeo This process was extremely expensiveo I wish mom or dad knew how to avoid this · In general, I have found that families which plan to avoid probate enjoy a simpler estate settlement process than those who go through probate VI. Ways to avoid probate · Joint Ownershipo Any assets held jointly with right of survivorship will not go through probate.o Instead those assets will immediately go to the surviving joint-ownero Think, real estate owned by a married couple with right of survivorship. The surviving joint owner takes full ownership outside of probate.o The same can be true for jointly held bank accounts · Beneficiary Designationso Designating beneficiaries on your investment accounts, retirement accounts and life insurance can ensure that those assets do not go through probate as well.o Those assets pass to the named beneficiary outside of probate. · Living Trustso Living trusts are a way to avoid probate as well.o I would say that most of my clients prefer to establish a living trust.o A living trust is a legal document and entity in which a person (called a grantor or settlor) establishes a legal entity known as trust ...
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    8 m
  • Mark Reckman - Online Wills

    Mark Reckman - Online Wills
    Apr 30 2025
    You can go online and craft a Will for $100 or less – sometimes a lot less.
    AARP writes on this subject all the time. But they make it clear that online
    Wills are only for the most basic circumstances.
    So, if you have a small estate and want to leave everything to your spouse
    and then to your kids, an online Will works – IF you fill it out and execute it
    correctly.

    But, what kinds of issues make online Wills risky?
    A. Minor children
    B. Second marriages
    C. Medium size estates and larger
    D. Disability – of the testator or the beneficiary
    E. Real estate in more than one state
    F. Children with “issues” such as poor money skills, bad spouses,
    poor judgment, drug and alcohol abuse, big debt, bad health
    G. Significant “non-probate” assets
    H. Planning for one’s own disability
    I. “Legacy” assets, including family cottage
    J. Family business.

    Beneficiary Designations.
    Executing a Will is only one part of an estate plan. You also need to
    consider:

    A. Power of Attorney
    B. Living Will
    C. Power of Attorney for Health Care
    D. Beneficiary designations.

    I have never met a client who didn’t believe his/her estate was simple
    – most were mistaken.
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    9 m
  • Mark Reckman - How Specific Should Your Will Be?

    Mark Reckman - How Specific Should Your Will Be?
    Apr 2 2025
    How Specific Should Your Will Be?

    I. Most Wills are general in nature. The same is true of Trusts. Many clients are surprised by this. They expect a Will to list certain assets to go to certain people – at least the big things.

    II. There are two kinds of gifts:

    a. Specific bequests
    b. Residual bequests.

    III. Specific bequests come in two types:

    a. The bequest of specific assets such as a house, stock, jewelry, car, household goods, etc. For example, “I give all my jewelry to my daughter, Kay Smith.”
    b. The bequest of a specific amount of money such as giving $50,000 to my son or giving $10,000 each to my grandchildren.

    IV. Residual bequests address what is left after the cost of administration and after specific bequests.

    For example, “I give the rest and residue of my estate in equal shares to my children,”

    or “I give 20% of my residual estate to the University of Cincinnati, 40% to my son Brent, and 40% to my son Eric.” Of course, it must add up to 100%

    V. Most Wills have both specific bequests and residual bequests. Most Wills say:

    a. Pay the administrative expenses.
    b. Pay my bills.
    c. Pay my taxes.
    d. Give my household goods and personal effects to my children to be determined by my executor.

    e. Give what is left equally to my children in equal shares.

    VI. It is not uncommon to add one or two specific bequests:

    a. I give $5,000 to each of my grandchildren.
    b. I give my jewelry to my two daughters.
    c. I give $100,000 to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

    It is important to specify what happens if a beneficiary dies before you do. What happens to that gift – does it go to their spouse or children, or does it lapse (get cancelled)? Also, remember is that specific bequests come before residual bequests. So, if the specific bequests use up all the assets in the estate, nothing goes to the residual beneficiaries.

    VII. Many clients think we should list assets in the Will or Trust. But, there are a few reasons that we do not:

    a. If my Will gives 100 shares of P&G to my son and I don’t own that stock when I die, what happens? In Ohio, that gift is cancelled.
    b. It is a mistake to assume that an asset means the same to a beneficiary as it does to us. If a beneficiary really wants something specific from the estate, he/she can buy it from the executor. Don’t “saddle” your values or your sentiments on your beneficiaries.
    c. Itemizing assets may trigger an appraisal and effect estate taxes.
    d. We don’t want to amend your Will every time your assets change.

    VII. Some experts suggest that itemizing assets in your Will reduces family conflict. I don’t agree. If families want to fight, they are going to fight. The terms of the Will can affect this, but not by itemizing assets. Alternative: Make a “private” list to give to the Executor. This is easy to change. The Will should give the Executor broad power and discretion. Pick the right Executor and trust them to work it out. Don’t tie the hands of your Executor or beneficiary.
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    9 m
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