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You can now designate a beneficiary on the Survivorship Deed to your home!
Why is this so great, you ask? In the past, after you and your spouse died, your real estate would have to go through probate (unless you made other probate-avoiding arrangements) in order to be transferred to your beneficiaries. However, with this new Ohio law, you can now do a Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit to accompany your Survivorship Deed so that after you and your spouse have died, your real estate will not have to go through probate first to get transferred to your beneficiaries. Doing this could potentially save your beneficiaries a lot of money in probate costs and attorney fees.
If this procedure is something that you would like us to do for you, please call our office. The Affidavit is not very time-intensive for us to prepare, and it is a very cost-effective tool for avoiding probate. Of course, we would recommend this Affidavit only if it fits with your overall estate plan. |
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Attention, Veterans!Did you know...  A certified copy of a Veteran's DD-214 must be presented in order for a Veteran to be buried in a National Cemetery or for the Military Guard to honor the Veteran at the funeral. Thus, you should keep a certified copy of your DD-214 on hand with your important papers if you want to be buried in a National Cemetery or have a Military Guard honor you at your funeral. Obtaining a certified copy of the DD-214 can take 4-6 weeks, which in most cases is too long to hold a body for burial, so other burial arrangements would have to be made for you if you don't have a copy of your DD-214 on hand.
Did you know...
If you are a Veteran who served on active duty, you may be entitled to a higher Social Security payment. Although the increased payment may be available, the government isn't going to notify you about that benefit. In order to receive the "pay raise," you have to ask for it, so call your local Social Security office to inquire about whether or not you are eligible to receive increased benefits for having served on active duty.
Veteran & Active Military Savings
If you are currently servicing our country, we understand that your family is often on your mind. One important action that you can take to help provide them piece of mind is to have all of your affairs in order.
In support of all the military families in our community, and to celebrate Memorial Day, we extend the offer of a 10% discount to have us establish or review your plan to make sure that your affairs are in order. This action will allow your family to continue to function as needed in your absence, or in case of a catastrophe, regardless of whether or not you are on active duty or are a veteran. This offer is valid only during the month of May, so don't delay in calling to schedule your appointment. Please make sure you mention this offer when you call. |
 Spring into savings in May and June
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Our mission is to provide excellent, compassionate legal services to help people plan for the unexpected and prepare for the inevitable. |
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Nancy Roberson is a new contributing editor for Living with Loss magazine!
The latest edition of Living With Loss magazine features Nancy Roberson's new column titled, "You Don't Know What You Don't Know."
The title for Nancy's first article is "How To Choose The Right Lawyer To Handle Your Loved One's Estate." In this article, Nancy lists the steps to take to choose the right attorney to handle an estate.
Click here to subscribe to the magazine. Nancy's column will be featured every other quarter.
Read the article here. |
Four Steps You Can Take to Avoid Probate!
A frequent question clients often ask is, "How can I avoid probate?" While some of the steps involve preparation of documents that only an attorney should prepare, there are some things that you can do yourself to avoid probate without an attorney's involvement. Following are a few suggestions:
1. Go to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and obtain Transfer on Death (TOD) Titles from the BMV for the vehicles that would otherwise have to go through probate. For a single person, this would mean all vehicles, unless owned in a trust or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) with another person. For a married couple, this would mean all vehicles that would not *automatically pass to the surviving spouse, unless owned in a trust or JTWROS with another person. (*As a reminder, two cars, two trucks, or two motorcycles-the combined value of which is under $40,000-and one boat, its motor, and trailer pass outside of probate to a surviving spouse.) Also, Ohio does NOT have automatic rights of survivorship for vehicles titled jointly owned with another person. Thus, if you want to continue owning your vehicles jointly with others, and you want those vehicles to avoid probate when you die, you should re-title those vehicles as JTWROS.
2. If you own life insurance on the life of someone else, you should designate a contingent owner of the policy so that the policy does not have to be probated if you die before the insured person dies. To do this, you will need to process a change of ownership form with the life insurance company. Life insurance companies usually have their own change of ownership forms, so you would need to contact your life insurance company to obtain the form. 3. If you own a second-to-die life insurance policy jointly with another person, call the life insurance company and request that the policy ownership be changed to JTWROS.
4. If you believe that you own a safe deposit box with another person, go to your bank and verify that the ownership is JTWROS, not just a deputy arrangement that expires upon death. |
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Nancy Roberson's Upcoming Speaking Engagements:
May 13, 2010, Nancy to speak for South Dayton Home Economists and Homemaking group.
May 18, 2010, Nancy will speak about Trusts at the Lunch & Learn series offered by Essex HR. For more information, call 937.432.1040.
Summer Booking Bonus:
-If you book a speaking engagement with us for the months of June, July, or August and have at least ten people at the event, you will receive a $50.00 gift card to the restaurant or store of your choice! You may ask, "Why would they pay me?" Speaking events get our name out in the community, which is a lot less expensive than advertising. Plus, we see these events as another way that we can contribute to the well- being of our community: a win-win situation!
-Call or email Amy Cary at acary@dayton-attorney.com to book your event. As always, we never charge a fee for our professional speaking services.
-You may also go to our speaking engagements page on our website for more information.
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Employee of the Quarter |
Jennifer Burkitt, Probate Paralegal, has been named Employee of the Quarter. Jennifer has worked  at Roberson Law for the past eight years and is in charge of the firm's probate, estate, and trust administration department. When Jennifer started at Roberson Law in 2001, she managed only 20 decedent's estates, but today she personally manages around 120 estates. One can imagine the effort required to keep up with all of those probate court and tax deadlines! Jennifer's knowledge, dedication, and desire to provide the highest quality service possible enable her to provide outstanding service to our clients and our firm! Jennifer lives in Springfield. She and her husband, Ricky, have four children and three grandchildren. Jennifer enjoys shopping for her home, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family. Thank you, Jennifer! |
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Thank You Fifth Third Bank!
We extend our sincere gratitude to Kelley Bell, Branch Manager, of the Fifth Third Bank on Whipp Road for honoring our firm as "Business of the Month" and allowing us to display a booth in the lobby!
Thank you to all of the people who visited our booth and entered our drawing for a gift card to Dorothy Lane Market. We look forward to working with you and your families. We congratulate the winner of the gift card! |
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Learn more about our staff and the services we offer! Click here
to view our informative, interactive website and our video on YouTube.
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