When people think about estate planning, they tend to think only about a will.

Although a will is an important part of an estate plan, it only takes effect after you die. Other documents are needed to carry out your wishes and manage your assets if you are temporarily or permanently disabled.

The following is a list of the basic five estate planning documents every adult in Ohio needs:

Ohio Last Will and Testament

A will is a legal document that directs how your property will be distributed when you die, and can create trusts for the benefit or your spouse or children. A will allows you to name a person you trust to oversee the management and distribution of your assets. It also allows you to appoint a guardian to care for your minor children.

Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to a statutory formula, which may conflict with how you would have liked for your assets to be distributed. Also, if you do not appoint a guardian for your minor children, a judge who doesn’t know you or your family may have to make that decision for you.

Ohio Durable Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney gives you the power to appoint a trusted family member or friend as an agent to manage your finances if you are no longer capable of managing them yourself, such as if you become temporarily or permanently incapacitated.

If you become incapacitated and have no statutory durable power of attorney in place, a court-ordered guardianship may be necessary. Guardianship is time-consuming and expensive, and can be avoided by creating a power of attorney.

Ohio Medical Power of Attorney

A medical power of attorney allows you to designate a trusted family member or friend to make medical decisions for you if you become unconscious or mentally incapable of making those decisions for yourself.

Medical powers of attorney are not just for the elderly. Unexpected injuries or illness can occur at any age, so all adults should have one in place.

HIPAA Authorization

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a Federal law that sets  rules and limits on who can look at your medical records or receive your health information. Covered entities that violate HIPAA face stiff penalties, which make them reluctant to share medical information with anyone but the patient, even close family members.

A HIPAA authorization allows you to name an individual who can have access to your medical information so your health care provider or insurance company have no reservations about sharing medical information with those whom you have authorized.

Ohio Directive to Physicians

A living will, or directive to physicians, is a document that allows you to instruct your physicians not to use artificial methods to extend your life if you are diagnosed with a terminal or irreversible condition.

All these documents are essential to making sure your wishes are followed and your family is protected if your incapacity occurs or death.

Dying intestate means that a person has died without a will stating how his or her property (called an estate) is to be distributed.

When the person who has died leaves a will, the probate court normally appoints the person named in the will to serve as executor of the estate. If the person’s will did not name anyone to be the executor, or if the person(s) named in the will refuse or cannot act, then the probate court will appoint someone to act as the administrator of the will. The executor is responsible to the court to ensure that the decedent’s financial affairs are resolved and the remainder of the estate is distributed according to the instructions in the will.

When someone dies intestate, the probate court will appoint an administrator of the estate. Like the executor or administrator of the will, the appointed estate administrator will report to the court to ensure that the decedent’s financial affairs are resolved and the remainder of the estate is distributed according to the law.

When appointing an administrator of the estate, Ohio law requires that the court ordinarily appoint the surviving spouse of the decedent, of if none, or if the spouse declines, the court will appoint one of the next of kin of the decedent. If there is no surviving spouse or next of kin resident of the state, or if the court finds such person(s) to be unsuitable, some other suitable person will be appointed as administrator.

They may be many reasons why you would select a particular person to settle your accounts and distribute your assets as you see fit.  If you do not have a will you lose the opportunity to make sure the best person for the job is appointed.  You also make if more costly as the administrator must post a bond, and the payment of the bond comes from your moneys

 

I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. Robert A. Heinlein often wrote about the necessity of morally responsible behavior in the context of freedom. We Americans relish our freedoms. We want to live how we like and spend our hard-earned money on what we want. And we resist when the government tries to interfere with our lives. However, less than half of all Americans have even the most basic estate planning documents. They voluntarily give up their freedom to decide what will happen to their assets when they die.

The law gives you the freedom to decide how and to whom your assets are distributed when you die by making a will. But if you die without a will, your assets will be distributed according to a statutory formula that doesn’t consider your wishes and unique circumstances.

Below, I summarize the way the assets of those who die without a will in Ohio are distributed:

• If there is no surviving spouse, to the children or their lineal descendants, per stirpes;
• If there is a spouse and one or more children or their lineal descendants surviving, and all of the decedent’s children who survive or have lineal descendants surviving also are children of the surviving spouse, then the whole to the surviving spouse;
• If there is a spouse and one child of the decedent or the child’s lineal descendants surviving and the surviving spouse is not the natural or adoptive parent of the decedent’s child, the first twenty thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the estate to the spouse and the remainder to the child or the child’s lineal descendants, per stirpes;
• If there is a spouse and more than one child or their lineal descendants surviving, the first sixty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of one, but not all, of the children, or the first twenty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of none of the children, plus one-third of the balance of the estate to the spouse and the remainder to the children equally, or to the lineal descendants of any deceased child, per stirpes;
• If there are no children or their lineal descendants, then the whole to the surviving spouse;
• If there is no spouse and no children or their lineal descendants, to the parents of the intestate equally, or to the surviving parent;
• If there is no spouse, no children or their lineal descendants, and no parent surviving, to the brothers and sisters, whether of the whole or of the half blood of the intestate, or their lineal descendants, per stirpes;
• If there are no brothers or sisters or their lineal descendants, one-half to the paternal grandparents of the intestate equally, or to the survivor, and one-half to the maternal grandparents of the intestate equally, or to the survivor of them;
• If there is no paternal grandparent or no maternal grandparent, one-half to the lineal descendants of the deceased grandparents, per stirpes; if there are no such lineal descendants, then to the surviving grandparents or their lineal descendants, per stirpes; if there are no surviving grandparents or their lineal descendants, then to the next of kin of the intestate, provided there shall be no representation among the next of kin;
• If there are no next of kin, to stepchildren or their lineal descendants, per stirpes;
• If there are no stepchildren or their lineal descendants, then to the State of Ohio.

Maybe you have a close friend who you would have wanted to share in your estate. A charity or idea that you like better than giving your money to the state.  That would not be possible without a will.

If you want the freedom to decide how and to whom your property will be distributed when you die, you need a will.