CBA Blog

Is there more than one kind of trust?

Posted on January 11, 2013 by LRS Director

by Thomas D. Richards, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

There are possibly 100 or more types of trusts and variations of them. This blog and others in this series are primarily focused on Revocable Living Trusts, which allow you to avoid probate, and organize your estate assets into the gifting scheme that you want to be carried out for you after you pass away. Some of the other types of trusts include irrevocable trusts called income trusts, annuity trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable trusts, and disabled child trusts. These types of trusts are very specialized and are not for everyone. Your financial advisor and attorney can determine which of these trusts would be most beneficial to you. Trusts are designed to help most people, but are not for everyone. Most people can benefit from a simple living trust. The living trust is applicable to most people who have assets of more than approximately $50,000. Most people with a job and a home would have assets valued at more than $50,000.

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Posted in Wills/Trusts/Other Probate | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, kinds of trust, lrs, probate, revocable living trust, trust | Leave a comment

I already have a will. Why should I consider a trust?

Posted on January 9, 2013 by LRS Director

by Thomas D. Richards, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

A trust solves a common problem that stems from the goal to avoid Probate Court. If you pass away testate, this means that you at least signed a will and made an attempt at some sort of planning for your estate. The problem with just having a last will is that it will take your assets into probate. I like to call the last will a “one way ticket to probate.” A will is better than no will at all, but you still have to deal with Probate Court if you just have a will. You can avoid the entire Probate Court process if you take time to consult an attorney and discuss preparing a simple Living Trust.

The trust as a tool to avoid probate is relatively inexpensive compared to the fees and costs your family will pay to take your estate through probate. The costs of probate with executor fees and attorney fees can run between 5 percent to 10 percent or more of the value of your estate. On a $100,000 estate(add up your home value, cars, bank accounts), the probate could be anywhere from $5,000 up to $10,000 or more for just the attorney and executor fees, not counting the court costs, filing fees, and expenses. This is money that your family will not receive out of your estate assets. You want your family to have all of your estate, so don’t waste your assets on Probate Court attorney fees, executor fees, and court costs and expenses.

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Posted in Wills/Trusts/Other Probate | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, lrs, probate, trust, will | Leave a comment

What happens if I do not have a will or trust?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by LRS Director

by Thomas D. Richards, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

Most people will need a trust if for no other reason than to avoid the Probate Court process in the county where they live and pass away in Ohio. Each state creates its own probate laws and Probate Court jurisdictions. If you pass away in Ohio without a trust or will, here is what could happen to your estate.

Passing away without a will is called intestate. There is a statute in Ohio that dictates how your assets will be divided and who will get part or all of your estate. This may not be the way you wanted your assets to be split, but without a will, the state of Ohio will decided who gets your assets and how much each person gets. Most likely this gifting scheme will not be how you would have distributed your assets. There may even be people who get you assets whom you did not want to get any of your estate. But without having made some sort of plan for your estate, your wishes are ignored and Ohio will decide how to divide your estate. Your estate includes your home, bank accounts, retirement funds, stock accounts, bonds, savings, checking, and most other assets that do not already have a designated beneficiary such as life insurance,IRA,401K, annuity, etc.

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Posted in Wills/Trusts/Other Probate | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, estate, lrs, probate, trust, will | Leave a comment

What is a trust?

Posted on January 4, 2013 by LRS Director

by Thomas D. Richards, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

Ohio law allows for each person to set up a document to safe-keep their assets. This is called a “trust.” The simplest form of a trust is a “revocable living trust.” Revocable just means that it can be “changed” during the person’s lifetime. The person who is creating the trust to put his or her assets in is called the “grantor” or “trustor.” The grantor can put his or her house in the trust, cars, bank accounts, and just about anything of value with some exceptions.

The safe-keeping part is a unique part of a trust that requires the grantor to appoint a “trustee.” The trustee is charged by law with very special duties to oversee the assets in the trust and protect them. The trustee can be held personally liable for losing any of the assets of the trust that he/she has been appointed to protect. The trust will stay open even after the grantor dies, so it is good to know that someone is watching over your assets after you die.

Another unique part of a trust is that it lists who gets the assets that you put into the trust. These “beneficiaries” are the people or organizations who will eventually receive the assets from the trust as gifts. Beneficiaries can be relatives, friends, neighbors, a church, charity, school, college, etc. You can name multiple beneficiaries in your trust who will each take a certain portion of your trust assets after your death. You can specify set dollar amounts for these gifts or percentages. The trustee you appoint will ensure that the assets go to the correct beneficiaries in the amounts that you specified while you were alive.

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Posted in Wills/Trusts/Other Probate | Tagged assets, beneficiaries, cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, lrs, trust | Leave a comment

Are there other ways to become a permanent resident besides through family?

Posted on January 2, 2013 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

Yes, there are a different variety of ways to become a permanent resident such as special immigrant petitions, work petitions, registry and/or other special petitions, and asylees/refugees. This last category is another circumstance where travel restrictions are potentially in effect for the permanent resident as is it is generally unacceptable for a person who gained permanent residency based on asylum or refugee status to return to their country from which they are claiming a fear of return.

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged asylees, cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, immigration, lrs, permanent resident, refugees, visa, work petition | Leave a comment

Why does my relative have to wait so long to become a permanent resident?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

The idea of an “immediately available immigrant visa number” is a very important concept to immigration law. Basically, family-based immigration into the United States is limited by a number each year; i.e., there are only certain numbers of certain types of relatives that the United States will allow to become permanent residents. However, the number of petitions that are approved often times (and almost always) exceeds the number of visas that the government is able to issue. This is where people often talk about their relative “waiting in line” to come into the United States.

A non-specific, but convenient, way to check processing times on certain sorts of cases is to look at the Visa Bulletin published each month by the Department of State. For instance, the December 2011 edition of the Visa Bulletin showed that the priority date for spouses of permanent residents is in April of 2009, meaning the current wait time is just under 3 years. However, please note that some categories have even more approved petitions and the wait time can become excruciating long. For example, brothers and sisters of United States citizens of the Philippines currently have a priority date in 1988, meaning that people are waiting over 20 years for these visas to become current. Please see http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5630.html.

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, family-based, immigration, lrs, permanent resident, visa | Leave a comment

How do I file for my relative so they can become a permanent resident?

Posted on December 28, 2012 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

In general, this process proceeds as follows: the person who is already a permanent resident or a citizen of the United States (“the Petitioner”) will file a form called an I-130 Petition for their relative(s). Once this petition is approved, it will eventually give the “beneficiary” (the person who is not yet a permanent resident of the United States) an “immediately available immigrant visa number.”

Once this number has become available, the person has generally become eligible to become a permanent resident of the United States. This process is either called “Consular Processing” if it is done outside of the United States, or if it’s done in the inside of the United States it is called “adjustment of status.” During this application, the person’s qualifications are reviewed and, if they are able to become a permanent resident, they would be adjusted to that status. Once they become permanent residents, they will be issued a “green card,” which proves their status as a permanent resident in the United States.

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, Consular Processing, green card, immigration, lrs, permanent resident, visa | Leave a comment

How can I become a permanent resident?

Posted on December 26, 2012 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

There are various ways a person can become a permanent resident. For instance, there are a number of “family-based” ways. This process is when a relative files an “immigrant petition” for another relative that ultimately makes them eligible to become a permanent resident. There are several different classes of immigrant petitions. For instance, the most commonly thought of class of petitions are those for spouses of United States citizens or spouses of permanent residents. Citizens of the United States may also file for parents, brothers and sisters, and children. Permanent residents may also file for their family members, but the categories are more limited (for example, permanent residents cannot apply for their parents).

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, immigrant petition, immigration, lrs, permanent resident | Leave a comment

What is a Green Card?

Posted on December 24, 2012 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

A Green Card is a slang term for a document that demonstrates that a person is a permanent resident of the United States. With the exception of potentially some security clearances of sensitive government positions, permanent residents are generally entitled to work wherever they please and for whomever they choose. In addition, they may travel in and out of the United States as they see fit, although there are certain restrictions on the length of time they may be out of the United States (and in some instances, there are certain restrictions as to the places they can travel).

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, green card, immigration, lrs, permanent resident | Leave a comment

How do deportation proceedings work?

Posted on December 21, 2012 by LRS Director

by Blake P. Somers, Lawyer Referral Service Panelist

As with any other areas of immigration law, there are a number of exceptions to every rule. However, immigration removal proceedings are generally conducted as follows:

When it is discovered by the government that an individual in the United States may be without proper immigration status, generally the government chooses to commence an administrative proceeding against the individual called a “removal proceeding,” which seeks to obtain an order of deportation and physically remove the individual from the United States. In these proceedings, the government is represented by an attorney who is employed by the Department of Homeland Security. A non-citizen may also be represented in these proceedings, however, there are no “public defenders” in immigration cases—all individuals must obtain their own counsel at their own expense. The hearing is then conducted in front of an Immigration Judge. Immigration Judges are appointed under the administrative branch of the government, rather than the usual judicial branch of the government, although they exercise all functions of the traditional court.

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Posted in Immigration | Tagged cba, Cincinnati Bar Association lawyer referral, deportation, immigration, lrs, removal proceeding | Leave a comment

CBA Blog

Is there more than one kind of trust?

I already have a will. Why should I consider a trust?

What happens if I do not have a will or trust?

What is a trust?

Are there other ways to become a permanent resident besides through family?

Why does my relative have to wait so long to become a permanent resident?

How do I file for my relative so they can become a permanent resident?

How can I become a permanent resident?

What is a Green Card?

How do deportation proceedings work?

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