Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio
Ohio Land Titles
My mother is seeking some help on an estate matter. My grandmother owns a large portion of farmland, and also a home and the surrounding land. She is looking for a way to allow the land and home to either avoid probate or to go through much quicker with as little tax as possible. How would she go about this? We had heard of maybe a joint tennancy, but non of us are sure how all that works with probate, and we aren't sure what to do. She is looking for a lawyer in Henry County, but has not found a lawyer yet. Is there any advise you can offer us?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Ohio Land Titles
Passing title and paying taxes are two separate discussions. Title can pass outside of probate by a Transfer on Death Deed or a Joint Tenancy. Both of these, though, put the property in the taxable estate. But you need to see an estate planner who can evaluate the need for estate tax planning, depending upon the size of the estate.
Re: Ohio Land Titles
If your grandmother creates a joint tenancy deed (with right of survivorship) she does avoid probate but has created a gift tax situation when she does it, does not get it out of her estate necessarily and the joint tenant loses the step-up-in basis at date of death. She could use a trust to avoid probate. There are issues as to active farming use of the property to spread the estate tax over time that you don't want to miss looking at. She should seek a qualified estate planning attorney. She may want to try one in Wood County if she can't find one in Henry County, there I would suggest contacting Jon Liebenthal.
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