Latest Legal Insights

Welcome to Part Two of my series of observations on the high anxiety of giving testimony. In this part, the number one mistake made by witnesses. Giving testimony is really a fairly simple procedure. Attorneys ask questions and witnesses give answers. Most questions are about something the witness has experienced. So, a good pattern of questions is similar to a journalist conducting an interview: who, what, when, where, how and why? Simple, right? Not so much. Especially with

Divorce is a hard, roiling, boiling of emotions about your spouse. But when these emotions erupt out of your heart and through your mouth with your kids around, they are the ones who are hurt.

The probate division of the court of common pleas (often referred to simply as the “probate court”) in each of Ohio’s 88 counties is one of the busiest in the court system. Most people think of probate law as governing the administration of estates left behind when people die.

The family is the basic unit that ensures the biological and cultural continuation of society. So that families function as well as possible, the law establishes rights and duties for family members (generally parents and their children) and a method to enforce these rights and duties.

Previously I wrote about the problems when parents name one of their children as trustee of the family trust. This month, we deal with some tips if you are one of the children who have been named as the trustee.

Last month, I wrote about the decision many have made to form trusts as their plan to transfer property within the family. This month, I am writing concerning one of the most common problems stemming from a poorly crafted family trust: Who is going to be the trustee after Mother and Father pass?

Judges are sheltered creatures. Fed only what the lawyers bring to them in the Courtroom. When I retired as a Judge in 2010 and started a law practice, one of the things I noticed had changed since I became a Judge in 1989, was how different the plat books looked.

To Trust or Not to Trust, That is the Question... Judges are sheltered creatures. Fed only what the lawyers bring to them in the Courtroom. When I retired as a Judge in 2010 and started a law practice, one of the things I noticed had changed since I became a Judge in 1989, was how different the plat books looked. Instead of a farm being owned by the eldest generation, I saw plat maps sprinkled with the names of family trusts. Evidently, a lot of my neighbors were taking adva