Business Plan

Before starting your business, you should spend a considerable amount of time creating a business plan. A business plan is essential because it gives you a framework for starting. Also, it shows banks and other possible lenders that you are serious about success, and that your business has what it takes to make their investment in it worthwhile. The business plan will also help your team of professionals (business attorney, accountant, etc.) understand your goals, making them better able to properly advise you.

Your business plan should include (1) a summary of the services or goods you will offer; (2) an analysis of why you plan to offer those particular goods or services; (3) the benefits your clients or customers will receive for choosing your goods or services; (4) an analysis of your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (a “SWOT Analysis”); (5) an analysis of your competitive advantage; and (6) a summary of the marketing strategies that would be beneficial to your business.

Team of Professionals

You should surround yourself with a strong team of professionals that can help you plan for the future. At a minimum you should consult a business attorney and an accountant. Your attorney and your accountant can work together to make sure that you choose the right business entity (corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.) and that you meet the legal requirements for setting up your business. Also — especially important if you will have business partners — the attorney can help you create an operating agreement that will dictate the responsibilities each partner will have in the business, and outline how your business will continue to operate in the event of any unexpected events. Your accountant will also make sure that your business reports income properly and files the correct tax forms.

You should also build relationships with people in your community who also own businesses. These business owners can share their own experiences with you and inform you about what did and did not work for them. Also, business owners can be a good source of referrals for your product or service.

If your budget allows, you should hire a web designer to build a website for your business. A good website is essential because it adds legitimacy to your business and gives potential customers a resource for learning more about what you offer. Other professionals that can help you succeed: an advertising professional (who can help you build a brand that includes a logo, business cards, letterhead, advertisements, etc.); a marketing expert (who can tell you where you clients are and how to reach them with your services); an employment lawyer (who can help you put in place the proper procedures to hire and manage your employees); and a financial advisor (who will help you manage your personal finances).

Marketing/Networking

Once you have started your business, get out there and promote it. It is important to build an awareness of your business, because you can only be profitable if people know that your business exists. A low cost ways to promote your business is through social media (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn). Building a presence through social media helps potential customers get to know you personally, which may help them choose your business over a competitor. Just be careful that you are tasteful in what you post on these sites. Once posted, embarrassing photos and comments are on the internet forever.

Another way to promote your business is to enlist the help of those who already know you well. You have been building a professional network over your entire life, made up of the friends, classmates, coworkers, and church members that you already know. Tell everyone you know that you are in business, because these people can be your best source of referrals. Be sure to give them business cards and flyers about your services, so that when someone asks for a referral, your friends will have what they need to recommend you.

Family Planning

An often overlooked aspect of business planning is family planning. You should talk to your family about how the financial uncertainty of starting your business and discuss how the family will survive the startup phase. If you have young children, you should plan for how they will be cared for while you are working extra hours to build the business. You should also come up with a family business plan if you anticipate that family members will eventually participate in the business.

When I talk to people about estate planning, they usually tell me:

“I’m too young to think about dying. I’ll work on my Will when I’m older.”

Michael Jackson died at the young age of 50. Many of the people who tell me they are “too young” to think about estate planning are close to this age. If you don’t want to think about yourself, at least think about your family. Michael Jackson left three young children, between the ages of six and twelve. If he did not leave a Will to state who he wanted to raise his children, there would likely be a lengthy court battle over it and the children may have ended up being raised by someone that Michael would have objected to. Who will raise your children if you die before they reach age 18? If you don’t have a Will to state who your children’s guardian will be, you need one. Choosing a proper home for your children is not an option, it is a necessity.

” I don’t have much money or property to leave to anyone. I don’t need a Will.”

Michael Jackson left several million dollars in assets and debts. His Will directs how his debts are to be paid and how his assets (money, property, personal items, etc.) are to be distributed among his loved ones. If he did not leave a Will, it would take years to sort out these things, and ultimately, his property may have gone to people he did not intend to benefit from his estate. To those who say, “I don’t have much,” I say this — Do you have a home? Do you have a bank account? Do you have any personal items (furniture, clothing, antiques, etc.)? Everyone has something that they have worked hard over their lives to accumulate. It is important to create a Will to make sure that those things are given to those who you feel are deserving of them.

Hopefully, Michael Jackson’s death has highlighted how important it is that EVERYONE create a Will. The few hundred dollars that you will spend to create your Will is well worth the peace of mind you will gain. It will be comforting to know that you loved ones are taken care of and that you have removed the burden from your family and friends of sorting things out after your death.

Grandparent‘s Rights – Visitation, Custody and Adoption

Most people recognize that a strong relationship with grandparents greatly enriches a child’s life. What happens to that relationship, however, when a child’s parents separate, or when one parent dies?

Many grandparents become concerned when situations such as these occur because they know it will have an effect on how often they see their grandchildren. After such an event, a grandparent may go from seeing grandchildren every day to seeing them only on holidays. These types of drastic changes take an emotional toll on the entire family.

Ohio courts are beginning to step in to prevent such devastation to the family. Some grandparents are able to get a court order allowing them to continue spending time with their grandchildren.

Visitation

A grandparent concerned about losing valuable bonding time with a grandchild may ask a court for visitation. If the court finds that visitation is in the best interest of the child, it will issue a court order. When a visitation order is in place, the grandparent is allowed a certain amount of time with the grandchild. The length of each visit, the number of visits each year, and where the visits may occur are explained in the court order.

Grandparents may seek court-ordered visitation if the child’s parents are unmarried, if the child’s parents are divorced, or if one of the child’s parents has died.

In addition, prior to a divorce becoming final, a grandparent can intervene in the parent’s divorce case and ask the court to award them their own visitation schedule with their grandchildren.

Grandparent visitation is not automatic. It will be granted only if the court, after evaluating several factors including the parent’s wishes, determines that visitation is in the best interest of the child.

Also, it is important to note that a stepparent adoption will terminate grandparent visitation rights, unless the natural parent is deceased. So, for example, if your former daughter-in-law remarries and her new husband adopts your grandchild, your visitation rights will be terminated.

An important point to highlight about grandparent visitation is that there is no right to it if the family is intact. So, if your grandchild’s parents are married and refuse to allow you to visit, you cannot seek a court order.

Custody

If visitation is not sufficient, grandparents may wish to seek custody of a grandchild. If custody is granted, the grandchild lives with the grandparent and the grandparent is responsible for the grandchild’s primary care.

It is difficult in most cases for a grandparent to get custody. A custody action must be filed in juvenile court. Custody will be granted only if the court finds that both parents are unfit, and that it is in the best interest of the child for custody to be granted to the grandparents. Courts find parents unfit usually only upon a clear sign of abuse or neglect.

Adoption

In Ohio, grandparents may also seek to adopt a grandchild. If the adoption is granted, you become your grandchild’s parents. All parental rights of the child’s biological parents are terminated.

Grandparents seeking to adopt must file a petition for adoption. Proper notice must be given to the child’s parents, a home-study will be conducted, and the adoption must be in the child’s best interest.

Once the adoption is completed, the child’s birth certificate will be changed to show that the grandparent(s) are the child’s parents. This means that (1) the child will inherit from you; (2) you are now ultimately responsible for caring for the child; and (3) the child can receive any benefits that a naturally born child would have through you, such as social security and health care benefits.

Ohio law as it relates to grandparents’ rights is still evolving. Therefore, it is important that you seek the advice of an attorney prior to starting any type of court action.

Who gets my property if I die without a will?

It is a common misconception that the State of Ohio gets your property if you die without a will. In most cases, this is not true. The State of Ohio will receive your property only if you leave no surviving relatives.

If you die without a will, your property will be distributed according to Ohio’s intestacy laws.

Ohio’s intestacy laws identify who receives your estate, beginning with a surviving spouse, if there is one.

The amount your spouse will get depends on whether or not you leave children:

1. If you leave no children, your surviving spouse receives your entire estate;
2. If you leave one or more children, all of whom are also the children of your surviving spouse, your entire estate will pass to your spouse;
3. If your surviving spouse is the natural or adopted parent of at least one, but not all of your children, your spouse receives the first $60,000, plus one-third of the remaining estate;
4. If you leave one child who is not the natural or adopted child of your surviving spouse, your surviving spouse receives the first $20,000 plus half of the remaining estate;
5. If you leave more than one child and your spouse is not the natural or adopted parent of any of them, your surviving spouse will receive the first $20,000, plus one-third of the remaining estate.

If you are unmarried, your estate passes to your children in equal shares.

If you have no children, your estate passes in the following order to:

1. Parents
2. Brothers/Sisters
3. Nieces/Nephews
4. Grandparents
5. Other next of kin such as aunts, uncles or cousins
6. Stepchildren
7. State of Ohio

Before your relatives receive any of your property, your estate must pass through probate. Probate is the court procedure that must be followed in order to distribute your probate property. Probate property is any property that does not pass directly to a named beneficiary upon death. “Non-probate” property includes property held joint with rights of survivorship or transfer on death property.

Non-probate property passes outside of the probate process because it is governed by the laws of contract. For example, if you purchase a life insurance policy you designate a beneficiary. When you purchase the policy, you are entering into a contract with the insurance company. As part of that contract, the life insurance company must pay the policy to your beneficiary following your death.

Probate property is not governed by contract law, and so must pass either by the terms of your will (if you leave one) or by Ohio’s intestacy laws (if you do not leave a will). Probate property includes real property (land) and personal property (bank accounts, cars, jewelry, etc.).

During the probate process, the court will appoint an administrator to gather estate assets, pay debts, and distribute the estate. The court will appoint the surviving spouse as administrator. If the surviving spouse declines or there is no surviving spouse, a relative will be appointed.

Although it may be reassuring to know that the State of Ohio probably will not get your estate if you do not make a Will, it makes much better sense to create a Will. Ohio’s intestacy laws only provide for relatives. Loved ones who are not related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption (such as friends and significant others to whom you are not married) will not receive any of your property.

Even if you want your property to pass to relatives, you should create a Will to designate the property that you want each relative to receive. You may want certain relatives to receive land or money, and others to get personal property that has sentimental value.

It is important to remember that your estate will consist of property that you worked over your entire lifetime to accumulate. Do not leave it up to the State of Ohio to determine who receives your hard-earned property. n

Life Insurance Trusts Can Make Sense for Those in Second Marriages

Estate planning can be difficult for remarried individuals. Many people in second marriages have children from a first marriage, and find it hard to meet the needs of both families in an estate plan. There are many estate planning tools available, however, that will provide for both a spouse and children.

A life insurance trust is commonly used in such a situation. In a life insurance trust, the grantor (the person who creates the trust) contributes money to the trust to purchase life insurance. The grantor appoints a trustee to purchase the life insurance, which is used to fund the trust. The trust owns the life insurance policies. Your spouse or children (or both) can be named beneficiaries of the trust, which can be drafted to address your unique situation.

As with any trust, a life insurance trust must be carefully drafted to minimize or avoid gift taxes.

Will-Making Software Cannot Replace Lawyers

Sales of computer software designed to create wills are strong. Because the software is widely available, many people believe that attorneys are no longer necessary to create an estate plan.

For many reasons, computer programs are no replacement for sound legal advice.

Computer software cannot know your unique situation.

No two people have exactly the same needs when it comes to drafting a will. The software you choose cannot be equipped for every situation, and many important issues may be overlooked that could affect your estate. For example, if you have minor children, you may need to create a trust as part of your will (a “testamentary trust”) that will preserve your assets until your children are old enough and responsible enough to handle them. This is a complex document that should not be completed on your own, but requires an attorney’s skill.

Will software may not follow Ohio law.

To be valid, a will must meet certain formal requirements. These requirements vary by state. Ohio is very specific about the requirements necessary to make a valid will. Most computer programs do not follow Ohio law. For example, the software you choose may not indicate that you need two witnesses to your will, or that Ohio law gives a surviving spouse certain rights over property that cannot be defeated by a will. These types of things should be explained by a lawyer.

Computer software may not provide all of documents necessary for a basic estate plan.

Most people first visit my office asking only for a will. They do not realize that along with the will, they usually need a Living Will, Health Care Power of Attorney, and Power of Attorney for Financial Matters. If you choose to draft your will yourself, your software either will not include these other documents, or will charge you extra for them. If your software includes them, they too will probably be invalid under Ohio law.

Will-making software can in the long-run cost you more than hiring a lawyer.

Will-making software packages can cost anywhere between $30.00 and $300.00. A few things can happen after you have paid for your software:

1. You realize that the finished will is inadequate for your needs, so you end up hiring a lawyer anyway, thus paying for the lawyer’s services and the software;
2. A few years after creating the will an important life event occurs that requires an update to your will, so you are forced to purchase the newest version of the software to complete the update; or
3. You never realize that your “do-it-yourself” will did not meet your needs or was invalid under Ohio law, and after your death there are unnecessary expenses to your estate and heartache to your loved ones that could have been avoided.

In short, hire a lawyer for your legal needs. As stated on the Ohio State Bar Association’s website (www.ohiobar.org), “No sensible person would engage “just anyone” to fill teeth, take out an appendix, or adjust a sensitive and complicated instrument. The person who wants these services performed with a minimum of risk to self and property will engage a trained professional person. The drafting of a will requires professional judgment. A lawyer can help you avoid pitfalls and choose the course best suited for your situation.” n

Save the Dream – Get Help if Facing Foreclosure

The foreclosure crisis is affecting many Ohio families. You probably know someone who lost their home to foreclosure, or you may be struggling to keep up on your mortgage payment.

If you are in danger of foreclosure, it is important to get help immediately.

It is never too late to get help. If you are behind on your mortgage payment – or even if you have already received a foreclosure notice – there may be options available.

If you are having trouble paying your mortgage payment, immediately contact your mortgage servicer. In most cases, the servicer will work with you. Your mortgage company would rather keep you in your home than suffer a financial loss in the event of foreclosure.

Speak to someone in your servicer’s Loss Mitigation Department. Ask if you can participate in a “work out” resolution or get a loan modification. A “work out” resolution involves resuming payments and arranging to pay the past-due amount over a short period of time. A loan modification might lower your interest rate or extend the final due date of your loan – making your monthly payments lower.

In addition to contacting your servicer, you should call the State of Ohio’s Save the Dream hotline at 888-404-4674 or visit www.savethedream.ohio.gov. You will be referred to a housing counselor who can explain your options. If you have already received a foreclosure notice, you will be referred to an attorney who can help with your case.

1. Caring for all the deceased’s property
2. Receiving payments due the estate, including interest, dividends, and other income
3. Collecting debts, claims and notes due the deceased
4. Identifying all heirs and beneficiaries
5. Paying outstanding debts of the estate
6. Preparing and filing federal, state, and estate tax returns
7. Distributing the assets of the estate to heirs and beneficiaries

Most executors hire an attorney to guide them through the probate process. The attorney will help determine the best method for probating the estate. In most cases, the attorney’s fees are paid from the assets of the deceased’s estate. In some cases, these fees are set by statute and are paid only upon approval of the probate court. In all instances, the fees must be reasonable.

If you have been named executor, immediately following the recent death you should:

1. Make a list of the names and addresses of all persons named in the Will
2. Make a list of the names and addresses of all heirs, even if not named in the Will
3. Gather information on the deceased person’s outstanding debts
4. Gather the following documents: deeds to real estate and cemetery lots; copies of recent bank statements; titles to automobiles; insurance policies; list of known assets; list of any known debts; copy of deceased’s last three tax returns; the deceased’s Last Will and Testament.
5. Get death certificates from the funeral home
6. Keep records of all funeral expenses
7. Change door locks if the deceased lived alone
8. Secure valuable items
9. Notify insurance company of the recent death
10. Avoid paying any outstanding debts or giving away any of the deceased’s property before consulting with an attorney

Will – A Will is a document that leaves instructions for distributing your probate property at your death. It also directs how your outstanding debts are to be paid. Probate property includes real property (land) and personal property (bank accounts, cars, jewelry, etc.).

A Will does not control your non-probate property, which includes property that passes by contract, such as a life insurance policy. In the Will, an executor named. The executor is the person who will manage your affairs and who will ensure the terms of your Will are carried out. Also, if you have minor children, you will name a guardian for them in the Will. A Will can also include a testamentary trust that will provide for the continued care of minor children, elderly parents, or pets.

Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters – The Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters allows the person named in it to manage your finances on your behalf. This is a key component of an estate plan because most financial accounts, such as bank and brokerage accounts, are individual accounts. This means that the account is held in one name alone, and no one else has access to them. This document allows someone you trust to access your bank accounts, but provides protection in that this person may only conduct business on your behalf – and not for that person’s benefit.

Power of Attorney for Health Care – The Power of Attorney for Health Care allows the person(s) named in it to make health care decisions on your behalf, when you cannot make health care decisions for yourself. This is important because if an unexpected medical emergency arises, there is someone available to provide instructions for your care.

Living Will – A Living Will provides instructions for doctors concerning the use of life-sustaining treatment if you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious, and cannot communicate your wishes. The Living Will does not affect the responsibility of health care personnel to provide comfort care to you. Comfort care means any measure taken to diminish pain or discomfort, but not to postpone death.

You should bring any relevant documents to your consultation, such as the following:

• New Client Questionnaire
• Will or Trust Documents
• Names and address of children and spouses, guardians for minor children, and any other heirs
• List of assets and copies of real estate deeds, life insurance policies, etc.
• List of debts
• Copy of death certificate
• Copy of funeral bill
• List of issues and goals that you plan to discuss

If you are unsure of what to bring, call the office to find out what types of documents are relevant to your situation.

Your consultation will last approximately 45 minutes. During your consultation, we will:

• Discuss your needs and come up with possible solutions
• Discuss your goals
• Prepare a fee agreement outlining what legal work is to be completed and the fee for that work.