Avoids Probate
Ohio probate runs 6 to 12 months, costs fees, and is public record. A funded trust transfers assets without the court involved at all.
Living Trusts
Keep your estate out of probate.
A revocable living trust is the modern foundation of an Ohio estate plan. You stay in control while you're alive, your family skips probate when you're gone, and your affairs stay private. Drafted flat-fee, and actually funded.
What It Is
The trust you control, while you're alive.
A living trust (technically a revocable living trust) is a legal container for your assets that you create and control during your lifetime. You're typically your own trustee, so nothing about your day-to-day changes. You buy, sell, and manage your home, accounts, and property exactly as before.
The difference shows up at two moments that matter most. If you become incapacitated, your chosen successor trustee steps in without a court guardianship. When you pass, your assets transfer to your heirs without probate, privately and on your timeline rather than the court's.
What a Living Trust Does
Three jobs a will can't do.
A will only takes effect after death and only after probate. A funded living trust works the whole time, and that is the entire point.
Keeps You Private
A probated will becomes a public document anyone can read. A living trust keeps your assets and your beneficiaries out of the public record.
Plans for Incapacity
If you can't manage your affairs, your successor trustee takes over immediately, with no guardianship hearing and no court supervision.
Who It's For
When a living trust is the smarter move.
You Own a Home
Real estate is the #1 reason to use a trust. Probate on an Ohio home is slow and public. A trust skips it entirely.
You Own Rental Property
Multiple properties, in or out of state, transfer cleanly through one trust instead of probate in every county.
You Have Minor Children
A trust staggers what they inherit over time, instead of handing an 18-year-old a house and a lump sum.
You Value Privacy
Business owners and private families who simply don't want their estate read at the county courthouse.
The Step Most People Skip
An unfunded trust protects no one.
Signing the trust document is only half the job. A trust only avoids probate for the assets that are actually titled into it, a process called funding. This is where most DIY trusts quietly fail: the document sits in a drawer while the house, accounts, and property are still in the owner's personal name.
We handle the funding with you: re-titling real estate, updating account ownership, and aligning beneficiary designations so nothing slips back into probate. A pour-over will catches anything left out. The result is a plan that actually does what you paid for.
Wills & Trusts
The foundation: a will that directs your wishes and a living trust that keeps your family out of probate court.
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Powers of Attorney
Name who can act on your behalf (financial and healthcare) if you can't speak for yourself.
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Living Wills & Advance Directives
Your wishes on life-sustaining treatment, in writing, paired with a healthcare power of attorney so your family never has to guess.
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Probate & Estate Administration
Guiding executors and families through Ohio probate, and structuring plans to avoid it in the first place.
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Advanced Trust Planning
Tailored trusts for minors, special-needs heirs, blended families, and staged distributions over time.
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Dynasty Trusts & DAPTs
Permanent protection for real estate, investments, and business, shielded from taxes, creditors, and probate.
Learn moreIrrevocable & Asset Protection Trusts
Irrevocable structures (including the Ohio Legacy Trust) that put wealth beyond the reach of future lawsuits and creditors.
Learn moreLiving Trust FAQs
Straight answers, no legalese.
For most people who own a home or rental property, yes. The trust avoids 6 to 12 months of probate, keeps your estate private, and often pays for itself in avoided court fees and delay. If you rent and have modest accounts with beneficiaries already named, a will may be enough.
A will only works after you die, and only after probate (public, slow). A living trust works while you're alive, plans for incapacity, and transfers assets without probate. Most complete plans use both: a trust for the heavy lifting and a pour-over will as the backstop.
Yes, and most clients are. You stay in full control of everything in the trust while you're alive and competent. A successor trustee you choose only steps in if you become incapacitated or pass away.
A standard revocable living trust is about probate avoidance, privacy, and control, not income or estate tax savings. For asset protection and tax-driven goals, we look at irrevocable structures like the Ohio Legacy Trust separately.
It does nothing. An unfunded trust is just paper. Assets left in your personal name still go through probate. We fund the trust with you so the plan actually works, which is the part DIY kits leave out.