Limited Clients. Proven Results.

Valley View Probate Law Firm Stiefvater Law, limits the clients it represents at any given time in order to provide efficient and cost effective service to clients throughout the probate process. Probate is the legal process through which a decedent’s estate is administered when a person dies.

Probate in its simplest form is a legal process that results in the transfer of assets from the decedent to a living person or persons. Probate can be expensive – in both time and money. Many people chose to avoid probate by establishing an estate plan while they are still alive. A proper estate plan can save the heirs and estate time and money and ensure that the decedent’s assets are distributed according to their wishes.

Under the law, assets are either deemed probate assets or non-probate assets. Probate assets must go through the legal process of probate in order for ownership to transfer. Assets that are considered non-probate assets do not need to go through probate to change hands. Valley View Probate Lawyer Robert Stiefvater will sit down with you and go through each asset to determine whether or not it is a probate or non-probate asset.

Probate assets, among other items, consists of individual assets, tenant in common assets, Assets with predeceased beneficiaries or no beneficiary named, and assets left out of a trust. Most non-probate assets are those with named beneficiaries.

Assets with predeceased beneficiaries or no beneficiary named are assets where a beneficiary was named but died before the owner and no alternate beneficiary is named. This also occurs when the decedent failed to name a beneficiary to assets such as life insurance, retirement accounts, annuities, and 401(k) accounts.

Non-probate assets include assets with named beneficiaries, including payable on death or transfer on death, joint accounts, certain forms of real estate ownership, and items left properly titled to a trust.

Call Valley View Probate Lawyer Robert Stiefvater for a free consultation and to discuss your specific probate needs.

If a loved one has died without a will, they are considered intestate. In this situation, the laws of the State of Ohio direct who gets what from the decedent. The law does not make great efforts to protect step-children. Provisions give great deference to the surviving spouse, children, and other lineal descendants.

The law provides for many simple and not so simple situations. What follows are some example provisions from the Ohio Revised Code:

2105.052 Debts owed to decedent.

Any debt owed to a decedent shall not be charged against the intestate share of any person except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive decedent, the debt shall not be taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtor's issue.

Probate Attorney Robert Stiefvater understands the emotional weight of losing a loved one. He will handle the legal probate process so you can focus on the healing process.

Call the Valley View Probate Lawyers at Stiefvater Law to find out if we are currently taking on new clients. We are the Probate Attorneys in Valley View, Ohio, 44125.

Cities in Cuyahoga County: University Heights, Warrensville Heights, Walton Hills, Westlake, Woodmere

Zip Codes in Valley View, Ohio: 44125