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If you’re getting remarried in Ohio, you may have gone through divorce proceedings, during which your marital assets were divided according to the state’s principle of “equitable distribution.” Your new spouse – and your new life – will require you to revisit your estate planning.

You’ve been named the personal representative in the will of a family member or close friend, and suddenly, that person passes away, leaving their estate in your hands.

Estate planning is one of the most important things a person can do to protect their property and loved ones and prepare for the future. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of misinformation surrounding estate planning. Many of those misconceptions hold people back from taking control of their future.

The only thing you need not consider before drafting an estate plan is whether you need one. Every adult needs one, even if it is basic. Building an estate plan is all about defining your goals and creating a plan that will achieve them. In order to set goals, you need to consider a range of issues.

In its annual survey of how Americans carry out estate planning – whether they have a will or other heirship document in place – the website Caring.com has found that the percentage of people with just a simple will has been declining.

The death of a parent is one of the most stressful and devastating events in anyone’s life. Losing a parent is a loss that does not fade over time. Instead, it shapes the bereaved child for the rest of their life.

Ben Franklin once experienced a constant harassment from an important and powerful political opponent. Franklin was aware that his opponent possessed an unusual and rare book, and he asked his opponent if he might borrow the book. His opponent agreed to the loan. Franklin returned it in due course, having taken good care of it along the way. Thereafter, his opponent never again harassed Franklin. Ben Franklin reported the event as a strategic effort to improve his relationship with that individual, and it worked.

"I just need a simple will," the woman on the phone said. "How much will that cost?" she asked. I'll call her "Wilma," and she called me, saying she had been referred by a mutual friend. We had not yet discussed Wilma's situation at all, but it seemed that she'd already decided her will would not be complex. I felt that if I pushed Wilma on her view, before answering her question on costs, she would conclude I was trying to "up-sell" her on a more expensive plan.

Alice was 70 years of age when she retired from work. Far from spending her golden years relaxing, though, what this really meant was that she was no longer physically able to work and had to rely on her Social Security check as her only income.

As I mentioned, I grew up on a small family farm in central Ohio. My dad had bought the land and everything that went with it. Like many farms of that time, my family ran the farm while my parents worked jobs earning the money that supported us. The farm was not a hobby. It was a real working farm that had an even shot of paying its way each year and adding to the bottom line. That was the goal, and usually it worked.