Jessica Forrest and Brittany Kaczmarczyk earned a unanimous jury verdict and an award of $110,000, plus attorney fees, on behalf of their clients—four beneficiaries of a trust who learned their trustee had hired her husband as a “consultant” to the trust. We sued for breach of fiduciary duty and related claims.

While an early settlement was an option, the Defendants instead opted for an aggressive litigation approach, involving excessive discovery and threats to use the trust’s no-contest clause to disinherit beneficiaries simply for seeking clarity on trust expenses ... Read More ›

Reminger Co., LPA is pleased to announce that Co-Chair of Reminger's Estates, Trusts, and Probate Litigation Practice Group, Jessica Forrest, has been appointed as the Vice President of Membership for the Akron Bar Association. 

In this role, Jessica will oversee the membership committee, leading initiatives to boost membership and member participation. She will also manage programs for law-student mentorship and the Leadership Academy. Additionally, as the Membership VP, Jessica will serve as an officer and participate in the Board's discussions and voting on Association ... Read More ›

Reminger Co., LPA is pleased to announce that Jessica Forrest has been named to the Notable Women in Law list published by Crain’s Cleveland Business. 

As co-chair of Reminger's Estates, Trusts, and Probate Litigation Practice Group, Jessica focuses her practice on will and trust contests, beneficiary disputes, and fiduciary litigation. She also handles matters of trust and estate administration, guardianships, and estate planning. Prior to joining Reminger, Jessica worked at a small general practice firm in Akron, Ohio, where she gained significant experience in real ... Read More ›

Ohio’s Rules of Civil Procedure govern how civil cases are run from the initial filing and service to discovery to final judgment. The Rules are updated annually with an effective date of July 1. And, most importantly for Reminger’s Estates, Trusts, and Probate Litigation Practice Group, the Rules govern most probate litigation including trusts contests, beneficiary disputes, and declaratory judgments. So, let’s take a look at some key updates for 2023.

1. Remote Presence and Email Service. Consistent with last year’s changes to the Rules of Superintendence, the Civil ...

The mixing of financial issues with the emotion of losing a loved one is a big reason probate litigation occurs, and demographics support that estate and trust disputes only will increase in the coming years.

According to the Population Reference Bureau and Census Bureau, there are roughly 76.4 million Baby Boomers in the United States. The youngest members of this generation will turn 65 in 2029, and Fortune.com estimates that Baby Boomers should transfer roughly $53 trillion to their heirs and beneficiaries through 2045. To put that $53 trillion in perspective, the United ... Read More ›

Jessica Forrest authored "Confidentiality and Privilege in Post-Death Disputes: Is it Time to Tweak R.C. 2317.02?" for the Probate Law Journal of Ohio.

Reprinted from Probate Law Journal of Ohio available in print and on Westlaw with permission from Thomson Reuters. Copyright © 2023. Further use without permission of Thomson Reuters is prohibited. For further information about this publication, please visit https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/Newsletter/Probate-Law-Journal-of-Ohio/p/100028597 .Read More ›

Reminger Co., LPA is pleased to announce a new leadership structure within our Estates and Trusts Practice Group.  

Bolstered by years of dedicated experience in Ohio's probate courts, this new structure will allow our growing team to better serve our clients across the state. New leadership appointments include: 

• Adam M. Fried – Statewide Chair, Estates and Trusts Practice Group 
• Timothy J. Gallagher – Chair, Guardianships Practice Group 
• Jessica S. Forrest – Co-Chair, Estates, Trusts, and Probate Litigation Practice Group 
• Paul R. Shugar – Co-Chair, Estates, Trusts, and ...

We are pleased to announce that Jessica Forrest has been appointed to a three-year term as a member of OSBA’s Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Section Council. Composed of practitioners from across the state, the council meets three times a year to discuss developments in its respective area of law and works throughout the year on proposed legislation for the Ohio General Assembly to consider. In addition to Jessica’s recent appointment, Adam Fried and Paul Shugar both serve on the Council.Read More ›

Effective July 1, 2022, Ohio’s Rules of Superintendence have been updated with regard to guardianships. The new Rules focus on facilitating visitation and communication with a Ward.

Consider a common situation: an elderly parent names one of her children as her power of attorney (POA). Eventually, the parent requires placement in a long-term care facility. While in the facility, the POA directs the facility to exclude other children from any visitation or calls with the parent. The parent becomes isolated, lonely, and very dependent on the POA. The POA may use this opportunity to ... Read More ›

We have long known that Covid changed everything – remote work and zoom depositions are here to stay! Even Ohio’s Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Superintendence are changing to focus on making “the use of technology in the courts more prevalent and effective.”

Most of the new Rules are the result of the Task Force on Improving Court Operations Using Remote Technology (“iCourt”). Of much interest to attorneys as well as their assistants and paralegals is that courts are now be required to implement filing by “electronic means.”

The following Rules go into effect ... Read More ›

The subject matter at issue in probate litigation is almost always intrinsically human. We are dealing with a person who writes a will, an object of that person’s affection that receives the benefit under a will, and a person who, for lesser motives, preys upon the condition of the testator to gain an advantage under a will. To successfully pursue, defend, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a will contest, the critical thing to understand is the person who wrote the will: why would that person execute this document?

A will, once executed, tells its own story. The ... Read More ›

Jessica Forrest wrote the article below, "Free Britney!?: Can Britney Spears Free Herself?", for the Akron Bar Association Examiner Magazine. 

Unless you have been under a rock or on a desert island, you have probably heard that 90s pop star Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship since 2008. Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, currently has control of Britney’s $60+ Million empire. Prior to 2019, he was also solely in charge of Britney’s personal decisions – including where she lived, her medications, and access to her social media accounts. That role is now filled by ... Read More ›

Free Britney!?: The Conservatorship of Britney Spears

From Michael Jackson, to Prince, to Whitney Houston… the death of a famous musician often triggers an interesting probate court case. As the world is now learning, we can also find interesting probate stories about our living pop stars.

Earlier this year, Hulu streamed a documentary by the New York Times: Framing Britney Spears. In case you weren’t paying attention in the late 90s and early-aughts, Britney Spears is a very famous and successful pop star – rising to national fame at only 16 years old. What many people did not ... Read More ›

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down our lives – and even brought many things like school and travel to a grinding halt. However, the work of probate legislation continued in Ohio’s State House.

On May 20, 2021, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 7, a bill revising Ohio probate law that was written by the Ohio State Bar Association’s Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section. Many of Reminger’s estate planners, administrators, and litigators are active in this section.

The new bill takes effect on August 17, 2021. The changes touch on estate planning, estate ... Read More ›

Our firm pays special attention to the protection of our seniors. Financial exploitation of our seniors has been on the rise for some time. In 2010, the federal government passed the Elder Justice Act, which was the “first comprehensive legislation to address the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults at the federal level.” Seniors may be exploited by those closest to them, even their own lawyers. You can read more about the red flags that we see in our practice that are tell-tale signs of exploitation.

When a scammer pressures a relative into paying money for a phony ... Read More ›

The great State of Ohio has more than thirteen million acres of farmland.[1] (Also, it appears none of those acres are devoted to buckeyes?!). The average age of an Ohio farmer is 55.8 years and 30% are 65 years or older.[2] Of Ohio’s 128,000 farmers, more than 70,000 are involved in estate or succession planning decisions.[3] These numbers suggest a lot of farmland will transfer ownership to the next generation during the coming two decades.

Two recent decisions demonstrate that estate planning language needs to be precise for farms; or, your beneficiaries could be in litigationRead More ›

As we have covered in our blog before, Ohio courts have been very clear: estate creditor’s must present their claims within 6 months of the decedent’s date of death. R.C. 2117.06. This has not stopped creditors, however, from arguing that they should be the exception to the bright-line rule. Their attempts continue to fail. The newest creative creditor arguments went up on appeal to the Ninth District and were batted right back down.

The matter of Saber Healthcare dba Bath Manor Nursing Facility v. David P. Hudgins, 2020-Ohio-5603, was argued on December 1, 2020… and just eight ... Read More ›

Each year, Ohio’s Commission on the Rules of Practice & Procedure proposes amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence affecting all courts in Ohio. In most counties, the probate court is a separate “division” with a dedicated judge. However, the complex and mandatory rules of civil procedure apply in probate court just like all other cases. The new Rules, effective July 1, 2020, will change how cases are initiated and proceed through discovery.

Ohio now offers a “waiver of service” option for all civil actions, similar to federal cases. Civ.R. 4.7. At the start of a ... Read More ›

We have often written in our blog about the rise in financial abuse and exploitation of the elderly. Members of our practice group serve on the Board of Directors for Ohio Coalition of Adult Protective Services. We have presented on the topics of elder abuse and diminished capacity to better educate other professionals and the public at large about the special care and protection our seniors require.

Unfortunately, some vulnerable clients are not even safe from their own lawyers. Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a two-year suspension (with one-year stayed) of the law license of James Bishop, II because he took advantage of his elderly estate planning clients, Isadore and Helen Urbanski.Read More ›