We are pleased to announce the addition of Nicholas Sebastiano to our Cleveland office. Nick Sebastiano joins us as a shareholder, practicing in our Cleveland and Youngstown offices. His practice focuses on litigating trust, estate, and other probate cases, as well as disputes regarding non-probate transfers. Nick has extensive experience administering trusts, estates, and guardianships. Throughout his years of practice, Nick has represented families, individuals, and businesses in all types of disputes. Nick’s experience allows him to handle complex State and ... Read More ›

Reminger Co., LPA has been ranked in the 2022 “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®.  Reminger had multiple practice groups ranked, including Cleveland Metropolitan Tier 1 Rankings for Litigation-Trusts & Estates , Elder Law, and Trusts & Estates Law. 

Reminger lawyers have consistently been ranked by Best Lawyers; additionally, some of our Trusts and Estates practice group members have been named "Lawyers of the Year" for Cleveland.  

• Adam Fried has been recognized as Best Lawyers Cleveland Lawyer of the Year ...

Daniel and Diane, a husband and wife, had lake front properties in their family for generations. They wanted to hand the properties down to their daughter Melissa and her siblings as an early inheritance. Daniel and Diane gifted individual lots to each of their children, titled in their child’s name alone. However, Melissa’s husband Patrick was upset that his name was not going to be put on the title. Melissa asked her parents to put Patrick on the title, which they did.

Sadly, Melissa’s marriage to Patrick ended and she filed for divorce. In the divorce, Patrick claimed that the ... Read More ›

Trustee breach of duty, Ohio House testimony, 2021 Ohio Legislative recap, and more.... check out our latest monthly e-newsletter, In Brief: Ohio Estate and Trust Litigation Updates, focused on estates, trusts, and guardianships and the disputes surrounding them. Read it here.

Sign up here to receive our next newsletter straight to your inbox.Read More ›

On October 12, 2021, Estates, Trusts, and Probate Litigation Group Co-Chair, Adam Fried, testified to the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee in opposition of HB 339, a proposed legislation involving electronic wills. Adam was asked to join a task force that included members of the Ohio State Bar Association Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section Counsel and the Ohio Probate Judges Association to study and comment on this proposed legislation involving electronic wills. The task force met weekly for several months and came out with firm objections to components of HB 339 ... Read More ›

Paul Shugar presented the below information on Legislative Updates on House Bill 7 and Other Statutory Law Changes as part of the 2021 Marvin R. Pliskin Advanced Probate and Estate Planning Seminar, hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association.

2021 Revise Probate Law, Guardianship Law, and Ohio Trust Code (H.B. 7)

Overview

After the Ohio House of Representatives passed H.B. 7 by a vote of 98-0 on March 3, 2021, the Senate passed the bill by a 32-0 vote on May 5, 2021. Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 7 into law on May 20, 2021, and it became effective on August 17, 2021. The new law made ... Read More ›

We are pleased to announce that 10 of our Estates and Trusts lawyers have been included in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America® list are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing. 

2022 The Best Lawyers in America® list: 

• Jessica Forrest- Trusts and Estates, Litigation - Trusts and Estates*
• Adam M. Fried- Trusts and Estates, Elder Law, Litigation - Trusts and Estates
• Barbara B. Janovitz- Trusts ...

Res judicata, literally meaning "a matter [already] judged," is a prudential doctrine that is meant to ensure the finality of judgments and conserve judicial resources by protecting litigants from multiple litigation involving the same claims or issues. When one court has already resolved the merits of a case, another court will not revisit them.

Recently, Reminger attorneys Russell J. Meraglio, Jr. Franklin C. Malemud, and Timothy J. Gallagher represented an attorney who was appointed by the Cuyahoga County Probate Court to serve as successor trustee over a trust.  The removed ... 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 ›

During the past few months, several bills have been introduced in Congress which, if passed, would result in significant changes to the current federal estate and gift tax system. Some of these bills appear to have support among many members of Congress.

While it is possible that none of the proposed laws will be enacted, given the unpredictable political climate, it seems best to consider estate planning strategies that you might want to employ or changes that you might want to make to your estate planning documents if one or more of the proposed bills passes this year.

One of the proposed ... Read More ›