Taking Care of
Your Life
There is no wrong time to estate plan. Whether you are graduating college, purchasing a home, getting married, starting a family, caregiving an elder, retiring, or just happen to be finally ready to cross this important item off your to-do list, we will partner with you to put together your first estate plan or update an outdated one.
Rated 4.7 by over 500 clients
Why Belle Legal?
Trusted Guidance Thoughtful Results
approachable, flexible, inviting and deeply ingrained in the communities where we work and live.
Belle Legal has cultivated a space where our clients feel safe and comfortable talking about planning for the hard things – the passage of loved ones, estate planning, or divorce. Likewise, our attorneys operate with a warm, transparent approach that focuses on education and empathy, giving you the tools you need to move forward with confidence, ready for the next stage of life.
Alone you can go fast; together, we can go far. We’ll help you plan well so your future will ring true for generations to come.
Clear, Caring Legal Guidance
Our Services
Probate
Compassionate Guidance for Difficult Transitions.
Mediation
Resolve Conflict. Preserve Peace.
Immigration Law
Reuniting families is a core part of our mission.
NonProfit Law
Helping nonprofits stay compliant to focus on impact
Clear, Caring Legal Guidance
Planning Today for
Peace Tomorrow
Book a free, no-obligation consultation today and take the first step toward peace of mind.
Over 20 years
of Client Experience
About Us
Meet Your
Legal Advisors
Life doesn’t come with a roadmap. But we’re the next best thing.
More than just attorneys, we’re trusted partners to walk with you, helping you move forward through life’s twists and turns. Learn more about us and the paths we follow.
Whitney Ellison
Probate Law | Estate Planning
J. Ellen Keller
Estate Planning | Business Law
Tina J. Barrett
Family Law | Mediation
Sarah Ellen Eads Adkins
Family Law | Nonprofit Law Immigration Law
Noodle
Human Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Let Us Assist You
You’ve got questions—we’ve got answers! Here are some of our most frequently asked ones.
Can I name a beneficiary for my life insurance policy within a trust?
Yes, you can name a trust as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, which allows for more control over how the insurance proceeds are distributed and can provide additional protection for beneficiaries.
When is my child old enough to decide where they can live?
I include this question only because I am asked it by every client in any sort of disagreement with the other parent. I always say “18” and notwithstanding what is in the previous answer I stand by it. Two-year-olds have opinions on where they want to go and when, as do 16-year-olds, but the whole point of parenting is to protect them from the effects of bad decision making. If you let your kids decide what is best, you are letting your kids raise themselves. I’m not saying to ignore their wishes and thoughts, I’m saying that parents should always decide and if the parents cannot decide they don’t leave it to the kids to join forces with one side or the other. That will have negative consequences in and of itself even if they choose wisely. Listen to your kids as soon as they can talk; but let them be kids and don’t grant them or burden them with things that even parents have trouble deciding.
What is an example of Community of Property?
An example of community property includes assets and debts acquired by both spouses during the marriage, such as:
- Income earned by either spouse during the marriage.
- Real estate purchased by either spouse during the marriage.
- Vehicles acquired during the marriage.
- Retirement accounts and pension benefits accumulated during the marriage.
- Debts incurred by either spouse during the marriage, including mortgages, credit card debt, and loans.
In community property states, these assets and debts are generally considered equally owned by both spouses and are subject to equal division upon divorce.
What about child support?
Both parents have a duty of support to their minor children and that will not terminate with the parent’s relationship or marriage. How that duty is divided depends upon a lot of things including but not limited to the ability of each parent to provide support and the past practices of the parents. But there are hard and fast rules on support set forth in the Ohio Revised Code. The Legislature has devised a schedule of support based upon the incomes of the parents and the number of children involved. Like everything else it’s more complicated than that. But support will be calculated by formula and the results of that may or may not be modified based upon what the parents agree is best for the children or the Court decides what is best for the children.
Can I get custody of my children?
You probably already have custody of your kids. If you gave birth to them or adopted them you have custody and if you were married to the person who gave birth to your children at the time of their birth you have custody of them. That is the status quo and one thing Courts like is status quo so the usual answer to that is ‘Yes.’ But what you really want to know perhaps is how will your custody stack up against the other parent? Hopefully, for the sake of your kids and your bank account the answer to that is that you will keep doing whatever it is you are doing now. That is, you and your spouse will continue to deal with the rights and responsibilities of parenting your children together, each according to his/her best abilities. Maybe that means continuing to share custody with a Shared Parenting Plan, or maybe it means one of you will have sole custody and the other will have parenting time and other rights short of full custody. The biggest issue to resolve in any relationship involving children is how to do what is best for the kids. You are either going to have to hash that out with the other parent, the one you decided to either procreate or adopt with, or let “the Court,” people you do not know, do it for you.
The Court often gets involved but in my experience they rarely need to if people could just set aside their animosity and unrealistic expectations of one another. Then again, if everyone did that I might have to find a new job so I merely offer it as advice. People often ignore my advice, I’ve learned to live with it. If you and the other parent cannot agree on what is best, you will have to go to a trial. Before you go to a trial on issues pertaining to your children I hope that you have sought the advice of an experienced domestic relations attorney, been to as much counseling as you can afford, reached out to the other parent as amicably as you know how, attended as many mediation sessions as are allowed and searched your soul so much that you can draw the interior by memory. I can take you through a custody trial, I’ve done it before and I will do it again. Sometimes it’s necessary and the only thing that can be done even keeping that lofty goal of “best interests of the children” in your heart and mind. I have yet to enjoy one and there is no “winning.” But I can do it and I will but hopefully you’ve figured out by now that is not going to be my aim. In my opinion you should not hire an attorney who approaches things any differently than that.
What is a trust?
There are many types of trusts. But the one most commonly involved in estate planning is the Revocable Living Trust. “Revocable” means it can be amended and revoked. “Living” means it is created, and often funded, during the lifetime of the grantor (person creating the trust). We like to use Revocable Living Trusts to avoid Probate, to hold assets for minor or irresponsible beneficiaries. Revocable Living Trusts, like a Will, contain directions for holding and administering assets after death. Unlike a Will, trusts are private documents that do not need to be filed with the Probate Court.
Can I terminate visitation if I'm not being paid the support I am owed?
No, visitation (parenting time) and child support are two distinct considerations in the eyes of the Court. In nearly all jurisdictions, the right to visitation is never conditional on payment of child support. Instead, child support arrearages should be addressed through the state’s child enforcement office or through a contempt of court proceeding. Visitation is not a benefit of being a parent so much as it is the right of the child to have a relationship with both parents. One party’s failure to meet financial obligations might affect custody determinations, but parenting time is for the child.
Can I get spousal support
When you are married to someone, part of the marital contract is a duty of support. You each owe a duty of support to one another. That duty can continue after the termination of the marriage if you both agree it should or if the Court makes that decision for you. Such an agreement or order is what we call “Spousal Support” or “Alimony.” There are lots of considerations that go into deciding if that duty of support will continue beyond the marriage and if so who will owe it, how much they will owe and for how long. There is a long list of factors that need to be considered and one of them is “any factor the Court expressly finds to be relevant and equitable” so suffice it to say a lot can be considered and argued when it comes to spousal support. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3105
There are no hard and fast rules about spousal support but painting with a very broad brush it can be said that the primary wage earner in a long-term marriage is probably going to pay some support. I could talk all day long about what “primary wage earner,” “long-term marriage,” and “some support” mean. This is where you need to have a discussion with an attorney familiar with the domestic relations laws of your state and the proclivities of the Domestic Relations Court in your county of residence.
What is Marital Property?
When you are married you hold assets and liabilities together, we call that your “Property” no matter whose name is on the asset or liability. The presumption when you are married is that everything you own and everything you owe together and individually is marital and belonging to both spouses. If you stay married that continues to happen, if you terminate your marriage those assets and liabilities need to be divided somehow. That presumption that it is all marital is a ‘rebuttable’ presumption though, meaning that either spouse can argue something is separate and not to be shared and that’s where things can get complicated. If you had assets before you got married, inherited assets or were given gifts to you alone during your marriage, those assets might belong only to you and not your spouse. There are also situations in which some debts are not deemed marital as well. The key to determining what is marital and what is separate starts with the spouses and their opinions on the matter and if that doesn’t yield agreement, it ends with the documentation of the nature of each asset and liability and what the Court decides.
What is Probate?
Probate is the legal process to settle a deceased person’s estate matter in the Probate Court, when assets do not transfer on death to a designated beneficiary.
More detailed answers
Insightful Articles
The Impact of Divorce on Children: Tips for Co-Parenting
The Ins and Outs of special Needs Trusts
Same-Sex Family Law
When a Loved One Dies…Who Pays the Bills?
Planning for the Future: Legal Tips for College Students and Their Parents
