Articles

Shared custody may be an option for non-traditional couples living in Ohio.

In Ohio, only married heterosexual couples, single adults, and step-parents can adopt a child.  Same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples cannot adopt a child together in Ohio.  A few states do permit second-parent adoptions.  In those states, non-traditional couples can pursue joint adoption of a child.

Although Ohio is not one of the states which permits second-parent adoptions, shared custody may be an option for non-traditional couples living in Ohio.  With shared custody, the Juvenile Court issues an order, stating that both the biological/adoptive parent and the non-biological/non-adoptive parent are the legal custodians of the children.

Maria received some positive press when she was mentioned in a recent article in the Lakewood Observer.

It was announced that Maria purchased the Laskey CPA building in December 2011 in an article entitled, "Laskey CPA Buys Revelations Building on Detroit."  The article was the top story in the Lakewood Business Section of the January 24, 2012 edition of the Observer.

Laskey CPA purchased a property on Detroit for its accounting practice, while Maria purchased the Laskey CPA building on Madison Avenue because she wanted more space to grow her law practice.

Maria plans to complete some minor renovations to the interior of the building and move in at the beginning of June.  She will hold a grand opening to celebrate the move with her family, friends and clients.

Have you kept all of your New Year's Resolutions?  If you are like most of us, your "resolve" may have faded a bit by now.  Never fear.  Let 2012 be the year you finally get your legal affairs in order!

Do you have a Last Will and Testament, Powers of Attorney, Living Will, and other estate planning documents?  If not, make a commitment to get them done this year!

If you already have estate planning documents in place, are they up-to-date?  Have you reviewed your documents and assets, making sure that everything is written and titled the way you want?  If not, what are you waiting for?  There is no time like the present to complete an estate planning review!

Finally, if you have children, have you named guardians and custodians for them?  Do you need a shared custody agreement or visitation schedule?

Getting your legal affairs in order does not have to be complicated or time-consuming.  Make a commitment to do this now.  It will be one New Year's Resolution that you will be glad you kept!

Things just got tougher for non-traditional families in Ohio.

Same-sex parents are already prohibited from seeking second-parent adoptions in Ohio.  Now, as a result of a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling, non-biological and non-adoptive parents must have a shared custody agreement or a custody order from juvenile court in order to safeguard their rights with regard to their children.

On July 12th, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that coparent Michelle Hobbs is not entitled to shared custody of her former partner's daughter.  In a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that although there was evidence showing that the girl's biological mother, Kelly Mullen, had intented to share custody with Hobbs, there was also evidence that Mullen did not enter into an agreement with Hobbs to "permanently relinquish sole legal custody of her child in favor of shared legal custody with Hobbs."  It affirmed the lower court's decision to dismiss Hobbs' complaint for shared custody.

Ohio's death tax is dead.  At least it will be as of January 1, 2013.

Ohio Governor John Kasich recently signed a two-year budget bill which contained a repeal of Ohio's death tax.  The bill essentially ends the Ohio estate tax by limiting its application as of January 1, 2013; estates of persons dying on or after that date will not have to pay estate taxes.

Ohio currently levies taxes on Ohio residents' estates when the value of the taxable estate exceeds $338,333.  This $338,333 estate tax exemption is one of the lowest in the country.  Advocates of repealing the death tax argue that wealthy residents move out of Ohio in order to avoid the state's estate tax.  Legislators included the repeal of death taxes in the budget bill in order to end this alleged exodus from Ohio.

Opponents of the repeal argue that eliminating Ohio's death tax will hurt local governments.  Eighty percent of estate tax revenues are distributed to local governments, and 20 percent goes to Ohio's General Revenue Fund.

Hospitals which participate in Medicare and Medicaid must now respect the right of a patient to have visitors of his or her choosing, thanks to new federal regulations regarding hospital visitation rights.  Hospitals are also prohibited from denying visitation privileges or otherwise discriminating against visitors based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.  Patients' visitation rights must be written in the hospitals' policies and procedures.

These new regulations do not lessen the need for health care directives, however.  Because the new regulations do not address who may visit an incapacitated patient who does not have a Health Care Power of Attorney, it is very important to designate someone to make health-care decisions for you, either in a Health Care Power of Attorney or some other legal document.

Gay and lesbian service members will be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military now that the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy has been repealed.

Many civil rights advocates consider the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" to be a significant civil rights achievement in the armed services, following the end of racial segregation in the military in the 1950s and the admission of women to military service academies in the 1970s.

The Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will Declaration are very important documents to include in your Estate Plan.

The Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will Declaration are commonly referred to as "health care directives" because they "direct" your physician on two important health-care topics: (1) who will make your health care decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself, and (2) your wishes for life-sustaining treatment.