What You Need to Know About…Protecting Your Children in Ohio
If you and your partner are parents, it becomes all the more crucial that you take appropriate estate planning steps to protect your children in Ohio. This becomes especially important when you take into consideration Ohio’s default laws on which individuals will inherit your estate if you do not complete proper estate planning. While spouses of heterosexual families are protected under Ohio law, even if the deceased spouse did not complete estate planning documents, LGBT families are not.
Ohio law provides that, as an LGBT parent without a will or other appropriate document, your non-biological children may not be eligible to inherit form your estate. Likewise, your partner will have no protection. Ohio law mandates that individuals without wills must follow Ohio’s intestate succession scheme. In this scheme, when you pass away, your lawful spouse and your biological or legally adopted children inherit from you. If you have no children, your parents inherit. If your parents pre-decease you, your siblings will inherit from you. Notice that this scheme provides no protection for your partner since Ohio does not recognize gay marriage. Also notice that this scheme provides no protection for non-biological children since Ohio prohibits second parent LGBT adoptions.
What we recommend for LGBT couples with children:
For these reasons, in addition to the typical estate planning documents we recommend for LGBT couples, we recommend the following for LGBT families with children:
- A Provision in Your Will Appointing Guardians of Your Choosing for Your Children
- A Shared Parenting Agreement Between Your Partner and Yourself
- For maximum legal effect, this agreement should be put on your record with your local courts
- Medical Consent Forms for Non-Biological Parents of Your Children
- A Domestic Partnership Agreement Setting Forth Rules Should the Couple Split Up
Again, attorneys can provide additional guidance on a case-by-case basis to ensure that all of a family’s particularized needs are met.
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