Estate Planning, Business Succession, Trusts & Probate

Our attorneys provide a full range of estate planning services designed to achieve the personal objectives of our clients. Our services include advice on the transfer of assets consistent with our clients' personal goals and in the most tax-efficient manner. We also have significant experience in succession planning for owners of closely-held businesses.

We prepare wills, trusts (revocable and irrevocable), powers of attorney, and living wills tailored to your specific needs. We also assist in maintaining the proper titling of assets and life insurance planning.

We carefully review the income tax, gift tax, estate tax, and generation-skipping transfer tax consequences of our planning documents. We have extensive experience in the preparation of estate and gift tax returns. We also plan and draft charitable giving alternatives, including outright charitable gifts, charitable remainder and lead trusts, and charitable gift annuities.

Bailey Cavalieri is proud to have been selected recently as a Columbus top-tier practice in the Trusts & Estates Law by U.S.News & World Report's Best Lawyers "Best Law Firm" rankings.

Specific areas of practice include:

Trust Practice & Probate Law

Our firm has significant experience in the representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries. We provide counsel in all areas of estate and trust administration. We practice in probate courts throughout Ohio. We prepare estate tax returns, as well as income tax returns for estates and trusts.

Trust & Probate Litigation

We represent executors, trustees and beneficiaries on a wide variety of probate court and litigation matters. We counsel and protect fiduciaries. We also work with beneficiaries to understand and enforce their legal rights.

Business Succession Planning

Business succession planning is an extremely important consideration for closely-held businesses. Many businesses fail upon the primary owner's retirement or death because an effective succession plan was never implemented.

A business succession plan includes not only business considerations, but also personal and tax considerations. Our lawyers are experienced in helping businesses plan for and transition to the future.

Each business succession plan has unique components based on the circumstances surrounding its owners and the likely successors. Business succession plans generally involve the following:

  • Reviewing and updating corporate books and records;
  • Developing a strategy for succession;
  • Monitoring the progress of the business succession plan, and making changes as business and other factors warrant;
  • Coordinating the plan with personal retirement planning; and
  • Coordinating the plan with business tax planning, individual income tax planning, and estate and gift tax arrangements.